--- title: Desktop Settings description: Reference for workspace preferences, editor behavior, file controls, window options, and sidebar customization. --- Open Settings with `Cmd/Ctrl + ,`, from the app menu, or by running **Open Settings** in the Command Bar. Use the search field to find a setting by name or keyword. Most settings belong to the current workspace. **Window** settings apply to the app window instead. ## Preferences The Preferences page controls day-to-day workspace behavior: - **Theme** — choose light and dark themes from visual previews or randomize the theme at startup - **Startup** — reopen the last tab, open a new tab, Ask Octarine, the daily note, or Views - **Fonts** — choose interface and monospace fonts, and adjust the interface font size - **Calendar** — choose the first day of the week and place the calendar above or below the sidebar - **Date & Time** — customize displayed dates and use 12- or 24-hour time - **Tasks** — show completed and total task counts - **Navigation** — use compact sidebar navigation - **Split Panes** — dim panes that are not focused or remove tab borders with **Subtle Tabs** - **AI** — hide visual AI buttons and menus, require a modifier when sending, and choose the weekly recap period **Hide all AI** removes Ask Octarine from the sidebar and hides AI buttons and menus in the editor and app chrome. It does not disable the configured providers, AI features, or their keyboard shortcuts, so you can still open them from the Command Bar or with a shortcut. ## Editor Editor settings cover typography, editor width, paper style, spelling and autocorrect, links, content display, and interface helpers. Notable controls include: - **Overscroll** — add a small, medium, or large amount of space below the end of a note - **Content Alignment** — center constrained editor content or align it to the left - **Focus Mode Dimming** — highlight the current sentence or disable dimming - **Typewriter in Focus Mode** — keep the active line centered while writing in Focus Mode - **Editor Stats** — show word, character, line, and reading-time statistics - **Show Outline**, **Show Heading Guides**, **Show Image Captions**, and **Render Math Equations** - **Wrap Long Lines** — wrap long text and code-block lines instead of scrolling horizontally - **Show Raw Frontmatter in editor** — edit a note's YAML directly above its body; this requires Pro - **Wrap selected text** — typing quotes or brackets wraps the selection instead of replacing it - **Doclink click behavior** — open linked notes in a tab or a sheet - **Linked Notes Display** — show a link's full path, shortest unique name, or note name only - **Wikilink Folder Tooltips** — show folder context beside suggestions in the `[[` menu ### Per-note Appearance An individual note can override the workspace's editor appearance. Open the note, then click the paintbrush icon in the breadcrumb or run **Customise Note Appearance** from the Command Bar. You can override the note's width, editor font, heading font, font size, line height, and letter spacing. Choose **Reset to workspace defaults** to remove every override and follow the Editor settings again. Per-note appearance requires an active Pro or trial license. Octarine stores the overrides in the note's reserved `oct.*` frontmatter, so they travel with the Markdown file without changing other notes. ## Files File settings control: - Delete confirmations and dot-folder visibility - Directory item counts and modified-time labels - Created and modified timestamps on hover - Whether non-Markdown files appear in the tree - Automatic note naming and the default note folder - Additional external-file extensions - Refreshing indexed tags and property definitions from the Markdown files currently in the workspace Use **Refresh Tags and Properties** in the Command Bar, the Tags/Properties sidebar header, or **Settings → Files → Tags and properties** when indexed metadata is missing or stale. Octarine re-reads the Markdown files, rebuilds `.octarine/properties.json`, and removes unused definitions without changing the notes themselves. This is narrower than **Refresh Workspace**, which resets the full workspace database and other local workspace UI state. ## Window Enable **Always on Top** to keep the current Octarine window above other apps. Enable **Don't show system tray** to hide the Octarine menu bar or tray icon. While it is enabled, Quick Capture is disabled across all workspaces, including its global shortcut and direct clipboard capture. Turn the setting off before trying to use Quick Capture again. On Windows, enable **Hide app menu** to remove the app menu from the title bar while keeping the window controls available. These are app-level settings rather than workspace preferences. ## Customizing the Sidebar Open the **Workspace actions** menu beside the Workspace heading and select **Customise sidebar**. From the dialog you can: - Switch **Compact Navigation** on or off - Drag Notes, Templates, Views, Graph, Inbox, and Attachments into a different order - Hide destinations you do not use - Show notification badges as a number or a dot Hidden destinations remain available from the Command Bar. #### Quick Answers ### Are desktop settings shared by every workspace? Most preferences are stored per workspace. Window behavior such as **Always on Top** and **Don't show system tray** is app-level. ### Can I hide or reorder sidebar destinations? Yes. Open **Workspace actions → Customise sidebar**.