Finding your way around

The sidebar is always on the left. From top to bottom it has:

The Sopycat logo. Click it to go back to the Library.
Record a task, the purple button at the top. While you record it reads Recording… click to stop.
Library, with a count of everything in it. Hover over the count to see how many recordings and documents you have.
Tools: Edit a PDF…, Make a PDF, Convert files, Batch jobs, Records and Recently deleted.
Pinned, shown only when you have pinned something.
Folders, your folder tree. Press + to make a new folder. Documents in no folder sit loose under the folders, like files beside folders in File Explorer.
Labels, each with a count, and an Unlabeled row for everything without one.
At the bottom: a Filter… box, Add a document, Settings and the moon or sun button for dark and light mode.

A coloured dot on a document shows its state: red means it failed, pulsing lavender means it is still being written or recorded, and amber means it is due for a review.

The Filter… box narrows the sidebar list by title, summary, labels, owner and folder. It does not look inside steps or document text. For that, use the Library search or Ctrl+K.

Need more room? Click the chevron at the top of the sidebar (Hide the sidebar) to shrink it to a thin strip. Click it again to bring it back. Sopycat remembers which groups you left open or closed on this computer.

The library page

Click Library in the sidebar. The Show switch at the top picks what you see: Everything, only Recordings (your manuals), or only Documents (PDFs, Word files, pictures and notes).

Along the top are buttons for New folder, Add a document, Make a PDF, New manual (an empty manual you fill yourself, no recording needed) and Record a task.

Below them you may see:

Pick up where you left off, the last thing you opened on this computer and a few before it.
Start here, three suggested tasks for new users. See Getting started.
Needs attention: items still being written, ones that failed, ones due for a review, and manuals whose steps no longer match the screen.
Pinned items, then one group per folder.

Folders, labels, search, sorting and selecting several items are all covered in The library.

A document page

Click any card to open it. What you see depends on what it is:

A manual opens in the manual editor: the title, a short summary, labels, and the numbered steps with their pictures. The header has Follow along, Save as PDF and a ⋯ menu with everything else. See Editing a manual.
A PDF opens in the PDF editor, with tabs across the top for reading, editing text, pictures, pages, marking up and forms. See Edit a PDF.
A Word or text file opens in a simple editor. See Word and text files.
A picture opens for viewing.

Every card, sidebar row and document has the same ⋯ menu for opening, moving, pinning, labelling, renaming and deleting.

Find anything by typing

Press Ctrl+K (or Ctrl+P) anywhere to open the command palette. It says Find a document, an action or a setting…. Start typing and it shows:

Documents, found by title and by the words inside them. Each result says where it matched, such as "in a step" or "in the text". Press Enter to open it. For a manual, it jumps straight to the matching step.
Actions, such as Record a task, New folder, Recently deleted or Take the tour again.
Actions for the open screen, such as Follow along for the manual you are in.
Settings sections. Pick one and Settings opens at that section.

With nothing typed, it lists what you chose recently. Use ↑ and ↓ to move, Tab to jump to the next group, and Esc to close.

Inside a step's instructions, Ctrl+K adds a link instead. Click outside the text first if you want the palette.

See every keyboard shortcut

Press ? when you are not typing in a box, or choose Show keyboard shortcuts in the command palette. A list of every shortcut appears, grouped by where it works. Press Esc to close it. The same list is on Keyboard shortcuts.

Switch between light and dark

The moon or sun button at the bottom of the sidebar

Click the moon to switch to dark mode, or the sun to switch back to light. You can also press Ctrl+K and choose Toggle light and dark. The choice is remembered on this computer. Printing always uses light.

Where settings are

Click Settings at the bottom of the sidebar. Changes save the moment you make them, and a green Saved flashes to confirm. There is no Save button. To jump to one section, type its name in the command palette, for example "Backup" or "Your name".

Sopycat is in English only. The spelling checker follows the languages set in Windows.

Looking for a particular button? Where is it? lists them all.