Contents
Welcome to OmniOutliner 6
Introducing OmniOutliner 6 for Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro.
Ready for the latest operating systems, OmniOutliner 6 features beautiful Liquid Glass design elements, smart Dynamic Themes, robust Omni Links, integration with Apple Intelligence, and more.
With new universal licensing and improved feature parity across platforms, your outlines are always available on the device you have at hand.
Backwards Compatibility: OmniOutliner 6 can be installed and run alongside previous versions of OmniOutliner for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Outlines created in OmniOutliner 6 can be opened and edited by previous versions of OmniOutliner. New features such as Dynamic Theme style customization and enhanced filter rules will be discarded by previous versions of OmniOutliner.
All Platforms
- New Universal Purchase — A single purchase of OmniOutliner 6 unlocks access to OmniOutliner across all of your supported Apple devices.
- New Design Refresh — OmniOutliner has been visually refreshed, adopting beautiful Liquid Glass design elements and a modernized look and feel when run on macOS Tahoe 26, iOS 26, or iPadOS 26. With updated iconography throughout the application and a new app icon that adapts to clear and tinted on supported devices, OmniOutliner 6 feels right at home on the latest Apple operating systems.
- New Dynamic Themes — Theme colors can now automatically update when Dark Mode is turned on or off. Override the automatic color conversion when desired, to create your own light or dark appearance.
- New Template Picker — New cross-platform Template Picker supports creating documents with Dynamic Themes, as well as documents with a light or dark appearance.
- New Omni Links — Create links to documents, or specific content within a document, which can be shared with other users. Omni Links work on any device running OmniOutliner 6.
- New Attachment Enhancements — Image attachments can now be resized to better fit your content. Additionally, attachment support, previously a Pro-only feature, is now available in the Essentials edition of OmniOutliner.
- New Saved Filters — Saved filters now support nested AND/OR/NOT rules, an expanded set of date-based rules, and rule comments.
- New Paste — New “Pasting from other apps” setting offers options for pasting styled text. Dedicated menu items are now available for “Paste and Merge Styles,” “Paste and Match Style,” and “Paste with Original Style” behaviors.
- New Omni Automation — On devices running macOS Tahoe 26, iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or visionOS 26 with hardware support for Apple Intelligence, OmniOutliner plug-ins can now consult Apple’s on-device Foundation Models. Omni Automation APIs have also been updated with support for automating Omni Link functionality, and a variety of smaller enhancements and bug fixes.
- New Essentials Mode — Pro customers who want to test the Essentials experience can now disable Pro features in the License window.
Mac
In addition to the cross-platform features listed above, OmniOutliner 6 for Mac includes the following refinements:
- New Multiple Windows — Open multiple windows for the same document to view different parts of your file at the same time.
- New Spotlight — OmniOutliner Shortcuts actions can be run directly from Spotlight on macOS Tahoe 26.
- New Hide-able Status Bar — The Status Bar can be turned off to get an even more distraction free experience.
- Updated Saved Filters — Saved Filters can now be duplicated.
- Updated RTF Export — Improved RTF export to better match the source content.
iPad & iPhone
In addition to the cross-platform features listed above, OmniOutliner 6 for iPad & iPhone improves feature parity with OmniOutliner for Mac.
- New OS Compatibility — OmniOutliner 6 has been updated for compatibility with functionality introduced in recent operating system updates, including support for menus and flexible windowing on iPadOS 26.
- New Document Management — Updated document manager supports quick document creation and seamless iCloud Drive integration.
- New Document Styling — Advanced document styling features previously only available on Mac are now available on all devices.
- Style Attributes Inspector — Use the new Style Attributes Inspector view to see and remove the custom styling affecting your selection.
- Notes Span Columns — Row notes can now display across multi-column documents.
- Grid Lines — Horizontal and vertical grid lines are now displayed and can be customized on iPad and iPhone.
- Row Indentation — Child row indentation can now be turned on or off on iPad and iPhone.
- New Saved Filters — Saved Filters can now be created and edited on iPad and iPhone.
- updated - Attachments — Easily add attachments from your Photo Library, camera, or Files, with the new Attachment button.
Apple Vision Pro
OmniOutliner 6 for Apple Vision Pro is a brand new application, developed natively for visionOS.
The Outline
The Outline is the center of everything you do in OmniOutliner. It allows you to create and organize your content, offers a hierarchy of rows to create the structure you seek, and can be easily updated with styles you choose.
An Outline in OmniOutliner Pro is composed of one or more Rows and one or more Columns, with editable cells available at each intersection of row and column. Rows are displayed in a Hierarchy, allowing you to create simple lists, complicated outline structures, or something right in the middle.
Rows
When working in the Outline,
Rows
are the building blocks of your content.
Rows may be as simple as a line of text;
or they may include
Row Handles
for moving, collapsing, or expanding sections;
Status Checkboxes
for managing lists and tasks;
or
Notes
for adding anything relevant to your work.
If you are using
OmniOutliner Pro,
rows can even span multiple columns.
You can hide or show any attributes of a row,
other than the text of the row itself.
If you are using
OmniOutliner Pro,
the text can be collapsed into a single line on Mac,
by setting
Show Full Row Text
to When Editing.
Editing Rows
Tap or click a row cell to begin editing. A cursor will appear in the cell, and you can add text or other data, depending on the column type.
To learn more about available column types, read about the Column Type Inspector on Mac and the Columns Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro.
Row Handles
Row Handles can be used to move rows, along with any indented (child) rows, or can be used to hide or show indented rows. The style of the row handle indicates whether there are any indented rows.
Row Handles will display as:
- Bullet — Does not contain any indented rows.
- Collapsed Disclosure Arrow — An arrow pointing to the row indicates that the row contains indented rows, which are currently hidden. Click or tap this handle to show the next level of indented rows. On Mac, Option + click to expand all indented rows.
- Expanded Disclosure Arrow — An arrow pointing down indicates that the row contains indented rows, which are currently displayed. Click or tap this handle to collapse indented rows. On Mac, Option + click to collapse all indented rows.
In addition to clicking or tapping the arrows, you can use the keyboard shortcut keys for the Expand and Collapse commands.
On Mac,
If you are using
OmniOutliner Pro,
you can hide handles,
or set them to show only when hovering a cursor over the handle.
The setting can apply to specific rows or the entire document,
by using the
Row Inspector.
Even with handles hidden,
you can still expand or collapse rows
using the
Expand
or
Collapse
commands.
Status Checkboxes
If you would like to track the status for items in your outline, you can display a Status Checkbox next to each row.
Turn the display of Status Checkboxes on or off for your document using the Show Status Checkboxes menu command on Mac, the Show Row Status toggle in the Document Inspector on Mac, or the Row Status toggle in the Document Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro.
The state of each Status Checkbox is saved even when the display of checkboxes is turned off, allowing you to update the appearance without losing information.
On Mac, there are additional options for setting status on a given row. Read about the Set Status submenu to learn more.
Notes
OmniOutliner supports adding notes to individual rows.
On the leading edge of the Outline is a narrow Note column.
This column may appear empty,
but hovering the cursor over it will reveal a
Note icon next to the row.
- Click or tap this icon to add note text to the row,
or drag in attachments.
Once text or attachments have been added to a note,
the
![]()
Note icon will permanently display,
instead of only when hovering a cursor. - Selecting the
![]()
Note icon will expand or collapse the note for that row. - To hide the Notes column, choose Note from the Columns submenu of the View Menu on Mac, or toggle Notes in the Columns Inspector on iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro.
Notes are displayed in the Topic Column by default, but you can choose to display notes across all columns. To change between single column or spanning columns, update the Notes Span Columns setting on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, or the Inline Notes setting on Mac.
Notes are displayed immediately below the related row. On Mac, you can choose to show them in a pane at the bottom of your Outline, by selecting Display in Pane from the Notes submenu of the View Menu.
Columns
While rows allow you to organize and group your information, columns allow you to expand the information for each row, while still respecting the hierarchy defined by your rows.
Topic Column
All OmniOutliner Pro documents have at least one column, which initially contains content in Rich Text. This column (the Topic column) has some special properties:
- It is the only column that can be hierarchically organized; when the organization of the Topic column changes, the other columns come along for the ride.
- It can have a fixed width, or automatically adjust to fit the width of the window or other columns.
If you would like your document to use a single column, whether for streamlining or simplicity, you may want to consider OmniOutliner Essentials. With a license for OmniOutliner Pro, you can turn off Pro features in the License panel, which provides an easy way to create Essentials-compatible documents for sharing.
Many templates in the
Template Picker
contain only the Topic column,
while others use multiple columns to organize and display data of different types.
If you are using
OmniOutliner Pro,
you can
add columns
to start tracking additional data.
Adding Columns
To add columns on Mac:
- Select the Add Column button in the Toolbar
- Use the Add Column menu command
To add columns on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro:
- Select the Add Column button in the Toolbar
- Select Add Column in the Columns Inspector
Removing Columns
To remove columns on Mac:
- Select the column by clicking the column header, and press the Delete key
- Select Remove Column from the Organize Menu
- Select Remove Column from the Column Header Menu
To remove columns on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro:
- Select Delete from the Column Header Menu
- Select Remove Column in the Columns Inspector for a specific column
Editing Columns
Most column editing features are available cross-platform, using the Column Type Inspector on Mac, or Columns Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro.
On Mac, you can quickly edit the title of a column by double-clicking the column header, adjust the width of any column by dragging the column borders, and access additional options in the Column Shortcut Menu.
On iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, you can adjust the width of any column by dragging the column handle, and access additional options in the Column Shortcut Menu, including quick access to the Columns Inspector by selecting Edit.
Column Headers
Outlines with a single column do not display the column header, as there’s no need to distinguish between multiple columns. Once a second column is added, the headers are shown above each column.
This is the Automatic column header behavior, which can be changed by choosing another option from the Column Headers submenu on Mac, or the Column Headers section of the Document Inspector on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro.
Autosizing
Autosizing allows the Topic Column to take as much space a possible, given the size of the containing window, and the width of other columns. It is only available for documents with more than one column.
To switch between width modes on Mac:
- Select Auto in the Column Type Inspector
- Select Autosize from the Topic Column Shortcut Menu
- Select Autosize Topic from the Columns submenu of the View Menu
To switch between width modes on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro:
- Select Autosize in the Column Type Inspector for the Topic column
- Select Autosize from the Topic Column Shortcut Menu
Hierarchy
Once you have more than one row in your document, you can add hierarchy to your document, in order to create structure.
Sections and Levels
Each top level row of your outline is its own section, and each section can contain one or more subsections (children of that section). Those children, in turn, can have children of their own (grandchildren of the top level row), and so on.
Sections live at levels in the hierarchy of your outline. Every outline has at least one Level 1 section: all the rows at the top level are peers (or siblings) of one another. Indenting a row makes it a Level 2 subsection, beneath the top level Level 1 section above it, and so on.
Levels can have consistent, document-wide styling applied using Level Styles in the Styles tab of the Sidebar. Level Styles appear in the Document Styles section as new levels of hierarchy are added to the outline.
Selecting Rows
To select a single row,
click or tap the space to the left of the row handle,
and to the right of the
Note icon.
(This is called the Gutter.)
To select multiple rows using a hardware keyboard, you can Shift + click to select a range of rows, or Command + click to select individual rows.
To select multiple rows on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, use Edit Mode.
Adding Hierarchy
With one or more rows selected, you can indent one or more selected rows beneath the row above, to create a parent/child relationship. To indent, you can (depending on your device):
- Press Tab on a hardware keyboard
- Press Command+] on a hardware keyboard
- Use the Indent command on Mac or iPad
- Tap the
![]()
Indent
button in the bottom toolbar
on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro
The handle of the new parent row changes from a bullet to a disclosure arrow to indicate that it contains indented rows.
Tap a parent row’s disclosure arrow to collapse and expand its contents. A vertical line descending from an open disclosure arrow denotes the span of child rows contained in the parent row. Any number of levels of hierarchy can be added to the outline, provided there are enough rows to keep indenting.
With one or more rows selected, you can outdent one or more selected rows from beneath the row above, restoring their positions as peers to the row above, creating a sibling relationship. To outdent, you can (depending on your device):
- Press Shift+Tab on a hardware keyboard
- Press Command+[ on a hardware keyboard
- Use the Outdent command on Mac or iPad
- Tap the
![]()
Outdent
button in the bottom toolbar
on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro
Copying and Pasting Rows
Touch and hold a row, then release it to reveal its contextual menu. This contains several editorial functions such as Cut, Copy, and (with something on the pasteboard) Paste.
Choose any of these commands to edit the outline as needed. When using the contextual menu to paste, the option is presented to paste above, below, or inside the target row (adding the pasteboard contents as children).
When copying and pasting a row with children (one with a disclosure arrow handle), the parent row and all of those hierarchically nested beneath it come along for the ride.
Organizing Rows With Drag and Drop
Touch and hold a row handle or disclosure arrow to pick it up, then drag it elsewhere in the outline to reposition it. When you have the row where you want it to be, let go and it will fall into place.
As you drag a row over others, they will move apart to make room for the row you’re holding to be dropped between them as a peer (if dragging between a parent and child, the dropped row becomes a peer of the child). If you position a row directly atop another before dropping it, the row beneath is highlighted and upon being dropped, the held row becomes a child of the one you drop it on top of.
When dragging and dropping a row with children (one with a disclosure arrow handle), the parent row and all of those hierarchically nested beneath it come along for the ride.
Multiple rows can be picked up at a time. To do this, touch and hold the first row you want to move, then tap each other row to add them to the selection (each row is picked up and added to the first). Dropping multiple rows works just like dropping a single one; any hierarchy in the rows you pick up will be preserved after dropping them.
Edit mode is available as an alternative to drag and drop for more complex organizational tasks, such as copying and pasting or moving multiple discontiguous sections at once.
The Sidebar
Along the leading edge of OmniOutliner’s window is the Sidebar.
The Sidebar lists the Sections of your outline, the Styles you’ve used (on Mac), and any Filters you’ve saved, and also supports doing a Batch Find.
Show or hide the Sidebar by selecting the Sidebar Button in the toolbar, or using the Show/Hide Sidebar menu command in the View Menu.
The Sections Tab
The first tab of the Sidebar displays the Sections of your outline in a scrollable pane, representing a compact summary of the document hierarchy.
As with rows in the outline, sections in the Sidebar have handles that can be dragged to reposition them (on Mac), and sections with children have disclosure arrows that can be clicked to expand or collapse their contents.
If you select one or more sections in the Sections list, OmniOutliner focuses on those sections—making those sections and their subsections the only thing you’ll see in the outline to the right. Command-click on multiple sections in the sections list to select them, thereby adding them to the set of items focused in the outline.
Focusing on selected content can also be done with View > Focus (Shift+Command+F) and reverted with View > Unfocus (Option+Shift+Command-F), or by Control + clicking to reveal the contextual menu and choosing Focus or Unfocus as desired.
When sections of the outline are focused, that narrowed scope is reflected in the document stats displayed at the bottom of the outline. If the outline is focused when printing, only the focused sections will be printed.
Adding Sections With the Sections List
With sections selected in the Sidebar, new sections (rows) can be added just as they would appear in the outline, using the same set of controls.
Press Return to add a section beneath the selected one(s) that’s a peer of the lowest section selected. The cursor is placed in the outline so you can enter some text for that section.
Similarly, if you wanted to add another section at the same level but above the currently selected section, press Shift+Return.
The Styles Tab
The second tab of the Sidebar, available on Mac only, is the Styles tab.
This is the home for all the styles that describe the look of various parts of your document.
On iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, please see the Edit Styles section of the Inspectors chapter.
Understanding OmniOutliner’s Style Model
Styling in OmniOutliner can be quite sophisticated, composed of styles that affect the entire document, certain types of content, or individually selected rows or blocks of text.
These are broken down across two kinds of styles:
- Document Styles — which affect classes of objects
-
Named Styles — which can be applied as desired atop document styles
-
Document styles reside in the top portion of the Styles tab of the Sidebar, and consist of the Whole Document style, styles for the various row levels that are created as hierarchy is added to the document (Level 1 Rows, Level 2 Rows, and so on), as well as styles for Column Titles, Notes, and the main Topic column. Together, these describe the default foundational appearance of content in the document—they are applied passively to all items they represent.
-
Named styles are found in the lower portion of the Styles tab in the Sidebar, and can be applied to any selection in your document. When applied, a Named style amends the existing Document style with its own properties. For example, you could apply a Heading style on top of a Level 1 Row style to make the text bigger or change the font.
Each template theme comes with some pre-defined Named styles, which you can use, delete, or edit to suit the needs of your document.
The styles you set for the various row levels, headings, and text all stack on top of the styles you designate for the whole document—and Named styles stack on top of those. If you’re curious why a certain section looks the way it does, select it and see the Style Attributes Inspector for a list of styles affecting the selection in order of precedence.
Configuring and Applying Styles
In general, styles are configured by selecting them in the Sidebar and tweaking their characteristics using the Inspectors on the right side of the document window. However, styles are applied differently depending on whether they are Document or Named styles.
Document Styles
- Document styles aren’t applied directly to selections. Rather, their effects are visible on all items they describe. (The Notes style, for example, applies automatically to all notes throughout the document.) To change the appearance of a document style, select it in the Sidebar and use the Inspectors (including the Document Inspectors, especially relevant for the Whole Document style) to adjust the appearance of the content they affect.
Named Styles
- Named styles are located beneath the style separator line. Unlike Document styles, Named styles are saved sets of style traits that can be applied individually to anything with style attributes (rows, columns, blocks of text, or even other styles). Click the checkbox next to a Named style to apply it to a selection in the outline, or to apply its traits to another style, drag and drop it on top of the style you’d like to modify.
Like Document styles, Named styles can be edited by selecting the style in the Sidebar and using the Inspectors to adjust the style attributes. Also like Document styles, editing a Named style automatically updates the styles of objects everywhere it is applied.
To create a new Named style, click the Add button (+) at the lower-left corner of the Styles tab. Delete Named Styles by first selecting the style in the Styles tab, and then choosing Delete Style from the Action menu at the bottom of the Sidebar.
Click the Action button to open a mini-menu for creating new Named styles, duplicating or deleting a style, copying and pasting style properties, and for clearing custom style data from a selected style.
Style Swatches
In both the Style Sidebar tab and the Style Attributes Inspector, Style Swatches provide an at-a-glance visual summary of a style’s properties.
![]()
Swatches with a two-toned blue checkerboard pattern means that there are a
multitude of style properties for that element.![]()
An empty swatch with a dashed border means there are no styles for that
particular row or column. These elements automatically adopt the Whole
Document style for the template you’ve chosen.![]()
A swatch that’s split diagonally with a darker shade on the upper half means
that the style applies a transparent background color to the selection.![]()
Solid squares with a letter A inside are text-specific styles, such as the
font and its color.
Swatches with a two-toned blue checkerboard pattern means that there are a
multitude of style properties for that element.
An empty swatch with a dashed border means there are no styles for that
particular row or column. These elements automatically adopt the Whole
Document style for the template you’ve chosen.
A swatch that’s split diagonally with a darker shade on the upper half means
that the style applies a transparent background color to the selection.
Solid squares with a letter A inside are text-specific styles, such as the
font and its color.The Filters Tab
OmniOutliner’s filtering feature adds tools to create and save your own rules for customizing the visibility of content in your outlines. Saved filters are listed in the Filters tab of the Sidebar.
To create a filter, choose View > Row Filters > New Filter, or click the + button at the bottom of the Filters Sidebar tab. The filter editor appears in a sheet below the Toolbar, where you can set the rules for rows that are visible when the filter is applied.
You can set as many rules as you want, using the + and - buttons next to each line to add and remove them.
You can set as many rules as you want, using the + and - buttons next to each line to add and remove them.
You can set as many rules as you want, using the + and - buttons next to each line to add and remove them.
With the filter set up the way you want, give it a description and click OK. The filter is added to the list in the Filters tab and the View > Row Filters submenu; choose the filter in either of them to apply it to your outline.
For as long as your outline is filtered, the filter bar appears just beneath the Toolbar. It holds the filter description along with buttons to edit, refresh, and dismiss the filter (new rows created while the filter is applied aren’t subject to its rules until you refresh).
When a filter is dismissed, your outline returns to its original view state with all content visible.
One filter option that merits more detail is the is like condition, which matches the input string plus any wildcard characters to text in the chosen scope for the filter.
The is like condition works on any scope that contains rich text or is represented as a string. On these scopes, is like works like is (strict matching), but with wildcard characters available for optional use.
The two wildcard characters are *, which represents any number of characters (including zero), and ?, which represents exactly one character.
For example, Any note is like a*e matches any note with the first character a and the last character e, while Any note is like a?e only matches notes with three characters where a and e are the first and last character.
The Batch Find Tab
Enter keywords in the search field at the top of the sections list to find all sections of the document containing those keywords. The list displays all rows with matching text, with the keyword text highlighted.
Click or tap a row in the batch find results to navigate to its corresponding position in the outline, with the keyword text selected.
The Toolbar
Along the top of OmniOutliner’s window is the Toolbar. Packed with buttons and fully customizable, the Toolbar puts many useful controls just a click away.
Above you’ll see the Toolbar in its default layout. At opposing ends you’ll find buttons for hiding and showing the Sidebar (on the left) and the Inspectors (on the right, next to the Search field).
Toolbar Button Details
When customizing the Toolbar, many of the available buttons have effects that are obvious or identical to the menu commands of the same name. Some of them warrant further explanation, which follows in the sections below.
Using the Share Button
The Share button offers a way to send content straight from OmniOutliner to other apps on your device.
Select the button to choose from among a list of available destination applications, or click More to customize the list in macOS Settings. When you choose a destination, any rows you have currently selected in the outline, along with their children, will be sent to the destination app as plain text (styles are not preserved).
Hierarchy is shown by children being tab-indented beneath their parent rows, and if you are using status checkboxes (View > Show Status Checkboxes) their state will be indicated before each row as well.
Applying Themes
Click the Theme button in the toolbar or choose Apply Template Theme… to open the Template Picker and choose a theme to apply to your document.
To theme an outline is to take the set of styles stored in an OmniOutliner .otemplate file and apply them to the current document. This overwrites any existing saved styles in the document’s Styles Sidebar tab (but leaves styles directly applied to text intact).
Attaching Files
While OmniOutliner outlines are primarily focused on text, if you have a file that’s relevant to your document (such as an image, a video clip, a PDF file, or even another OmniOutliner document) you can attach it with the Attach button in the Toolbar.
You can also attach files in other ways:
- Drag anything in from anywhere, including files from a Finder window or images from a webpage. Alternatively, press Control while dragging to add a link to the file instead.
- Choose Edit > Attach File.
- Click the Toolbar’s Action menu and choose Attach File.
When attaching files by any method other than dragging and dropping things into OmniOutliner, you are presented with a file chooser that looks very much like a Finder window. Use the file chooser to navigate through your Mac’s hard drive until you locate the file you’d like to attach.
In the chooser, you’ll notice two options that affect how the file is attached to your OmniOutliner document:
- Embed the file in the document—The default. A copy of the file you’ve attached is embedded within the OmniOutliner file you’re presently working on.
- Create a link to the file—Rather than embedding an exact duplicate of the file, as with the previous option, this copies the file’s location on your Mac’s hard drive into the OmniOutliner document.
The difference between the two options is relevant when sharing or syncing the document beyond your current Mac. For that, you’ll want to go with the default option (Embed the file in the document) so the destination will also receive the attachment. If you choose the other option, all that appears is the icon and the filename of the file you linked from your Mac.
When you attach an image or PDF file, a preview automatically scales to the width of the column in which it appears. Other types of files appear as an icon with their filename.
If you click an image or PDF file you’ve attached, the following popover menu appears:
You can choose to have the attachment Show as Image or Show as Icon, and you can change the Display name for the attached file from its filename (the default) to something more descriptive. (Non-image files won’t have the Show as Image and Show as Icon buttons along the top.) To open the file, click the Open with button, which recommends an app to use based on the kind of file you’ve attached.
Recording Audio
You can add recorded audio file attachments to your OmniOutliner document right from within the app. To record something, click the Start Recording button in the Toolbar; it’s the one that looks like an old-timey microphone. OmniOutliner starts recording the instant you click that button. When you press that button, you’ll also notice a couple changes in the user interface.
First, the text for the microphone button in the Toolbar changes from Start Recording to End Recording. The button also has a small Stop button applied to it. The other change you’ll notice is a red Recording bar appears just beneath the Toolbar.
In the center of the Recording bar, you’ll see a button to Pause recording, which changes the Recording bar’s color to gray, and a checkmark button (Save) to stop recording. In the gray bar, you’ll notice that Recording has changed to Paused, and the Pause button has been replaced with a Resume button.
Click the Resume button to continue recording where you left off, or click the checkmark (Save) button to stop recording. When you stop recording, an audio player clip shows up in your Outline.
Much like attachments, if you click an audio clip’s Info button (the little i icon at its right edge), a display options popover appears. Here you can opt to have the audio clip show up as a player (the default) or as an icon. More importantly, you can change the audio clip’s Display name from a random number string to something more descriptive. This is particularly important if you choose Show as Icon at the top of the popover.
Check out the Audio Recording Preferences section later in this guide for more information about audio recording options in OmniOutliner.
Using the Filter Field
If you have a long document, OmniOutliner’s integrated search field can save the day when you need to find something that’s buried many levels deep in your outline.
By default, the search field is set to filter your document based on what you enter. Rows in the document that contain matching text are displayed in the outline, while all others are hidden. Click the downward-facing arrow next to the magnifying glass icon to access other options:
-
The first section of the dropdown menu defines the area of the search, from the widest scope (the entire document) to individual columns and notes.
-
The second section toggles between using the search field for filtering or batch finding in the document. Choose Batch Find to display a list of rows matching the search criteria in the Sections tab of the Sidebar. Unlike filtering, the entire outline remains visible when batch finding.
-
Save as Filter, the last option in the menu, creates a new saved filter based on the term entered in the search field. Saved filters can subsequently be re-applied via the View > Row Filters submenu or the Sidebar’s Filters tab, and can be enriched with sophisticated filtering criteria.
Learn more about setting up saved filters in the Filters tab section.
To clear the search field, press Esc or click the icon at its right edge. If you were previously focused on a particular row or section of your document, OmniOutliner restores the outline to where you were when you cancelled the search.
Document Toolbar on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
The Document Toolbar is located above the outline whenever you are working in an OmniOutliner document. The document toolbar presents document-specific controls, from opening and closing the sidebar or inspectors to sharing or exporting the currently open document.
From left to right, the default controls in OmniOutliner’s document toolbar are as follows:
Show/Hide Sidebar
Tap to show or hide the Sidebar along the left side of the screen. (This button is represented by at smaller device widths.)
Documents
Tap to close the current document and return to its folder in the Document Browser.
Document Title
The toolbar displays the name of the current document here. Tap to edit and change the file name.
On narrow devices the document title is hidden to leave room for more functional button controls. You can always change the title of your document by tapping its preview icon text in the document browser.
Only files stored in your On My [device] folder or a connected OmniPresence folder can be renamed within OmniOutliner. To rename other files (such as those stored in iCloud Drive), tap the filename in the Files app instead.
Sync with OmniPresence
This icon appears to the right of the document filename if the file is synced via OmniPresence. The icon indicates whether a sync is in-progress; tapping the OmniPresence icon initiates a sync
Sync Statuses
When editing a file synced with OmniPresence, the sync icon in the document toolbar can appear in the following states:
-
Sync Ready
In its most basic state, OmniPresence is online and ready to sync files. -
Sync In-Progress
Whenever OmniPresence notices a change to the files in the sync folder, the icon appears to be lifting a barbell. -
Sync Offline
If you lose your Internet connection (which is required for syncing), the icon turns light orange to denote that you are offline. -
Sync Error
If you see a light orange sync icon with an exclamation mark, it means that OmniPresence failed to connect to the sync server. This could be the result of an invalid Account Name or Password, or something as simple as an intermittent Internet connection that drops while OmniPresence is trying to connect to the sync server.
If the icon remains in this state, here are some things you could try:
- Tap the icon to display the nature of the error. This may suggest an immediate fix for the problem.
- Double-check your Account Name and Password.
- Check your network connection in Settings.app.
If that doesn’t help, Email Support.
Undo/Redo
Tap to undo the previous change to your document. Touch and hold to reveal a pop-up menu with the option to Redo.
Search
Tap to open the search bar, a secondary bar which spans the width of the outline beneath the document toolbar. Enter keywords here to filter the outline to only rows and notes containing those terms.
Tap Filtering on: to change the scope of the filter from the default Entire Document to something narrower, such as a single column or the Notes field.
If you create a search that you plan to refer to often, tap Save as Filter to save it as a filter for future use.
Tap X at the far side of the search bar to clear the field, and tap Cancel to dismiss the search.
Share
Tap to open a menu containing options for exporting or sharing the document you are working on. See Sharing and Exporting in the Document Browser chapter for details on the menu options.
Starting with OmniOutliner 3.10 and iPadOS 16, the Share button no longer appears in the toolbar and can instead be found in the Document Title menu.
Automation
Tap to open a menu with controls related to Omni’s JavaScript automation. See Automation Menu in the Document Browser chapter for more on these tools.
Edit Mode
Tap to switch to Edit Mode for selecting rows and applying changes en masse. In Edit Mode the Sidebar and Inspector are still available, but other controls are hidden.
While in Edit Mode, tap a row anywhere to select (or deselect) it. With one or more rows selected, the following controls become available in the edit bar at the bottom of the screen. (Depending on your device width, some of them may be hidden behind a More button.)
-
Cut
Remove the selected rows and copy them to the pasteboard. -
Copy
Copy the selected rows to the pasteboard. To paste them, tap Done to exit Edit Mode and select the row where you would like the pasted rows to appear. Touch and hold it to reveal the contextual menu. Tap Paste and choose Above, Below, or Inside to add the copied rows as peers above or below the selected row, or as children of the selected row. -
Delete
Deletes the selected rows from the outline. -
Group
Creates a new row and groups the selected rows as children beneath it.
OmniOutliner for iOS does not have an Ungroup option as part of the Editing tools. If you need to ungroup some rows, use the Editing tools to select and move the rows below the parent row. Then, if needed, delete the old parent row.
- Move
Tap Move, then tap a row in the outline to move selected rows relative to a position relative to it. A contextual menu appears, offering options to move the selected rows Above, Below, or Inside the target row.
Show/Hide Inspector
Tap to show or hide the Inspectors.
More
If you see three dots in the toolbar, this implies there are more options/buttons available than there is space for in the toolbar. Tap to open the More menu, which presents the other available options.
Toolbar Menu on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Tap
to show the
OmniOutliner menu:
- About OmniOutliner
- License
- OmniOutliner Help
- Contact Omni
- Omni Newsletter Signup
- Release Notes
- Connected Folders
- Configure OmniPresence
- Settings
Bottom Toolbar on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
The edit bar is located beneath the outline, and contains all the basic controls you need to add content to your document and organize it.
Indent and Outdent
Use the Indent and Outdent buttons to add hierarchy to your outline.
Tap to indent the selected row, making it a child of the row above it. Tap to outdent the selected row, making it a parent of the row or rows below it.
Audio Recording
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Tap to start an audio recording. Tap to pause the recording, and tap
to end and save it.
The first time you record an audio clip, OmniOutliner asks for permission to access your microphone and to access notifications. This is in order to check for available recording space on your device; OmniOutliner will send you a notification if space is running low.
When you finish a recording, the audio file is attached to the outline in a new row beneath the current selection (or at the end of the document, if nothing is selected). The audio attachment file is labeled with the timestamp of the recording.
Tap the recording file in the row to play it back, and tap it again to pause playback. During playback, controls to start, pause, and cancel playback appear in the edit bar as well.
To delete an audio recording from the document, open its row for editing and press delete to remove it just as you would a piece of text.
Recorded audio is saved in the .m4a file format at a 22,050 Hz sample rate by default. If storage space is not a concern, a higher quality 44,100 Hz setting is available in OmniOutliner settings.
Notes
Tap to edit the note on the currently selected row. Touch and hold the Notes button and other options appear as flyouts: tap to expand all notes in the outline, and tap to collapse all notes.
New Row
Tap to add a row to the outline that is beneath and at the same level as the currently selected row. Touch and hold the New Row button and other options appear as flyouts.
-
Add Parent
Tap to add a row above and one level of hierarchy higher than the selected row. -
Add Above
Tap to add a row above and at the same level as the selected row. -
Add Aunt
Tap to add a row beneath and one level higher than the selected row. -
Add Child
Tap to add a row beneath and one level lower than the selected row. -
Expand All
Tap to expand all sections of the outline, revealing every row. -
Collapse All
Tap to collapse all sections of the outline, hiding all but the top level rows.
Attaching Files
OmniOutliner supports adding just about any type of file to the outline as an attachment.
There are two ways to attach files to an outline:
-
Touch and hold an item in another app to reveal the contextual menu and choose Copy. Then switch to OmniOutliner, and touch and hold at the location in the outline where you would like to attach it and choose Paste from the contextual menu that appears.
-
With multitasking on iPad, drag and drop items directly from other apps into OmniOutliner.
The way that OmniOutliner handles attachments differs slightly depending on the file type.
-
OmniOutliner recognizes all common image types (such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF), and adds them to the outline as images imbedded in the row where they are dragged or pasted.
-
Files of other types (such as OmniGraffle diagrams or OmniPlan projects) are represented in the rows where they are added by icons indicative of the filetype.
Tap an attachment to open the iOS share sheet and access the standard array of controls that it provides for duplicating, saving, or copying the file to another application.
Dragging from the Outline
When multitasking on iPad, you can drag rows and selected text from the outline to other apps. This allows you to quickly export text from the outline or place it in other apps on your device.
For example, you can drag rows, sections, or text selections to:
- …Files, creating a new text file (named “text” by default) in the target location, such as another app’s local documents folder or iCloud Drive.
- …Mail or Notes, adding the selected rows as a hierarchically indented plaintext list.
By default, when you drag out of the OmniOutliner outline to another app, the selected content is exported in a hierarchically indented plain text list.
Use the controls in OmniOutliner Settings to determine whether handles are included in this text export.
For export options for the entire document, see Available Export File Formats.
Toolbar Reference
In this section, toolbar buttons are listed in alphabetical order.
This section is being built out…
Add Column Button ![]()
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on
Mac,
iPad,
iPhone,
Apple Vision Pro
Inserts a new Column in your document.
See also Add Column command
Indent Button ![]()
Outdent Button ![]()
The Inspectors
The Inspectors hold tools for editing the style, structure, and formatting of your document.
The Inspectors are located on the trailing edge of the window on Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, and at the bottom of the screen on iPhone.
To show the Inspector:
- Select Show/Hide Inspector from the View Menu
- Select the
![]()
Inspector Button
in the
Toolbar
Inspectors will update to reflect any selection you make, whether editing a cell, selecting a row or column, or deselecting everything.
Inspectors are divided into two groups, based on how the tools apply to the document:
- Selection Style — Modify attributes for a selection in the Outline or Sidebar
- Document — Modify attributes for the whole document.
You can switch between the Selection Style and Document Inspectors by selecting one of the buttons in the top of the Inspector, or choosing from the Inspectors submenu on Mac.
Inspectors are structured differently on Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro. Please read the relevant section to learn more:
Inspectors on Mac
Selection Style Inspectors on Mac
Use the Selection Style Inspector when you want to change the appearance of rows, columns, text selections, or styles in your document.
If you have a row, column, or text selected, changes will apply to only that selection; if you do not have anything selected, changes will apply to the whole document.
Preview Inspector on Mac
This Inspector previews styles applied to your current selection, as well as an indication of what that selection is (with nothing selected, for example, Whole Document is displayed).
Font Inspector on Mac
This Inspector provides a variety of controls for changing the appearance of the text in your document.
- Font — Select the font for the selected text, row, or document. On Mac, you can also open the Font panel; on other devices, you can tap on Manage Fonts, which will open the Fonts section of Settings.
- Size — Select the font size for the selected text, row, or document.
- Color — Select the font color for the selected text, row, or document. See Choosing Colors for more detail on setting colors in OmniOutliner.
- Bold — Apply or remove the bold style to the selected text, row, or document.
- Italic — Apply or remove the italic style to the selected text, row, or document.
- Underline — Apply or remove the underline style to the selected text, row, or document.
- Strikethrough —
Apply or remove the
strikethroughstyle to the selected text, row, or document.
On Mac, you can click and hold the buttons for Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, or Underline to reveal additional style options.
Choosing Colors on Mac
Throughout the inspectors, you will find color wells which you can use to change the default colors.
On Mac:
- Click on the arrows to the right of the color well, and select a new color from the Omni-selected list of options.
- Select Other… or click on the color well to open the Colors window, which allows you to select, manipulate, and save colors.
When the Colors window first opens, you will see the Color wheel. To select a color, click within the Color Wheel and drag the handle to find the value you want. Beneath the Color Wheel there is a slider for Opacity, with 0% being transparent and 100% opaque.
You can switch from the Color Wheel to other color selecting options by clicking the icons along the top of the Colors window, which include the Color Sliders, Color Palettes, Image Palettes, and Pencils.
The lower section of the Colors window contains an eyedropper (click it to sample a color anywhere on your screen), and a color well that contains your selected color. This is the Color Inspector. Drag a color from the Inspector to one of the empty color swatches along the bottom of the window to save it for later use.
If you run out of space in the color swatches area, you can drag to adjust the size of the window or adjust the divider between the color wheel and the swatches, to reveal more empty rows for saving your custom color selections.
To learn more about the Colors window, see the Apple User Guide article:
Paragraph Inspector on Mac
Use the Paragraph Inspector to choose the layout and background attributes for the current selection.
- Text Alignment — This row of buttons is used to align left, center, align right, or justify text in the selection. See Align or Justify
- Line Height — Choose single spacing, double spacing, or one of several options in-between. Line height adds spacing above a line of text within a row, while Padding adds spacing between rows.
- Background — Set the background color for the selected row or style. See Choosing Colors
- Writing Direction — Set the writing direction to Natural (based on the system language), Left to Right, or Right to Left.
Column Type Inspector on Mac
On Mac, this Inspector appears while editing text in a column, or when a column is selected by clicking its header. If column headers are hidden, select Show in the Column Headers submenu.
When first added, the type for a new column is Rich Text.
You can choose a new column type by making a selection from the Type menu. Available types include:
If you add custom content specific to a given column type, switching the column type to one that doesn’t support the same format will erase any entered content.
If you unintentionally switch column types, Undo will switch back to the previous type and restore any lost content.
Column Width
Enter a value in the Width field to set the width of the selected column. If the Topic column is selected, the Auto button can be used to have the Topic column resize automatically based on the changing widths of the window or the other columns in the outline. (This is referred to in the Topic header contextual menu as Autosize, and in the View > Columns submenu as Autosize Topic.)
Click the Resize to Fit button to have the column width automatically adjust to fit the longest single line of text. (This is a one-time operation. Subsequent changes to the text do not cause the column to resize again.)
Row Inspector on Mac
Use these controls to set options for your current row selection.
- Handle — (Mac only) Determines whether the row handle is Always visible, only visible when you Hover over the row, or Never visible.
- Numbering — Choose a numbering style to use for the selected rows in your document. The dropdown menu offers a variety of options that mirror those in the Row Numbering submenu, with the addition of an Other… option (Mac only), which presents two fields to enter custom prefix and suffix characters. Values entered here surround any existing row numbering scheme.
- Gutter — (Mac only) Set a color to use for the gutter (the area where the row handle and status checkbox appear). Click the arrows on the right edge to choose from one of the Omni-selected color choices, offered, or choose Other to open the Colors palette.
- Row Padding — (Mac only) Set the amount of space (in pixels) above and below the text within the row.
- Above Note — (Mac only) Set the amount of space above an inline note.
- Above Children — (Mac only) Set the amount of space between a parent row and its children.
- Below Children — (Mac only) Set the amount of space below the last child row.
- Start a New Page — (Mac only) Determines whether the currently selected row forces the start of a new page. When you select this option, a red dashed line appears above the row, as if you were going to cut the document with a pair of scissors. This is specifically for the purposes of printing or exporting to PDF.
- Indent Children — Choose whether to indent a row’s children. If you choose to not indent children, it might be hard to determine which is the parent and which is the child row. As such, you might want to style child rows differently, perhaps giving them a different background color or shade, reducing the font size, and so on.
Style Attributes Inspector on Mac
The Style Attributes Inspector shows a detailed list of all the styles currently applied to the selection, organized by source (Text, Row, Whole Document, and so forth). It also provides controls for removing styles on the selection, or applying them (via drag and drop) to other items or styles in the outline.
The order of styles shown (from top to bottom) matches the priority with which they are applied to the selection, providing insight on how the item’s style is calculated. where styles conflict, the topmost style overwrites those beneath it.
Click the
button at the right of each style to remove it from the selection.
Document Inspectors on Mac
Use the Document Inspectors to adjust the styles or attributes of the outline as a whole, rather than styles that can be applied to a certain part of the outline.
The Document Inspector controls the appearance of how elements (rows, columns, margins, and more) are laid out within the outline.
Dynamic Theme on Mac
Starting with OmniOutliner 5.4 and macOS 10.14, your macOS appearance settings control the appearance of the window surrounding your outline, including the Toolbar, Sidebar, and Inspector. Dark Mode does not update the outline appearance, which is controlled by the Whole Document background color you choose in the Inspector, or by applying a template theme.
Previous versions of OmniOutliner relied on specific background colors to create documents compatible with macOS Dark Mode.
Appearance Inspector on Mac
Alternative Rows on Mac
Use the Alternate rows option to set a background color to alternating rows in your document. You can choose from one of the preset color options, or click the color bar to choose a custom color or background pattern from the Colors palette.
Horizontal grid
Use the Horizontal grid option to add a thin line of color between the rows in your document. You can choose from one of the preset color options, or click the color bar to choose a custom color from the Colors palette.
Vertical grid
- Use the Vertical grid option to add a thin line of color between the columns in your document. You can choose from one of the preset color options, or click the color bar to choose a custom color from the Colors palette.
Margin
Choose a color for the document margin—the space outside the bounds of the outline’s canvas. This appears when in full screen mode, or when the width of all visible columns is less than the width of the outline in the window. You can choose from one of the preset color options, or click the color bar to choose a custom color from the Colors palette.
Column Headers
Choose whether to Show or Hide column headers. The Automatic option shows any text you’ve entered for a header, but hides the generic Topic header if you have only one column in your document. You can also do this by choosing View > Column Headers > Show/Automatic/Hide.
Show Row Status
Choose this option if you want to display the status checkboxes along the left side of every row. These are different from the checkbox option you can set on a column, in that status checkboxes are always located on the left edge of and follow the indentation level of your rows.
Inline Notes
Choose whether inline notes will wrap based on the first column of the document, or if they’ll span the width of all columns. (Inline notes, which are styled using the Notes style, appear beneath the text you’ve entered in a row.)
Indent Child Rows
This pop-up menu lets you choose how far child rows will be indented. You can choose from one of the options we’ve provided, or enter a value of your liking and press Return.
Format and Metadata on Mac
Use the Format and Metadata Inspector to provide additional information (metadata) about the document you’re working on. The information you provide here stays with the document and makes it easier to find on your Mac using Spotlight.
Save As
The first option in the Document Inspector is a popup menu with options for how your Outliner document is saved: either as a flat file or as a file package. (This option is document-specific.)
If you choose to save as a flat file (the default), OmniOutliner compresses your files down to the smallest practical size. Compressed files don’t just take up less space on your hard drive; they’re also easier to share, and to sync between devices.
Choosing to save as a file package means your files won’t be compressed. This generally isn’t recommended, but can be useful if you are saving your OmniOutliner files in a version control or document management system, or if you run scripts (Python, Ruby, and so on) on the XML inside your document.
Encryption on Mac
Click the Gear button to add or modify #encryption on your document (detailed at the end of this chapter).
Use the gear button in the Format and Metadata Inspector (or the **File >
You are prompted to enter and confirm a password. With the New Password and Verify fields matching (and an optional password hint added), click OK to finish the encryption process. The next time you open the document, you’ll see the following prompt:
Your document is now encrypted and cannot be opened—or have its contents otherwise read—without entering the password. This is true both of the original document and any copies of it that are subsequently created, so if you send a copy to a coworker they’ll need the password to open it.
To remove encryption from a password-protected document (and remove the requirement for a password), choose File > Encrypt Document, enter the existing password, and click Remove Password.
OmniOutliner uses AES-256 in CCM mode for encryption when password protecting an OmniOutliner file.
Metadata
The rest of this Inspector is composed of metadata fields for contextually enriching your document, and have no direct effect on the contents of your outline. The metadata fields in the Format and Metadata Inspector include:
- Copyright
- Copyright statements typically declare who owns the legal rights to something. (Usually you, your company, or some other entity.)
- Version
- Version numbers are used to indicate a certain “state” of a project. For example, 0.1 might be a beta release while 1.0 might be an initial release.
- Subject
- Something similar to what you would enter as the subject line for an email; for example, Staff project assignments for OmniOutliner 5, or Fried Chicken Recipe.
- Description
- Beneath the Comments field is a popup menu that’s set to Authors. This menu works in conjunction with the combo box below it for creating metadata attribute and value pairs.
- Comments
- Use the Comments field to enter more information about the file you’re working on. For example, you could provide additional detail about a project this file is associated with, or notes to yourself about other things that you’d like to add to the file.
- Key Value Pairs
-
To create a metadata attribute and value pair using the popup menu and the combo box:
- Select one of the options in the popup menu (Authors, Organizations, Languages, Keywords, or Projects).
- Click the Add button (the + sign) at the bottom of the Document Inspector. When you click Add, the focus changes to the box in the middle so you can enter information about the item you’ve selected in the popup menu.
- When you’ve finished entering some text, either press Tab or Return to save the metadata information to the file.
If you decide later that you want to remove an item, select it with the mouse and then click Remove (the - button, next to the Add button). To edit an existing item, double-click to highlight the text, and then enter your changes and press Tab or Return to save the changes.
Options in the popup menu include (all of these options can have multiple entries):
- The name(s) of the person or people who created the document.
- Organizations
- The name of your company or the organization the document has been created for.
- Languages
- Enter the language, such as English or Japanese, or use one of the ISO 639 language codes, such as en or jp.
- Keywords
- Keywords increase the find-ability of your files more than anything else. Add as many keywords as you like; they help make each document unique when it comes to finding files with Spotlight.
- Projects
- If you’ve created an Outliner file for a specific project, enter the project name here.
If you are using other Omni apps, such as OmniGraffle or OmniPlan, you can enter similar metadata in the Document Inspectors for those apps. macOS Spotlight indexes these attributes, making it particularly easy to find files that share metadata in common.
private or sensitive material.
Inspectors on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Selection Style Inspectors on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Use the Selection Style Inspector when you want to change the appearance of rows, columns, text selections, or styles in your document.
If you have a row, column, or text selected, changes will apply to only that selection; if you do not have a selection, changes will apply to the whole document.
Style Attributes Preview on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
This Inspector previews styles applied to your current selection, as well as an indication of what that selection is (with nothing selected, for example, Whole Document is displayed).
Tap on the preview to view the Style Attributes Inspector.
Font Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision pro
Use the Font Inspector to change the appearance of the text in your document.
- Font — Select the font for the selected text, row, or document. The bottom of the list contains Manage Fonts, which will open the Fonts section of Settings.
- Font Color — Select the font color for the selected text, row, or document. See Choosing Colors for more detail on setting colors in OmniOutliner.
- Bold — Apply or remove the bold style to the selected text, row, or document.
- Italic — Apply or remove the italic style to the selected text, row, or document.
- Underline — Apply or remove the underline style to the selected text, row, or document.
- Strikethrough —
Apply or remove the
strikethroughstyle to the selected text, row, or document. - Size — Select the font size for the selected text, row, or document.
Choosing Colors on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Throughout the inspectors, you will find color wells which you can use to change the default colors.
On iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro:
- Tap a color well to open a pane of Omni-selected color choices, and tap one to select it.
- You can tap another color to change your selection, or tap the HSB, RGB, or Gray tabs to mix your own colors by adjusting the sliders in each tab.
Paragraph Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Use the Paragraph Inspector to choose the alignment and background color for the current selection.
- Text Alignment — This row of buttons is used to align left, center, align right, or justify text in the selection. See Align or Justify
- Background — Set the background color for the selected row or style. See Choosing Colors
Row Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Use the Row Inspector to change options for your current row selection.
- Numbering — Choose a numbering style to use for the selected rows in your document. The dropdown menu offers a variety of options that mirror those in the Row Numbering submenu on Mac.
- Indent Children — Choose whether to indent a row’s children. If you choose to not indent children, it might be hard to determine which is the parent and which is the child row. As such, you might want to style child rows differently, perhaps giving them a different background color or shade, reducing the font size, and so on.
Apply Styles Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
The Apply Styles inspector provides controls for applying named styles to the current selection, editing existing styles, and removing custom styles from the selection.
To apply a style to a selected row, rows, or text, tap the style’s name in the inspector. A check mark appears next to the style to indicate that it is applied to the selection. Tap the style’s name again to remove it.
See Edit Styles in the Document Inspector section of this chapter to learn more about creating, editing, and deleting Named Styles.
If any custom styles have been applied to the selection, tap Clear Custom Styles to remove them all and return the style to that inherited from the document’s underlying structural styles.
Style Attributes Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
The Style Attributes Inspector shows a detailed list of all the styles currently applied to the selection, organized by source (Text, Row, Whole Document, and so forth). It also provides controls for removing styles on the selection, or applying them (via drag and drop) to other items or styles in the outline.
The order of styles shown (from top to bottom) matches the priority with which they are applied to the selection, providing insight on how the item’s style is calculated. where styles conflict, the topmost style overwrites those beneath it.
Tap the
Clear
button at the right of each style to remove it from the selection.
Document Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
The Document section of the inspector holds controls that affect the entire outline.
Tap the segmented control at the top of the inspector pane to switch between the Selection and Document inspectors.
This chapter describes the features of the Document inspectors, including controls for applying a template theme to the entire document, editing the document’s structural and named styles, creating, editing, and managing global settings for document columns, and managing other document-wide visual and file properties (such as (encryption and metadata).
Edit Styles on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Tap Edit Styles to view a list of all style presets currently saved with the document. These include structural styles, which apply to universal components of the outline, and named styles, which are saved sets of style attributes that can be applied to individual selections. To create a new named style, tap Add Named Style at the bottom of the list of named styles. This presents the style editor, where you can add a name for the style and define its attributes just as if you were setting style attributes on a selection in the outline.
Tap a style’s name in the list to open it for editing. An inspector pane appears with controls similar to the Selection inspectors described in this chapter, except that the values set for each parameter apply to the chosen style rather than a selection in the outline. (When a named style is applied to a selection, it brings its entire set of style attributes along for the ride.)
To reorder or delete named styles saved with the document, tap Edit next to the Named Styles inspector header. [Use the reordering handle on the right of a style’s row to change its position in the list, and tap the Delete button on the left to reveal a delete control that removes the style from the document entirely.
Dynamic Theme on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
- Allow Independent Light and Dark Color Palettes
- Swap Palettes
- Apply a New Theme…
Apply a New Theme
Choose Apply Template Theme to open the template chooser and select a template with structural styles that you would like to apply to the outline.
Unlike choosing a template at initial document creation (where the document you create is populated with sample content from the template), applying a template to an existing outline just overwrites the document’s style properties — not any of its content.
Applying a template theme will overwrite not only the structural styles currently present in the document, but also all of its named styles, including any new or custom styles added after creating the document.
This means that not only will the existing structural styles be replaced; any named styles applied to content in the document will also be removed. (Unless a style with an identical name exists in the new template; in this case, the style will be replaced.)
Ad hoc styles applied directly to text will not be cleared by changing templates.
Appearance Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
- Background
- Alternate Row
- Horizontal Grid
- Vertical Grid
- Column Headers
- Row Status
- Note Span Columns
- Zoom
Background Color
This control offers a convenient way to set the background color of the entire outline. This is identical to the background color property of the Whole Document [structural style]), so changing it in either place leads to the same result (the change is reflected in both places).
Alternate Row Color
This control adds an alternating row color to every row in the outline. This style is applied above the Whole Document style but below any row level structural styles, so setting a background color on a Level X Row style supersedes the alternate row color for that level row and any above it.
See Document Styles for a general explanation of the order in which styles are applied to content in the outline.
Horizontal grid
Use the Horizontal grid option to add a thin line of color between the rows in your document. You can choose from one of the preset color options, or click the color bar to choose a custom color from the Colors palette.
Vertical grid
Use the Alternate rows option to set a background color to alternating rows in your document. You can choose from one of the preset color options, or click the color bar to choose a custom color or background pattern from the Colors palette.
Column Headers
Choose whether column headers are displayed, using one of these options:
- Show — Displays all column headings.
- Automatic — Displays column headings if there are two or more columns in your document.
- Hide — Hides all column headings.
Row Status
Tap the View icon next to the Status control to toggle status checkbox visibility on the Topic column.
Changes to checkbox status persist regardless of the checkbox visibility setting, so you can check them off while visible, hide them, and reveal them again, and the latest checked (or unchecked) status remains.
Notes Span Columns
Zoom
The Zoom setting controls the magnification of text in the outline. Tap the plus and minus buttons to increment or decrement the zoom by ten percent.
This setting does not affect the actual size of the text in the outline; just the display size. This is useful for improving visibility of small text or fitting more of the outline onto the screen without changing any of its style properties.
Columns Inspector on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
The Columns section of the document inspector governs the appearance of columns in the outline, and provide the opportunity to customize existing columns and create new ones.
- Tap Add Column at the bottom of the list to add a new column to the outline. Creating a new column opens it for editing in the inspector, with controls for its style properties and column type.
- Tap Edit next to the Columns inspector header to reveal handles next to each column for rearranging them in the outline. Touch and drag the reordering handle of the column you want until it is in the desired location in the list.
- While editing the column order, columns other than Notes and Topic also have buttons that can be tapped to delete them from the outline entirely.
- Tap the View icon next to a column in the list to show or hide it from view. Hiding a column this way only removes it from display in the outline; its contents are preserved intact.
Tap any column in the list to configure its style and column type properties, as described in the Selection Inspectors’ Column section.
Two columns are present in every document upon creation, and differ slightly from others subsequently added to the outline: Notes and Topic.
The Notes Column
The Notes column exists in every document, and acts as a visual and interactive indication of the presence of notes on a row.
When visible, the notes column displays icons next to each row with a note attached. Tap one of these icons to open or close the note on the row, or tap the empty space where an icon would be to add a new note on a row without one.
Tap the View icon next to the Notes column in the columns list to toggle its visibility in the outline.
Other than toggling the column’s visibility or changing its order in the columns list, the Notes column cannot be modified.
The Topic Column
The Topic column is the only column that can be reorganized in your Outline hierarchy
The Topic column is the only column that can be structured hierarchically in a document created using one of OmniOutliner’s default templates. (For many templates, it is the only column other than Notes.)
As such, it has some unique properties not shared by other columns (See The Anatomy of an Outline for a complete overview).
- The Topic column can be set to Autosize based on the width of the window or other column widths.
- The Topic column contains components not present in any other column, including hierarchy, row handles, and its own built-in checkboxes.
- The Topic column is linked to the Note field such that notes only span the width of the Topic column, not any other subsequently created columns.
- Unlike other columns, the Topic column cannot be hidden.
When editing the Topic column, its default name can be changed and the document saved as a custom template for outlines where another hierarchical column name would be more descriptive.
Other Columns
Column Name
Tap here to change the existing column name to something else.
Column Type
The Topic column and any additional columns always start out with the Rich Text type by default. However, you can change this to one of the following to suit the needs of your outline.
If you add custom content specific to a chosen column type, switching the column type to one that doesn’t support that specialized content will cause it to be lost.
If you unintentionally switch column types, tap Undo to switch back to the previous type and revert any data loss.
Autosize Column
When the Topic column is selected, use the Autosize switch to have it resize automatically based on the changing widths of the device view or the other columns in the outline. (This control only appears when editing the Topic column and is not available for other columns.)
Column Style
Tap to apply a custom style to the column. The top level of the Column Style editor has controls for commonly used styles like bold, italic, and underline, as well as the list of named styles saved with the document.
Tap Customize style for the full set of additional style controls, identical to those in the Selection inspector (described throughout this chapter).
Type of File
By default, OmniOutliner saves documents as flat files: files that are compressed down to the smallest practical size. Flat files don’t just take up less space on your device; they’re also easier to share, and to sync between devices.
Alternatively, you can choose to save your file as a file package. This means the file won’t be compressed, and isn’t generally recommended. It can be useful in specific cases, however, such as for files stored in a version control or document management system, or when running scripts (Python, Ruby, and so on) on the XML inside your document.
If you’re syncing with a third party cloud storage provider such as Dropbox, be sure to use the flat file type for saving your OmniOutliner files. Using the package file type will result in errors when syncing with these services.
Encryption on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Encryption adds password protection to documents containing private or sensitive material.
When you choose to encrypt a document, you are prompted to enter and confirm a password. With the enter password and verify password fields matching (and an optional password hint added), tap OK to finish the encryption process.
The document is now encrypted using industry standard AES-256 encryption in CCM mode. The document’s thumbnail preview in the document browser changes to a lock icon to indicate that the contents are hidden and password protected.
The next time you open the document, you’ll see the following prompt:
Your document is now encrypted and cannot be opened — or have its contents otherwise read — without entering the password. This is true both of the original document and any copies of it that are subsequently created, so if you send a copy to a coworker they’ll need the password to open it.
After adding a password to a document, controls in this section change to include Remove Password and Change Password. Enter the current password when prompted to either remove the password entirely (and remove encryption from the document), or to change the existing password to something else.
Metadata
The metadata section of the Document inspector provides a set of ten metadata properties for adding information to enrich and contextualize your document.
The first five metadata properties are text fields (labeled Empty by default). Tap any of these to enter text in the field.
- Copyright
- Version
- Subject
- Description
- Comments
The remaining metadata consist of key-value pairs. Each property represents a key; tap it to add values corresponding to that key.
- Authors
- Organizations
- Languages
- Keywords
- Projects
Tap Edit when viewing a key-value list to delete or reorder the values stored there.
Editing Columns
Columns have a few common properties, with specific Column Types expanding or narrowing the range of supported properties.
Every column has at least:
- Name — Every column can be renamed, except for the Notes column, which does not display a title.
- Type —
- Column Width — (Mac only)
Column Types
When first added, the type for a new column is Rich Text.
You can choose a new column type by making a selection from the Type menu. Available types include:
Once you have selected a column type, additional menus may appear from this list of options:
- Format — Format options depend on the selected column type, and many update depending on your Language & Region settings in System Settings.
- Values — Values are only available for Pop-up List Columns; please see that section for more information.
- Summary/Summaries — Summary options depend on the selected column type. Summaries only appear on the parent row for a group. In that parent row, the summary is calculated based on the values of its children; on Mac, it is also displayed with a slight gray background to the cell.
Each column type discussed in this section includes information about the available options.
Checkbox Columns
Supported fields:
- Name
- Summary/Summaries
Tap the checkbox in a checkbox column cell to toggle between a checked and unchecked binary state. (The checkbox is the only content in a column of this type.)
Checkbox Summary
Options include:
- None — There is no summary; the summary cell displays a checkbox that acts completely independent of its children.
- State — Displays an empty checkbox if no items have been checked off, a checkbox with a dash inside if some items have been checked, or a filled checkbox if all of the items have been checked.
- Hidden — The summary cell is empty, regardless of the state of the other checkboxes in the column.
Date Columns
Supported fields:
- Name
- Format
- Summary/Summaries
When entering dates into columns, OmniOutliner uses date parsing logic that accurately interprets entries like now, yesterday, 2d, September, thu, or –5w and renders the date in the relevant format.
You can be pretty creative with the way you enter dates; OmniOutliner is rather smart about guessing what you mean. For example:
- 2d, –3w, 1h, 1y1m, and so on — Relative dates and times put the date at a certain amount of time from right now. Negative numbers represent times in the past.
- 2 days, –3 weeks, 1 hour, 1 year 1 month, and so on — You can use the full names of units too.
- yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, next thursday, last month, this friday, and so on — You can refer to relative dates using common words. “This”, “next”, and “last” have specific meanings: this friday always means the Friday in this week, next friday always means the Friday in the next week, and last friday always means the Friday in last week, regardless of what day today is. Other units work in the same way.
- september, fri, 2019, and so on — If you enter the name of a specific time period, the date will be at its beginning. So september means September first.
- 5/23/08 10a, 9.30.09 2:00 PM, and so on — You can use the short date format as defined in your Language & Region System Settings.
- 2w sat, 4d @ 5p, mon 6a, aug 6 tue 5p, and so on — Mix the available formats however you like.
- now, 9, 14:00, tom, and so on — OmniOutliner makes its best guess at things like bare numbers, times, and word fragments. If you think something might work, give it a try.
Date Format
With the Date column type chosen, use the Locale dropdown menu (only available on Mac) to switch between regions used to calculate the time. Use the Format dropdown menu to choose how dates and times are displayed in the column.
If you choose Custom Format (only on Mac) from the Format menu, the Date Format Editor appears. To use the Date Format Editor, drag the items you’d like as part of the date/time string up to the field at the top of the dialog window. Items, such as Day of the Week or Month, have additional formats which you can choose by clicking the downward-pointing arrow. By default, the custom format uses slashes ( / ) for the delimiter, but you can enter another character (or different characters) or remove them entirely, if you’d like.
Date Summary
Options include:
- None — There is no summary.
- Minimum — The summary cell displays the earliest date (or time) in the column from among the child rows.
- Maximum — The summary cell displays the latest date (or time) in the column from among the child rows.
- Hidden — The summary cell is empty.
Duration Columns
Supported fields:
- Name
- Format
- Summary/Summaries
-
Use a Duration column for estimating or tracking the amount of time a task or project takes.
Use the Settings popup menu to select from Work Time, Calendar Time, or to use a Custom time of your choosing. OmniOutliner formats the duration time based on the Setting you’ve chosen; for example, 12h in Calendar Time is equivalent to 1d 4h in Work Time (assuming an 8 hour workday). If you turn on Long format, OmniOutliner spells out the time durations; for example, 1d 4h gets expanded to 1 day 4 hours.
Use the hours per day, hours per week, and hours per month fields to adjust or fine-tune the Duration settings to suit your needs.
Duration Summary options include:
-
None—There is no summary.
-
Total—The summary cell displays the total of all cells in the column.
-
Minimum—The summary cell displays the lowest duration in the column.
-
Maximum—The summary cell displays the highest duration in the column.
-
Average Leaves—The summary cell displays the weighted average of durations among children of branches of the parent row (also known as leaves). If one branch has two leaves and another has one, for example, the first branch is weighted at 2/3 of the average displayed in the parent cell, while the second is weighted at 1/3.
-
Hidden—The summary cell is empty. ### Number Columns
Supported fields:
- Name
- Format
- Summary/Summaries
When you choose this column type, an additional Format menu appears with options for number formatting:
- 9,999.99 — Numbers with a two-digit decimal at the end. Large numbers will use a comma or period to separate thousands, depending on the Number format setting in the Language & Region section of System Settings.
- 9999.99 — Numbers with a two-digit decimal. Large numbers do not use a separator.
- 10000 — Whole numbers, with decimal numbers rounded up or down to the nearest whole number. Examples: both 2.67 and 3.14 are rounded to 3.
- 10000% — Whole number percentage, with decimal numbers rounded up or down to the nearest whole number. Examples: both 2.67% and 3.14% are rounded to 3%.
- 99.99% — Percentages with a two-digit decimal value, if needed. For example, 99% appears as that and not 99.00%, while 3.14159% is rounded to 3.14%.
- 99.99% — Percentages with a two-digit decimal value, if needed. Examples: 99% appears as 99%, while 3.14159% is rounded to 3.14%.
- $9,999.99 — Currency, with format based on the Region setting in the Language & Region section of System Settings.
Number Summary options are:
- None — There is no summary, and all cells in the column are available for editing.
- Total — Summary displays the total value for all indented rows. Only non-parent row cells are available for editing.
- Minimum — The summary cell displays the lowest number in the column. Only non-parent row cells are available for editing.
- Maximum — The summary cell displays the highest number in the column. Only non-parent row cells are available for editing.
- Average Leaves — The summary cell displays the weighted average of numerical values among children of branches of the parent row (also known as leaves). If one branch has two leaves and another has one, for example, the first branch is weighted at 2/3 of the average displayed in the parent cell, while the second is weighted at 1/3. Only non-parent row cells are available for editing.
- Hidden — The summary cell is empty. Only non-parent row cells are available for editing.
Pop-up List Columns
Supported fields:
- Name
- Values
- Summary/Summaries
Pop-up List Values
-
Choose the Pop-up List column type when you have a set of repeating options that you need to choose from.
A table in the Column Type Inspector contains the list of values (pop-up options) that you can customize using the + and - buttons below it.
After creating the list, start entering one of the terms in a pop-up list column cell and you’ll have the option automatically enter it from the selection that appears.
If you enter a term in a pop-up list column cell that isn’t already part of the list, you can press Command-Return to add it to the list.
Pop-up List Summary
Pop-up List Summary options include:
- Minimum— The the summary cell displays uses the first entry in the Column Type Inspector.
- Maximum— The the summary cell displays the last entry in the Column Type Inspector.
- Hidden—The summary cell is empty.
Rich Text Columns
- Choose Rich Text for regular text; this is the default column type for new columns.
Rich Text column type summary options include:
-
None — There is no summary.
-
Hidden — The summary cell is empty.
Documents and Templates
Whether you are creating reference materials, working on your next novel or paper, or simply gathering your thoughts, you can use OmniOutliner documents as the foundation for your next project.
Documents allow you to quickly capture your thoughts, organize them into a logical structure, import existing material, export to other formats, or print your latest project.
Template Picker
Just as great ideas begin with OmniOutliner, great OmniOutliner documents begin with a template!
The Template Picker presents the first time you open OmniOutliner, as well as when you use the New from Template… command on Mac, or tap the New from Template button in the iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro Document Manager.
The Template Picker presents a selection of Omni-created template documents, as well as any templates that you have created, and which are accessible in one of your Connected Folders.
Documents on Mac
Importing to OmniOutliner
OmniOutliner recognizes the following file formats, which can be imported through the File > Open (Command+O) dialog:
- .opml—A valid OPML file.
- .ooutline—Files created with OmniOutliner 5 for Mac or OmniOutliner 3 for iOS.
- .otemplate—Template files created with OmniOutliner 5 for Mac or OmniOutliner 3 for iOS.
- .oo3—Files created with OmniOutliner 3 or 4 for Mac, or OmniOutliner 1 for iPad or 2 for iOS.
- .oo3template—Template files created with OmniOutliner 3 or 4 for Mac, or OmniOutliner 1 for iPad or 2 for iOS.
- .txt—Plain text and tab-delimited files.
- .rtf—All text styles and colors are preserved when importing an RTF file.
- .rtfd—As with RTF files, all text styles and colors are preserved, and any images are also brought along for the ride.
OmniOutliner cannot open files created or exported as .csv (Comma-Separated Values). Instead, use a tab-delimited file and save it with a .txt file extension.
Exporting from OmniOutliner
For those times when you need to send a file to someone who doesn’t have OmniOutliner (or to continue work on your outline in another application), we’ve included a bunch of export file formats that you can choose from. To export an open file, choose File > Export (Option+Command+E), and then choose one of the following options from the File Format pop-up menu:
- CSV
- When exporting a multi-column outline as CSV, OmniOutliner saves the .csv file using standard comma-separated values (CSV) conventions (i.e., each column is separated by a comma, and text with spaces is placed within quotations).
- Excel 2010 Format
- Creates a .xlsx spreadsheet document capable of being read in Microsoft Excel 2010 (and other versions of Excel that support the format). This export option maps most closely to multi-column data outside OmniOutliner, and does its best to replicate styles between the two (within the limits of Excel).
Microsoft Excel allows hyperlinks to be set on a cell. OmniOutliner export supports this: when an OmniOutliner cell contains nothing but a single hyperlink, it exports as a link on the Excel cell.
Having multiple links in an OmniOutliner cell will result in none of them being set, and unlinked text plus a link results in the link not being set.
That said, any hyperlink present is still converted to text in the destination cell, so no content is lost. Link text exported in this way can be converted back to hyperlinks within Excel itself.
- HTML
- Creates a like-named folder that contains an index.html file along with the necessary images and attachments that make up your OmniOutliner file. All of the styles you’ve used in OmniOutliner are converted to CSS and included in the index.html file.
- HTML (Dynamic)
- This option gives you everything that comes with the basic HTML export, plus an added outliner.js file. This JavaScript file is what makes the file dynamic; you can open and close the sections of your document just as you would in OmniOutliner.
- Microsoft Word (indented)
- Creates a .docx file that opens in the default page layout view and retains the outline structure via indentation. This export option only includes the topic column, and is primarily useful for transitioning from an outline to a word processor (rather than duplicating OmniOutliner’s functionality in Word). Row level styles are converted to heading styles, and other styles are flattened and applied directly to text (Microsoft Word does not support OmniOutliner’s style model).
- Microsoft Word (outline)
- Creates a .docx file that opens by default in Microsoft Word’s Outline view. Choose this option to export an outline that can be readily expanded upon in Word. This export option only includes the topic column.
- OmniOutliner Document
- Exports a .ooutline file, the current default OmniOutliner file format (for OmniOutliner 6, OmniOutliner 5 for Mac, and OmniOutliner 3 for iPad and iPhone).
- OmniOutliner Template
- Exports a .otemplate file which can be used as the base theme for other OmniOutliner outlines. This template format is not compatible with versions earlier than OmniOutliner 5 for Mac or OmniOutliner 3 for iOS.
- OmniOutliner 3
- Exports a .oo3 file which can be opened in OmniOutliner 3 and 4 for Mac, and in OmniOutliner 1 for iPad and 2 for iOS. These files are not compatible with OmniOutliner 2 for Mac and earlier. They can be opened in OmniOutliner 5, but must be updated to the newer .ooutline format before all editing features are available.
- OmniOutliner 3 Template
- Exports a .oo3template file which can be opened in OmniOutliner 3 and 4 for Mac, and in OmniOutliner 1 for iPad and 2 for iOS. These files are not compatible with OmniOutliner 2 or earlier. They can be opened in OmniOutliner 5, but must be updated to the newer .otemplate format before they can be edited.
- OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language)
- Exports a .opml file, which retains the hierarchical structure of your outline. However, OPML files do not retain any of the styles or attachments you may have applied in OmniOutliner.
- Plain Text (with tabs)
- Exports a raw .txt file without any styles. Child rows and columns are aligned using tabs rather than spaces, making this type of export useful for importing into spreadsheet apps such as Numbers or Excel.
- PowerPoint 2012 Format (pptx)
-
OmniOutliner exports the contents of your outline in an XML format that PowerPoint 2012 can interpret and render. After exporting your outline as .pptx, you can then import the PowerPoint file into Apple’s Keynote app.
Each Level 1 row becomes a separate slide in the PowerPoint presentation, with its children listed on that slide, and notes become presenter notes. Very little styling is carried over from OmniOutliner (styles don’t match well between the two formats, so we err on the side of removing them).
Image attachments are placed on slides corresponding to their level in the hierarchy, but must be manually repositioned to the desired location on the slide.
- RTF (Rich Text Format)
- Exports a .rtf file, which retains all of the styles you’ve applied in OmniOutliner. RTF is a standard document format that most word processors, such as Word and macOS’s TextEdit app can open. Export to RTF if your Outliner document contains only text and numbers.
- RTFD (Rich Text Format with Attachments)
- Exports a .rtfd file, which retains all of the styles you’ve applied in OmniOutliner. What sets RTFD apart from RTF is that an RTFD file can contain attachments, such as any images, audio clips, or anything else you attach to your OmniOutliner file. Most word processors, such as Word, Pages, and macOS’s TextEdit can open .rtfd files.
The popular PDF file format is not included as an export option because OmniOutliner supports the macOS standard Save as PDF option available from the print panel. See Printing in OmniOutliner for details on configuring the appearance of your document for both print and PDF export.
Sharing OmniOutliner Files with OmniGraffle
If you use OmniGraffle (the Omni Group’s powerful design application), you can share OmniOutliner files with it and create visual representations of your outline hierarchy from your original styled text layout.
- Open OmniGraffle and choose File > Open.
- In the Open dialog, choose any file whose extension is .ooutline.
- Click Open.
- OmniGraffle presents you with the Import Outline dialog. At the top, be sure to select one of the themed templates, such as Circles or Lines.
You can use OmniGraffle’s Outline Editor (in OmniGraffle, choose View > Show Contents > Outline) to add depth to the diagram you’ve created.
Printing in OmniOutliner
Choose File > Print (Command+P) to print your OmniOutliner document.
You can stick with the default printing options, which deliver a page that’s close to what you see on screen. Or you can click Show Details on the print panel to set up a custom presentation for your printed outline.
With details shown, a customized version of the print panel appears with a bunch of options specific to OmniOutliner.
On the left side of the print panel you’ll see a preview of your OmniOutliner document that shows how it will look when printed. You can use the arrow buttons beneath the preview to page through your document so you can verify that everything is in order.
To print your outline to a PDF file rather than a physical printer, choose Save as PDF from the dropdown PDF menu in the lower left of the print panel.
On the right, a popup menu appears with several sets of printing options. The area below the menu changes based on the option you have selected.
By default, this menu is set to Content, which contains document-specific printing options (Headers & Footers and Margins options are also available, described below). As you toggle the various options on or off, the print preview changes accordingly.
Content Printing Options
OmniOutliner Content print options include the following.
For rows:
- Print selected rows only—Only the rows currently selected in the outline are included in the print output.
- Filter rows by status checkbox—Print only rows with their status checkbox checked (or unchecked).
- Expand to show all descendants—Automatically expand all collapsed rows so that their children are visible for printing.
- Flatten indentation—Print the outline without visual indication of hierarchy (all rows are depicted with the same starting alignment).
- Include notes—As shown in document includes notes that are visible at the time of printing. Expanded automatically opens all notes at print time so they are included in the print output.
For the entire document:
- Scale to fit page width—If the outline’s column(s) exceed the width of the printed page, scale the document to fit the entire width onto a page. Uncheck this if you want the print output to strictly mirror the document’s scale in OmniOutliner.
If Scale to fit page width is unchecked, outlines with multiple columns must have their column widths manually adjusted to control what page they appear on.
When resizing a column by dragging on its right edge, the column will snap to the width of a printed page when it nears the vertical dashed line that appears.
- Print column titles—If the document has visible column titles, include them when printing.
- Print row handles—If the document is styled to display row handles, set their print visibility here (an outline with row handles hidden will not include them when printed regardless of this setting).
- Print alternate row colors—If your document style includes alternating row colors, they will be visible in the print output.
- Print other background colors—Other background colors, such as those applied by the Highlight styles, will be preserved for print.
Printing Headers and Footers
The Headers & Footers print settings gives you the ability to add details about your OmniOutliner document to the top and bottom of the printed page. The six boxes (three each for Headers and Footers) represent the left, center, and right positions on the page. Use the popup just above the Headers section to apply the headers and footers to the Master Page, First Page, Odd Pages, or Even Pages.
Use the Insert popup just below the right-most box to insert one or more of the following:
- Page Number—the current page of the document.
- Section Title—either the document name (if no section is focused), or the contents of the row at the highest level of focus hierarchy (if printing a focused selection of the outline).
- Last Modification Time—the date and time the document was last updated.
- Page Count—the total number of pages in the document.
- Document Name—the name assigned to the file when it is first saved (or subsequently changed), and that appears in the center of the document Toolbar.
- Document Title—by default, the same as the document name.
- Print Time—the date and time the document is printed.
Just click inside one of the six boxes and choose the option from the Insert menu.
If you would like to style the text of headers and footers independently of the outline’s document style, the recommended method is to open the Font and Color windows (Format > Font > Show Fonts and Format > Font > Show Colors respectively) before opening the print screen. Using these tools (instead of the Selection Style Inspectors) avoids accidentally re-styling the document itself.
Adjusting Printing Margins
Use the Margins print options to control how the contents of your document appears within the bounds of a printed page. The Top and Bottom controls let you set the distance from the edge of the page to any Headers or Footers you’ve applied, and from the Headers and Footers to the actual content. To adjust any of the margin values, you can either click in the box and enter something different, or use the little arrows off to the right to increase or decrease the value.
Documents on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
When you first launch OmniOutliner on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, you arrive at the Document Manager, where you can open an existing file or create a new one from scratch.
To learn more about the Document Manager in OmniOutliner, which is provided by the Files app, please review these Apple User Guide articles:
- Files basics for iPad
- Files basics for iPhone
- View, modify, and organize files and folders in Files on Apple Vision Pro
Opening and Importing
OmniOutliner supports working with files in two different ways, depending on the file type: opening and importing.
Files are opened when OmniOutliner can natively read and write them, saving them wherever they are originally located. This includes the following file types:
- OmniOutliner Document (.ooutline, .oo3)
- OmniOutliner Template (.otemplate, .oo3template) – Pro only
- Outline Processor Markup Language Document (.opml)
If you would like an outline to include content from a file of a type not read by OmniOutliner directly, you can add it as an attachment.
When opening files in older OmniOutliner formats (.oo3 and .oo3template), a notice bar appears beneath the document toolbar indicating that some features are disabled. Tap Learn More in the notice bar and choose Convert to update the file to the newest format, or choose Hide Warning to leave the file as-is.
The notice bar also appears when opening files created in OmniOutliner Pro for Mac or iOS that contain features not supported by the Essentials edition. These files can be read with OmniOutliner Essentials, but not edited or saved. In this case, tap Learn More for options to Unlock OmniOutliner Pro or Convert or Import the file to an editable format without the Pro features.
Import File Types
The following formats can be imported by OmniOutliner. Copying a file into OmniOutliner in one of these formats converts it to a native OmniOutliner file for subsequent editing (the original file is left behind in its original format).
- Plain Text (.txt)
- Rich Text Format (.rtf)
OPML Editing
OmniOutliner supports native editing of OPML files. OPML is a structured writing file format that is widely used among various platforms, but does not support the rich styling controls offered by OmniOutliner.
When editing an OPML file in OmniOutliner, the Selection inspectors are disabled to indicate that custom styles are not saved along with the file while it is in OPML format. Template themes can be applied with the Document inspector, but are not saved when closing the file.
If OPML warnings are turned on in OmniOutliner Settings, a notice bar appears at the top of the outline indicating that some features are unavailable while editing a native OPML document.
Available Export File Formats
Export a document from OmniOutliner by either tapping in the document toolbar with the document open, or by selecting the file in the Document Manager and tapping Share
Pick Share As… to open a sheet for choosing from these export file formats:
- OmniOutliner Outline (.ooutline)
- OmniOutliner Template (.otemplate) — Pro-only
- OmniOutliner 3 Outline (.oo3 — legacy format)
- OmniOutliner 3 Template (.oo3template — legacy format) — Pro-only
- Outline Processor Markup Language (.opml)
- Portable Document Format (.pdf)
- Dynamic HTML (.html)
- Simple HTML (.html)
- Plain Text (.txt)
- Comma-Separated Values (.csv)
- Microsoft Excel XLSX (.xlsx) — Pro-only
- Microsoft Word DOCX (.docx)
- Microsoft Word DOCX (indented) (.docx)
- Microsoft PowerPoint PPTX (.pptx) –>
Connecting OmniOutliner
OmniOutliner documents can be used on your Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro. For extra planning power and focused flexibility, changes can easily sync between devices, and be edited anywhere!
You can sync OmniOutliner documents using iCloud Drive, OmniPresence (with or without our Omni Sync Server), as well as other services with operating system support.
Once you have configured syncing,
you can expand the reach of OmniOutliner by using
Connected Folders and
Omni Links
to pull together a range of resources and options.
Connected Folders
New in OmniOutliner 6,
Connected Folders support using
Omni Links
to connected OmniOutliner documents to each other or external files,
sync
Custom Templates
for use in the
Template Picker,
and sync
Omni Automation
Plug-Ins
between devices.
OmniOutliner creates a default Connected Folder in iCloud Drive, while allowing you to connect as many additional folders as desired.
Folders can be part of any sync provider which is supported by the operating system; note that iPadOS, iOS, and visionOS each support fewer options than macOS.
As of this writing, iPadOS, iOS, and visionOS support using iCloud Drive and Dropbox, but do not support Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, or Proton Drive.
This may change over time; there are two ways you can check for support, on your own device:
- Try Adding a Connected Folder on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro. If the Open button can’t be selected, the service cannot be used for Connected Folders.
- Open Apple’s Shortcuts app, and create a new shortcut with the built-in Select File action. Switch from Select File to Select Folder, and run the shortcut. If a service cannot be selected for this shortcut, the service also cannot be used for Connected Folders.
iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive contains the default Connected Folder for OmniOutliner.
The iCloud Drive Connected Folder is automatically turned on for
Omni Links.
To turn on support for additional item types,
select the
Connected Folders
menu item:
- On Mac, the menu command is in the OmniOutliner Menu
- On iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, the menu command is in the Toolbar Menu
Once the Connected Folder window opens:
- Select OmniOutliner in the Sidebar
- Select Omni Links to turn on or off
![]()
Omni Links
for files stored in
iCloud Drive > OmniOutliner - Select Templates to turn on or off access to
![]()
Templates
stored in
iCloud Drive > OmniOutliner > Templates - Select Plug-Ins to turn on or off access to
![]()
Plug-Ins
stored in
iCloud Drive > OmniOutliner > Plug-Ins
When you have finished updating your iCloud Drive settings, you can either close the window, or connect additional folders by selecting the plus button.
You may have noticed that the iCloud Drive Connected Folder looks for Templates
and Plug-Ins in specific locations. If you need to create the necessary folders,
you can select the
magnifying glass next to the Location in the Connected Folders window,
or:
- On Mac, open Finder and choose Go > iCloud Drive from the menu bar, then click on the OmniOutliner folder.
- On iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, open Files, tap on iCloud Drive in the left sidebar, then tap on the OmniOutliner folder.
Inside the iCloud Drive > OmniOutliner folder, you should create additional folders, if they do not exist:
- iCloud Drive > OmniOutliner > Templates for
![]()
Templates - iCloud Drive > OmniOutliner > Plug-Ins for
![]()
Omni Automation Plug-Ins
Templates or plug-ins that are stored in iCloud Drive, but outside of those two folders, will not be available in OmniOutliner.
The iCloud Drive Connected Folder is only available if you are signed in to an Apple Account on your device, and have OmniOutliner turned on in Apple Account > iCloud > Saved to iCloud.
Even if iCloud Drive isn’t available, you can still add other Connected Folders.
To learn more about iCloud Drive, see these Apple User Guide articles:
Adding a Connected Folder
In addition to the built-in iCloud Drive option, you can connect as many additional folders as desired.
If you are adding a Connected Folder which has already been configured on another device, either by you or another person, please see the Setting up Omni Links section. If you are adding a Connected Folder which has not yet been configured on any device, keeping reading this section.
To connect a new folder, select the Connected Folders menu item:
- On Mac, the menu command is in the OmniOutliner Menu
- On iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, the menu command is in the Toolbar Menu
Once the Connected Folder window opens:
- Select the
![]()
Add button - On Mac, navigate inside of the folder you would like to configure, and click the Connect Folder button.
- On iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, navigate inside of the folder you would like to configure, and tap the Choose or Open button.
The new Connected Folder is automatically selected in the Sidebar, with the following default attributes:
- Display Name based on the name of the folder that has been connected
- Location showing where the folder is located on your device
- Use For with Omni Links turned on
- Omni Links Folder ID based on the name of the folder that has been connected, combined with a random number
To change the Display Name, select the folder in the Sidebar, and tap or click into the Display Name field. Please note this only updates the name displayed in this window; it does not update the name of the folder which has been connected.
To view the Location on device of your Connected Folder, either:
- Select the
![]()
magnifying glass next to the Location field - Select Show in Files or Show in Finder from the
![]()
Settings menu
To update the Use For section:
- Select Omni Links to turn on or off
![]()
Omni Links
for files stored anywhere in the newly connected folder - Select Templates to turn on or off access to
![]()
Templates
stored anywhere in the newly connected folder - Select Plug-Ins to turn on or off access to
![]()
Plug-Ins
stored anywhere in the newly connected folder
To update the Omni Links Folder ID,
select the
pencil button.
Please read the warning carefully before making any changes,
as updating the Omni Links Folder ID will invalidate any existing Omni Links,
and require you to either manually update existing links,
or create new links.
To disconnect (remove) a Connected Folder:
- Select Disconnect Folder from the
![]()
Settings menu
Omni Links
If you have used earlier versions of OmniOutliner, you may be familiar with the Copy as Link command, which allowed linking to specific rows in an open document. This command is still available in OmniOutliner 6, as Copy Legacy Link.
OmniOutliner 6 introduces a more powerful version of this command: Copy as Omni Link, which allows linking to specific rows in any OmniOutliner document which is stored in a Connected Folder. These links can be used on any device where you are using OmniOutliner, as long as they are configured to use the same Connected Folder.
Setting up Omni Links
Once configured, Omni Links are very easy to use, but configuration requires a touch of attention. The good news is that we make it as easy as possible!
- If you are using the iCloud Drive Connected Folder for the first time, please see the iCloud Drive section.
- If you are adding a Connected Folder which has never been used on any device, by you or another person, please see the Adding a Connected Folder section.
- If you are adding a Connected Folder which has been used on another device, by you or another person, please keep reading.
When a Connected Folder is added to an Omni app for the first time, a unique Omni Links Folder ID is generated by combining the name of the selected folder with a random series of numbers. Once the Omni Links Folder ID has been created, the ID is independent of any changes to either the name of the connected folder on your device, or the display name in the Connected Folders window.
- The Omni Links Folder ID is used as part of Omni Links created for documents inside of that Connected Folder
- It is possible to change the Omni Links Folder ID, but updating it will break any existing Omni Links.
- Manually adding the same folder on two different devices will result in a different Omni Links Folder ID for each copy of the synced folder.
Fortunately, there is an easy solution: clicking on a shared Omni Link from a Connected Folder will prompt you to locate the synced folder containing the linked document, which will then be added to OmniOutliner on the current device.
Templates
Plug-Ins
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Legacy Links
The links from earlier versions of OmniOutliner are still available in OmniOutliner 6, with a new name: Legacy Links.
The Copy Legacy Link command allows you to create links between different locations
within the same document. While Legacy Links are not as robust as
Omni Links,
they do have two Legacy Link–specific qualities:
- Legacy Links can be created within any document, without the document being part of a Connected Folder.
- Legacy Links will always work as long as the document is open.
To use Legacy Links:
- Select one or more rows
- Select the Copy Legacy Link command
- Navigate to another row in the outline and paste the link to the other row
This is particularly handy when you are working in a long outline where you might need to include references to other parts of the same document.
The link that gets pasted in when you press Command+V references the
location in the file of the text you copied, in the form of
omnioutliner:///open?row=mLUW8Czar_j.
After pasting the link into another location of the same document, you can
select the link and replace it with whatever text you’d like. Another option
for changing the link text is to Option + click on the link, and then
edit the Display title. You can also opt whether to display the link
URL. When you’ve finished editing the link, click Done.
Clicking the Legacy Link will take you to that location in the document.
OmniPresence
We created a pair of technologies to make sure you have the latest versions of your outlines with you wherever you go.
The first is OmniPresence, a free utility that you install on your Mac for synchronizing files. OmniPresence runs in the background, watching a selected folder. It makes sure the files inside are in sync with files in the cloud, and with your other devices with OmniPresence configured.
On iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, OmniPresence is built into OmniOutliner. The result is that all of your devices with OmniPresence configured detect changes wherever you make them, and constantly sync up to keep your files up to date.
On Mac, you’ll need to download OmniPresence for Mac from our website and install it. The instructions in the OmniPresence Help (OmniPresence Gear Menu > OmniPresence Help) will take it from there.
As part of the setup process you’ll need to choose where to store your files in the cloud. The second component to our sync solution is just such a place: Omni Sync Server.
Using OmniPresence With Omni Sync Server
Omni Sync Server is our own custom cloud server that functions as a central hub for all your syncing needs, and it’s one option for OmniPresence to connect to when shuttling files between your Mac and iOS devices. Unlike other compatible cloud servers, since we control the server hardware and software we are able to provide better advice should you run into trouble when syncing.
With Omni Sync Server, we never ever look at your data without your permission (if our Support Humans are working with you to restore a corrupt file, for example). Beyond that, you can rest assured that your data is private and secure on Omni Sync Server. Read more about our privacy policy here.
Omni Sync Server accounts are free. If you don’t have one already, head over to our website and sign up for an Omni Sync Server account if you would like to use it as your OmniOutliner cloud sync location.
Using OmniPresence Without Omni Sync Server
We understand that sometimes you want to keep your data on your own server. This could be due to company policy, for legal reasons, or just your desire to be in charge of backing up everything that’s important to you. We get it!
If you don’t want to use Omni Sync Server, OmniPresence is capable of connecting to any WebDAV server you choose. This could be one that you run on your own server, or a third-party service that you rely on.
If you choose to run your own WebDAV server, please read our support article about Configuring a WebDAV server for OmniPresence sync.
Other Services
By default, OmniOutliner .ooutline files are flat files, which are compatible with common cloud storage services (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Box).
While the .ooutline file format can be changed from the default flat file to a file package via the option in the Format and Metadata Inspector), we recommend always saving your .ooutline files as flat files if you intend to sync with a cloud service. Syncing package files via a cloud service other than OmniPresence may result in data loss.
Commands and Shortcuts
This chapter gathers the commands and shortcuts found throughout OmniOutliner into a single reference.
This chapter is structured to help you easily find the information you need, with each section organized for a different purpose.
- Keyboard Shortcuts — Quick information about Keyboard Shortcuts, with tables organized by topic.
- Menu Bar on Mac — Mac menu bar items and commands, in app order.
- Menu Bar on iPad — iPad menu bar items and commands, in app order.
- Shortcut Menus — Shortcut menu items and commands, grouped by category.
- Menus Reference — All menus, grouped by category. This is a good place to start if you know the category of a menu, menu item, or menu command, and want to know more about it.
- Commands Reference — All commands are listed in alphabetical order. This is a good place to start if you know the name of a menu item or menu command, and want to know more about it.
Commands are located in Mac and iPad menu bars, as well as in Shortcut Menus on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro.
Many commands are also available using Keyboard Shortcuts.
Shortcuts Reference
When using OmniOutliner with a keyboard, you can take advantage of the built-in keyboard shortcuts for many common tasks.
In addition to the built-in shortcuts, custom keyboard shortcuts can be created when using a Mac. To learn more, please see the Apple User Guide article:
Menu Bar on Mac
OmniOutliner Menu on Mac
The OmniOutliner menu holds commands related specifically to the administration of the OmniOutliner application itself. Check for updates, view and modify your preferences, and enter new license information here.
File Menu on Mac
The File menu contains options for creating, opening, renaming, exporting, and printing documents and templates.
Edit Menu on Mac
The Edit menu holds commands related to modifying the contents of rows, columns, text, and more. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Undo are all found here.
- Undo
- Redo
- Cut
- Copy
- Copy Omni Link
- Press Option for Copy Legacy Link
- Paste
- Paste and Merge Styles
- Paste and Match Style
- Paste with Original Style
- Duplicate Selection
- Delete
- Select All
- Deselect All
- Set Status
- Split Row
- Insert Line Break
- Edit Note
- Attach File…
- Link…
- Start/Stop Audio Recording
- Pause/Resume Audio Recording
- Insert Time Stamp
- Find
- Writing Tools
- Spelling and Grammar
- Substitutions
- Transformations
- Speech
- LinkBack
- AutoFill
- Start Dictation
- Emoji & Symbols
Format Menu on Mac
The Format menu contains options for formatting the contents of your document, including font and text styles, row numbering, and more.
View Menu on Mac
The View menu contains options for working within your OmniOutliner document.
- Show/Hide Tab Bar
- Show All Tabs/Exit Tab Overview
- Expand All
- Collapse All
- Expand Row(s)
- Expand Row(s) Completely
- Collapse Row(s)
- Collapse Row(s) Completely
- Focus
- Unfocus
- Zoom In
- Zoom Out
- Zoom to Actual Size
- Column Headers
- Show/Hide Status Checkboxes
- Hide Column
- Columns
- Show Full Row Text
- Notes
- Show/Hide Note(s)
- Show/Hide Note Pane
- Show/Hide All Notes
- Use Typewriter Mode
- Row Filters
- Hide/Show Sidebar
- Sidebar
- Hide/Show Inspector
- Inspectors
- Enter/Exit Full Screen
- Show/Hide Toolbar
- Add Document-Specific Toolbar
- Customize Toolbar…
- Show/Hide Status Bar
Organize Menu on Mac
The Organize menu contains options for adding, removing, and sorting the contents of your document.
Automation Menu on Mac
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Automate the way you create in OmniOutliner, using JavaScript.
Window Menu on Mac
The Window menu contains options for working with OmniOutliner’s windows.
Help Menu on Mac
Access a variety of support resources using the Help menu in OmniOutliner, including this documentation, release notes, and contact with our friendly Support Humans.
Menu Bar on iPad
OmniOutliner Menu on iPad
The OmniOutliner menu holds commands related specifically to the administration of the OmniOutliner application itself. Check for updates, view and modify your preferences, and enter new license information here.
File Menu on iPad
The File menu contains options for creating, opening, renaming, exporting, and printing documents and templates.
- Open…
- Open Recent
- Close Window
- Press Option for Close All Windows
Edit Menu on iPad
The Edit menu holds commands related to modifying the contents of rows, columns, text, and more. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Undo are all found here.
Format Menu on iPad
The Format menu contains options for formatting the contents of your document, including font and text styles, row numbering, and more.
View Menu on iPad
The View menu contains options for working within your OmniOutliner document.
Organize Menu on iPad
The Organize menu contains options for adding, removing, and sorting the contents of your document.
Automation Menu on iPad
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Automate the way you create in OmniOutliner, using JavaScript.
Window Menu on iPad
The Window menu contains options for working with OmniOutliner’s windows.
Help Menu on iPad
Search for menu items and commands.
Shortcut Menus
Column Shortcut Menu on Mac
Column Shortcut Menu on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
- Edit
- Sorting — Keep Sorted
- Autosize — Only displays for the Topic column, if it not currently set to autosize
- Hide — Hides the selected column from your document; only displays for columns other than the Topic column
- Delete — Removes the selected column from your document; only displays for columns other than the Topic column
Editing Shortcut Menu on Mac
Row Shortcut Menu on Mac
Editing Shortcut Menu on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Without any text selected:
With text selected:
Row Shortcut Menu on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
With one or more rows selected:
Menus Reference
This section groups menus into categories, so you can easily find all related commands, such as those used to Edit or Organize.
Categories are listed in alphabetical order, with each section linking to information for each supported Platform. Some commands are available only on specific platforms.
When there is a Shortcut Menu that matches a category, it is included here.
Please note that menu bar menus are only available on Mac and iPad, but the same commands are available on iPhone and Apple Vision Pro when using a hardware keyboard.
Automation Menu
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Edit Menu
Editing Shortcut Menu
File Menu
Format Menu
Help Menu
History Menu
OmniOutliner Menu
Organize Menu
Row Shortcut Menu
View Menu
Window Menu
Commands Reference
These are listed in alphabetical order, and link to where they may be found in OmniOutliner. That location may be different on Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro.
Keyboard shortcuts are listed under each command.
If a keyboard shortcut is available only on specific Apple platforms, those platforms are listed. If a keyboard shortcut is available on any Apple device with an external keyboard, platform is not specified.
- About OmniOutliner
- Add Above
- Add Column
- Add Document-Specific Toolbar
- Add Inside
- Add Outside
- Add Row
- Align or Justify
- API Reference (Pro)
- Apply Template Theme
- Attach File
- AutoFill
- Automation API Reference (Pro)
- Automation Configuration (Pro)
- Automation Console (Pro)
- Baseline
- Bigger
- Bold
- Bring All to Front
- Center
- Center Window
- Check for Updates
- Clear Console (Pro)
- Clear Style
- Close
- Close All
- Collapse All
- Collapse Row(s)
- Collapse Row(s) Completely
- Columns
- Column Headers
- Connected Folders
- Contact Omni
- Copy
- Copy Legacy Link
- Copy Omni Link
- Copy Style
- Customize Toolbar
- Cut
- Delete
- Deselect All
- Duplicate File
- Duplicate Selection
- Edit Note
- Emoji & Symbols
- Enter Full Screen/Exit Full Screen
- Expand All
- Expand Row(s)
- Expand Row(s) Completely
- Export
- Fill Window
- Find
- Focus
- Font
- Full Screen Tile
- Group
- Hide Bottom Bar/Show Bottom Bar
- Hide Column
- Hide OmniOutliner
- Hide Others
- Show/Hide Sidebar
- In-App Purchases
- Indent/Outdent
- Insert Time Stamp
- Inspectors
- Installed Plug-Ins (Pro)
- Italic
- Justify
- Keep Sorted
- Kern
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- License
- Ligature
- Link
- LinkBack
- Manage Omni Account and Purchases
- Manage Plug-Ins (Pro)
- Merge All Windows
- Minimize Window
- Move
- Move and Resize
- Move To
- Move to Display
- Move Tab to New Window
- New Window on Document/New Tab on Document
- New
- New from Template…
- News
- Notes
- OmniOutliner Help
- Open
- Open Recent
- Open Scripts Folder (Pro)
- Outline
- Page Setup
- Paste
- Paste Style
- Pause Audio Recording/Resume Audio Recording
- Quit OmniOutliner
- Quit and Close All Windows
- Redo
- Release Notes
- Remove Column
- Remove Document-Specific Toolbar
- Rename
- Revert To
- Row Filters
- Row Numbering
- Save
- Save As
- Save As Template
- Select All
- Services
- Set Password
- Set Status
- Settings
- Share
- Show All
- Show All Notes/Hide All Notes
- Show All Tabs/Exit Tab Overview
- Show Automation Console (Pro)
- Show Automation Reference (Pro)
- Show Colors/Hide Colors
- Show Console (Pro)
- Show Fonts/Hide Fonts
- Show Full Row Text
- Show Inspector/Hide Inspector
- Show Next Tab/Show Previous Tab
- Show Note Pane/Hide Note Pane
- Show Note(s)/Hide Note(s)
- Show Status Checkboxes/Hide Status Checkboxes
- Show Tab Bar/Hide Tab Bar
- Show Toolbar/Hide Toolbar
- Sidebar
- Sign Up for the Omni Newsletter
- Smaller
- Sort Outline/Sort Selected Rows
- Speech
- Spelling
- Stage Manager (Mac)
- Start Audio Recording/End Audio Recording
- Start Dictation
- Strikethrough
- System Search
- Text
- Underline
- Undo
- Unfocus
- Ungroup
- Use Typewriter Mode
- Writing Direction
- Writing Tools
- Zoom In
- Zoom Out
- Zoom to Actual Size
- Zoom Window
About OmniOutliner
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Document Browser Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
View details about your copy of OmniOutliner.
This is good for checking exactly which version you’re using, which can be very helpful when contacting our Support Humans.
Some versions of this screen also include a link to write a review on the App Store.
Add Above
Available on iPad in the Organize Menu
Insert a row above the current row.
Though it is not listed in the Organize Menu on iPad, the keyboard shortcut for Add Row also works.
- Return to add a row below the current row
- Shift+Return to add a row above the current row
See also Add Row
Add Column
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in the Organize Menu
Available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar
Inserts a new Column after the currently selected column.
Add Inside
Available on Mac and iPad in the Organize Menu
Inserts and indents a new row beneath the current row.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+})
Link
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Add a hyperlink URL to selected text, or create a link attached to new text (the default display title for a new link is Link).
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+K
Add Outside
Available on Mac and iPad in the Organize Menu
Inserts and outdents a new row beneath the current row.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+{)
Add Row
Available on Mac in the Organize Menu
Insert a row beneath the current row.
- Return to add a row below the current row
- Shift+Return to add a row above the current row
By default, Return adds a row beneath the current row, and Shift+Return adds a row above the current row.
On Mac, this can be changed in Keyboard Settings, by selecting the other option for When Pressing Return.
Apply Template Theme
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Opens the Template Picker so you can choose and apply a template theme to the current document.
Attach File
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Attach a file to the document.
Automation API Reference (Pro)
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Command may also be named API Reference or Show Automation Reference
Available on Mac and iPad in the Automation Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Omni Automation Toolbar Menu
Learn more about what you can do with Omni Automation in OmniOutliner by viewing the available classes along with their constructors, functions, and properties.
- Shift+Command+0 on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
Automation Configuration (Pro)
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Command may also be named Configure… or Manage Plug-Ins
Available on Mac and iPad in the Automation Menu
Opens Automation Configuration, where you can add, remove, and manage your Omni Automation Plug-Ins, as well as change scripting-related security settings.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Option+Command+, on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
To learn more about scripting OmniOutliner, and to browse a library of Plug-Ins, visit the Omni Automation website:
Automation Console (Pro)
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Command may also be named Show Console or Show Automation Console
Available on Mac and iPad in the Automation Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Omni Automation Toolbar Menu
Opens the Omni Automation Console, for automation development and testing.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+C on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
AutoFill
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
This is a system-provided command which allows automatically filling information from contacts, credit cards, user names and passwords, and some other forms.
It is available on macOS 14 or later, iOS 17 or later, iPadOS 17 or later, and visionOS 1 or later.
To learn more, please read these Apple User Guide articles:
Baseline
Available on Mac in the Format Menu
Adjust the baseline of body text:
- Use Default — Places selected text at the same level as body text.
- Superscript — Move selected text above the body text.
- Subscript — Move selected text below the body text.
- Raise — Move selected text up.
- Lower — Move selected text down.
Bigger
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Increase the size of the selected note text.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command++
See Smaller
Bold
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available in the Font Inspector
Apply or remove the bold style to the selected text, row, or document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+B
Bring All to Front
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
Brings all open OmniOutliner windows in front of any other application windows that are currently open on your Mac.
Center Window
Available on Mac and iPad in the Window Menu
Center the frontmost window.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Fn+Control+C on Mac, iPad
Check for Updates
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu (Direct Download version only)
See if there is a new version of OmniOutliner available to download.
You can also configure automatic checking in Update Settings.
Versions of OmniOutliner from the App Store use Apple’s process for updates.
Clear Console (Pro)
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in the Automation Menu
Clears the Automation Console display.
Clear Style
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Removes any non-structural styles that have been applied to the selection, along with any styles applied to text within the selection.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Command+Delete
See also Copy Style and Paste Style.
Close (Window)
Available on Mac and iPad in the File Menu
Available on iPad in the Window Menu
Close the current window.
On Mac, you may be prompted to save documents, depending on your settings for Ask to keep changes when closing documents and Close windows when quitting an application in System Settings for Desktop & Dock > Windows
On iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, changes are automatically saved.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+W
Close All (Windows)
Available on Mac and iPad in the File Menu
Close all open windows.
You may be prompted to save documents, depending on your settings for Ask to keep changes when closing documents and Close windows when quitting an application in System Settings for Desktop & Dock > Windows
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+W
Columns
Available on Mac in the View Menu
There are two sections to this submenu. The top section determines how the Topic column width is determined, and the bottom section allows you to hide or show specific columns.
Top section:
- Show All Columns — Displays all of columns in your OmniOutliner document. This option is only available if one or more columns have been hidden.
- Autosize Topic — When checked, the Topic column will resize based on the width of the window and other columns; when unchecked, it will stay at a fixed width, regardless of other changes.
Bottom section:
- Note — Hide or show the Notes column.
- Topic — The Topic column cannot be hidden; it is always viewable.
- All other columns — Each additional column can be hidden or shown.
Since you can change the default name of the column heading from Topic to anything else, the options you see in the Columns submenu will reflect the titles you’ve assigned to the column headings, including text or any Emoji characters you may have used.
Column Headers
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Choose whether column headers are displayed, using one of these options:
- Show — Displays all column headings.
- Automatic — Displays column headings if there are two or more columns in your document.
- Hide — Hides all column headings.
Collapse
Hide rows that are currently showing.
Collapse Row(s)
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Collapses the currently selected row or rows.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Left Arrow
- Command+0
Compare Expand Row(s)
Collapse Row(s) Completely
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Collapses the currently selected row or rows, along with any child rows.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+0
Compare Expand Row(s) Completely
Collapse All
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Collapse all the rows in your document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Command+0
Compare Expand All
Configure OmniPresence
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
Tap to connect an OmniPresence cloud synced folder to your device.
Documents in this folder are automatically synced to the cloud whenever a change is made.
You can sync with a free Omni Sync Server account, or an OmniPresence-capable WebDAV server of your choice.
Connected Folders Configuration
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
See also Copy Omni Link
Contact Omni
Available on Mac in the Help Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
Use this command to Email Support, while including information about the version you’re running, which operating system you’re running it on, and what type of license you have, which helps us quickly assist you.
If you see a “The operation couldn’t be completed. Not authorized to send Apple events to Mail.” error when you select Contact Omni, you can grant OmniOutliner authorization to send email.
Open System Settings, then navigate to Privacy & Security > Automation, and click on the disclosure arrow next to OmniOutliner to view additional options. Make sure that Mail is turned on (along with any other apps that you would like), then select Contact Omni again.
Copy
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Copies the selected text, image, or row, while saving it on the clipboard, so you can paste the selection somewhere else.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+C
Copy Omni Link
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
See Connected Folders and Omni Links
Contrast Copy Legacy Link
Copy Legacy Link
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
See Connected Folders and Legacy Links
Contrast Copy Omni Link
Copy Style
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Copies the style of the current selection and places it on the Clipboard.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+C
The Copy Style and Paste Style options are very useful for cleaning up your document. Once you have a row styled the way you’d like, you can select Copy Style select the other rows that you’d like to have the same style, and then select Paste Style.
See also Clear Style and Paste Style.
Add Document-Specific Toolbar/Remove Document-Specific Toolbar
Available on Mac in the View Menu
This allows you to create a Toolbar specifically for the document you’re working on. For example, the tools you need for writing a script might be totally different from the tools you use to create invoices. After creating a document-specific Toolbar, you might want to Save as Template, so you don’t have to recreate that Toolbar again.
Customize Toolbar
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Choose this option if you want to customize the Toolbar for all OmniOutliner documents, except for templates for which you’ve created a Document-Specific Toolbar.
See Customizing the Toolbar for details on how to customize and create document-specific Toolbars.
Cut
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Removes the selected text, image, or row, while saving it on the clipboard, so you can paste the selection somewhere else.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+X
Delete
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Remove the selected item(s) or text from your document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+Delete
See also Cut
Deselect All
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Clear your selection completely, so that nothing is selected.
This can be helpful when you’re not sure whether something is selected, you’re about to paste something in, and want to make sure you don’t paste over a selection.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+A
See also Select All
Duplicate File
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Create an identical copy of the current document.
The exact contents of the current window are copied into a new document window, with the filename in the title bar highlighted, so you can enter a different name for the new file.
The duplicate file will be saved in the same location as the original.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+S
Duplicate Selection
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Copy and paste the current selection, creating an identical copy of the selected item.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+D
Edit Note
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Edit the note for the currently selected row or column cell.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+‘
Emoji & Symbols
Command may also be named Emoji
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Open the Character Viewer to insert emoji, or other special characters.
More information about the Character Viewer is available in this Apple User Guides article:
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Control+Command+Space bar
- Fn
- Fn+E
Set Password
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Opens a window for configuring or removing document encryption, for the current outline.
To learn more, see Encryption in the Inspectors chapter.
Enter Full Screen/Exit Full Screen
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
View OmniOutliner using your full screen, allowing you to focus on your work without other distractions, or return to a single window view.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Command+F
Expand
Show rows that are currently hidden.
Expand Row(s)
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Expand the currently selected row or rows.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Right Arrow
- Command+9
Compare Collapse Row(s)
Expand Row(s) Completely
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Expands the currently selected row or rows, along with any child rows.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+9
Compare Collapse Row(s) Completely
Expand All
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Expand all the rows in your document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Command+9
Compare Collapse All
Export
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Export your OmniOutliner document to one of the following formats mentioned in Exporting from OmniOutliner.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+E
Fill Window
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
Operating system command which expands the front OmniOutliner window to fill the screen.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Fn+Control+F on Mac
Filter/Go to Filter Field
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Places the cursor in the toolbar Filter field.
If you have customized the toolbar to remove the Filter field, this command has no effect.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+F
Find
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
The Find submenu contains the standard Find commands found in many applications:
- Go to Filter Field —
- Find… — Opens the Find dialog. Use the Find dialog to search for instances of a keyword in the document. If an instance is found, it will be highlighted in the row or note text where it appears (column headers are not searched). You can also use the Replace command to overwrite one or more instances of the search term.
- Find and Replace — Opens the Find & Replace dialog, only on iPad; on Mac, use the Find… dialog.
- Find Next — Find the next instance.
- Find Previous — Find the previous instance.
- Use Selection for Find — Uses the current selection as the search criteria when using Find. You can use this option before or after opening the Find dialog
Unlike using the Filter field in the Toolbar, which filters what you see in the Outline, the Find dialog searches all visible fields, and highlights results. This allows you to browse through results, until you find what you need.
The Find dialog on Mac supports the use of regular expressions to match more complex text strings and combinations. See the NSRegularExpression developer documentation for details regarding the regex syntax, including a list of supported characters and operators.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Command+F for Find… on Mac
- Command+G for Find Next on Mac
- Shift+Command+G for Find Previous on Mac
- Command+E for Use Selection for Find on Mac
Focus/Unfocus
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Focus on the currently selected row(s) and any indented rows, by hiding everything else in your OmniOutliner document.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Shift+Command+F to Focus
- Option+Shift+Command+F to Unfocus
Remove an assigned Focus, showing all rows in the document.
Font
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Change the typeface and style of your text.
Full Screen Tile
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
These menu commands are provided by the operating system, and may include:
- Left of Screen
- Right of Screen
- Replace Tiled Window
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide articles:
Group
Available on Mac and iPad in the Organize Menu
Indents the selected rows, grouping them together under a new parent row.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+G
See Ungroup
Hide Column
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Hides the selected column, or the column where editing is currently in progress.
Hide OmniOutliner
Available on Mac and iPad in the OmniOutliner Menu
Temporarily hide all OmniOutliner windows.
To bring OmniOutliner back into view, either click the app icon in the Dock, or use Command+Tab to use the macOS application switcher.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+H
Hide Others
Available on Mac and iPad in the OmniOutliner Menu
Temporarily hide windows of all other applications, so you can concentrate on OmniOutliner.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+H
In-App Purchases
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu (App Store version only)
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in License Settings
Open the In-App Purchases window to unlock OmniOutliner features by purchasing either the Essentials or Pro edition of the app, or restoring a previous purchase.
Indent/Outdent
Available on Mac and iPad in the Organize Menu
Indents or outdents the current row.
- Indent — Moves the selected row to the right, ignoring any parents or children.
- Outdent — Moves the selected row to the left, ignoring any parents or children.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+] for Indent
- Command+[ for Outdent
Depending on your setting for When Pressing Tab on Mac, or Tab Navigates Between Cells on iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, you may also be able to use:
- Tab for Indent
- Shift+Tab for Outdent
Contrast Move Up, Down, Left, Right
Inspectors
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Use this submenu to navigate between tabs in the Inspector:
Insert Line Break
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Keyboard shortcut available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Inserts a line break inside of the current row, at the location of your cursor.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Return
See also Split Row and When Pressing Return
Insert Time Stamp
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Insert one of the following timestamps on the current row, using the format from Language & Region Settings in System Settings:
- Short Date — Inserts a localized numerical date, such as 10/05/2013.
- Long Date — Inserts a localized textual date, such as October 5, 2013.
- Time — Inserts a localized numerical time, such as 12:34:56 PM.
- Short Date and Time — Inserts a localized numerical date and time, such as 10/05/2013 12:34 PM.
- Long Date and Time — Inserts a localized textual date and time, such as October 5, 2013 12:34:56 PM PDT.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Command+/ for Short Date
- Option+Command+/ for Long Date
- Shift+Command+@ for Time
- Shift+Command+| for Short Date and Time
- Option+Shift+Command+| for Long Date and Time
Installed Plug-Ins (Pro)
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac and iPad in the Automation Menu
Any Omni Automation Plug-Ins which you have installed are displayed in a list at the top of the menu. Choose one of them from the list to run the plug-in.
Italic
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available in the Font Inspector
Apply or remove the italic style to the selected text, row, or document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+I
Keep Sorted
Available on Mac in the Organize Menu
Select an option from this submenu to update the displayed order of rows in your document.
These options do not change the actual structure of your outline, just the display order. Contrast Sort Outline/Sort Selected Rows.
If you are using Row Numbering and select one of these options, your rows may display numbering in non-sequential order (since rows aren’t actually being reordered, just moved around visually).
- Clear Sorting — Removes any currently selected sorting. This is useful when you want to restore the original ordering of your rows, or sort a document using another method.
- Notes, A-Z — Sorts the contents of the document in alphabetical (A-Z) order, based on the Note contents for each row.
- Notes, Z-A — Sorts the contents of the document in reverse alphabetical (Z-A) order, based on the Note contents for each row.
- Status, Unchecked to Checked — Sorts the contents of the document based the state of the Status Checkboxes, from unchecked to checked.
- Status, Checked to Unchecked — Sorts the contents of the document based the state of the Status Checkboxes, from checked to unchecked.
- Topic, A-Z — Sorts the contents of the document in alphabetical (A-Z) order, based on the Topic contents for each row.
- Topic, Z-A — Sorts the contents of the document in reverse alphabetical (Z-A) order, based on the Topic contents for each row.
Kern
Available on Mac in the Format Menu
Adjust spacing between characters:
- Use Default — Automatically adjust spacing between selected characters.
- Use None — Turn off spacing adjustments between selected characters.
- Tighten — Reduce the spacing between selected characters.
- Loosen — Increase the spacing between selected characters.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Opens the Keyboard Shortcuts window, to create and manage custom shortcut sets.
License
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
The License window allows you to manage your OmniOutliner licenses, while providing quick access to your Omni Account.
Select the Omni Account button to open the Omni Account window, or select the Sign In button to begin, and then enter your Omni Account information.
- If you already have a license for OmniOutliner 6, the application will be unlocked.
- If this is the first time you have signed in to OmniOutliner 6, you will automatically begin a free two-week trial. You can select the Buy License button to learn more about pricing, and purchase a new or upgrade license.
Once you are signed in to your Omni Account, you can select:
- Edit Account… to visit the Manage Your Omni Account website.
- Sign Out to remove your Omni Account from this application.
- Close Account to request closure of your Omni Account.
Accidentally tapping the Close Account button will not close your account. An email is automatically sent to the registered email address for the Omni Account, requesting confirmation. If you accidentally tap the button, simply ignore that email.
If you are signed into a Site License, the Omni Account window will offer you options to either Renew Session or Remove License.
If you have an OmniOutliner 6 Pro license, or are in your free two-week trial, you can toggle the Turn on Pro features setting. This allows you to choose between the OmniOutliner Essentials and OmniOutliner Pro feature sets, either to see which edition is best for your needs, or to easily create Essentials-compatible documents.
Ligature
Available on Mac in the Format Menu
Adjust the use of ligatures to join two characters, in the selected text:
- Use Default — Use the default ligatures from the font you are using.
- Use None — Use none of the available ligatures from the font you are using.
- Use All — Use all available ligatures from the font you are using.
LinkBack
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
LinkBack supports embedding content from one applications in another application, in a way that allows editing the embedded content with the original app.
For example, let’s say that you’ve used LinkBack to include some information from OmniGraffle in one of your OmniOutliner documents. To edit the OmniGraffle content that’s linked to from your OmniOutliner document:
- Double-click the OmniGraffle content in your OmniOutliner document.
- This opens an OmniGraffle window containing that content.
- Edit the content in the OmniGraffle window, as you normally would.
- In OmniGraffle, choose File > Save.
- The content in the OmniOutliner window updates automatically.
This makes it easy for you to round trip content shared by LinkBack apps without having to update the content in two different places. For more information about LinkBack, see the LinkBack repository on GitHub.
- Edit LinkBack Item — If you have pasted LinkBack content from another app, select the object and use this command to edit the content in the original app.
- Remove LinkBack for Item — Selecting this option removes the LinkBack feature from the selected content so that this content is unaware of its source, and is treated like any other attachment of the same file type.
Compare this to Connected Folders
Look Up
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
This is a system-provided command which allows you to look up information about the selected text, either online or on device.
To learn more, please read this Apple User Guide article:
Though this article is for Mac, the information also applies to other platforms.
Merge All Windows
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
Merge all currently open OmniOutliner documents into a single window with multiple tabs.
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide article:
Minimize Window
Available on Mac and iPad in the Window Menu
Shrink the front OmniOutliner window down into the Dock.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+M
Move Up, Down, Left, Right
Available on Mac and iPad in the Organize Menu
Use the following commands to move rows in your document.
These commands rearrange the currently selected rows in the Outline, without affecting deselected items.
and change a row relative to its siblings, staying within the containing parent.
and ** increase or decrease the the selected row’s level, moving their children with them.
- Move Up — Moves the selected row up one row, along with its children.
- Move Down — Moves the selected row down one row, along with its children.
- Move Left — Moves the selected row to the left, along with its children. The row becomes a sibling of its former parent.
- Move Right — Moves the selected row to the right, along with its children. The row becomes a child of the row immediately above.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Control+Command+Up Arrow for Move Up
- Control+Command+Down Arrow for Move Down
- Control+Command+Left Arrow for Move Left
- Control+Command+Right Arrow for Move Right
Contrast Indent/Outdent
Compare/contrast these sections, and link from each:
Is it best here, or elsewhere?
When it comes to organizing the content of your outline, it’s useful to understand the differences between Moving a row right or left (up or down a level) and Indenting or Outdenting a row.
When you move a row right or left, it might seem like all you are doing is moving it and its children up or down a level in the hierarchy of your outline. However, Move Right/Left ignores any siblings (rows at the same level as the row you are moving), and will move right or left and up or down in the hierarchy as needed.
However, when you Indent or Outdent a row, that row takes its children along for the ride.
— –>
Move and Resize
Available on Mac and iPad in the Window Menu
Operating system commands to move and resize windows in the app.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Fn+Control+Left Arrow for Left on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Right Arrow for Right on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Up Arrow for Top on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Down Arrow for Bottom on Mac, iPad
- No shortcut for Top Left on Mac, iPad
- No shortcut for Top Right on Mac, iPad
- No shortcut for Bottom Left on Mac, iPad
- No shortcut for Bottom Right on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Shift+Left Arrow for Left & Right on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Shift+Right Arrow for Right & Left on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Shift+Up Arrow for Top & Bottom on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+Shift+Down Arrow for Bottom & Top on Mac, iPad
- No shortcut for Quarters on Mac, iPad
- Fn+Control+R for Return to Previous Size on Mac
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide articles:
Though these articles are for Mac, most of the commands and shortcuts are also available on iPad.
Move Tab to New Window
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
With multiple OmniOutliner documents open in tabs of the same window, move the current tab to a new OmniOutliner window.
Move To
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Choose this option to open a window, which allows you to quickly change the location your file is stored.
Move to Display
Available on Mac and iPad in the Window Menu
This sends the front most window to the selected display; it only appears if you have an external monitor or iPad connected.
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide article:
Named Styles
Available on iPad in the Format Menu
Apply any of the Named Styles in the document.
See Apply Named Styles With for Mac, and Show Keyboard Shortcuts in Inspectors for iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro.
New
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Depending on the For New Documents setting, either open the Resource Browser, or create a new document based on your default template.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+N
New from Template
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Open the Template Picker.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+N
New Window
Available on iPad in the Window Menu
Open a new OmniOutliner window.
See also Show All Windows
New Window on Document/New Tab on Document
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
News
Available on Mac in the Help Menu
View the latest information from the Omni Group about changes to OmniOutliner or Apple’s operating systems that may affect your use of the app.
This item only appears when there is news to share.
Notes
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Choose how you want the Notes in your OmniOutliner file to appear:
- Display Inline — Notes appear inline, with the rest of your content.
- Display in Pane — Notes appear in a separate pane, at the bottom of the window.
OmniOutliner Help
Available on Mac in the Help Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
View this help documentation.
OmniOutliner Windows
Available on Mac and iPad in the Window Menu
At the bottom of the Window menu is a list of all of your open OmniOutliner windows; choose one to bring it to the front.
Open
Available on Mac and iPad in the File Menu
Open an existing file.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+O
Open Recent
Available on Mac and iPad in the File Menu
OmniOutliner keeps track of recently opened files, and includes the filenames in this menu.
Select a file to quickly reopen it, and continue your work.
Open Scripts Folder (Pro)
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in the Help Menu
Open the designated Finder folder for storing AppleScript scripts that you want to access from the toolbar.
Adding Scripts to OmniOutliner
You can install scripts into a special folder on your hard drive to add them to your OmniOutliner Toolbar, where they can be clicked just like other Toolbar buttons.
To install the scripts in the proper folder, choose Help > Open Scripts Folder and drop in the scripts you want to access frequently. Any scripts you drop here can appear in OmniOutliner’s Toolbar.
Switch back to OmniOutliner, and select View > Customize Toolbar. Alongside the regular OmniOutliner buttons we provide are all the AppleScripts in your Scripts folder. Drag the scripts you want to use up to the Toolbar in your document window. Make any other changes you want to make, then click the Done button.
(As an aside, if you change a script’s icon in the Finder, the updated icon will be displayed here, as well. This is useful if you have multiple scripts installed and want to tell them apart without needing to read the labels.)
Outline
Available on Mac in the Format Menu
Apply or remove the outline style to the selected note text.
Page Setup
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Open the standard macOS Page Setup window, where you can change some settings for printing or exporting to a PDF file. These settings are saved even when you quit OmniOutliner.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+P
Paste
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Pastes whatever is on the Clipboard at the current insertion point or selection. Content pasted from external sources matches the surrounding OmniOutliner style by default; to retain any original text styles, choose Paste with Original Style instead.
If you cut or copy text that has line breaks from another app, and paste that into a row, all the text appears on a single row with line breaks intact. If you want each line to appear as a row, first select a row (by clicking or tapping in the gutter), and then paste.
When copying and pasting text within OmniOutliner, all formatting is retained.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+V
Paste and Merge Styles
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
By default, OmniOutliner attempts to Merge Styles when pasting text copied from outside of the app.
This paste method preserves only essential styles such as bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, subscript or superscript, ligatures, and writing direction, as well as links with titles, and attachments.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Option+Shift+Command+V on Mac
Paste and Match Style
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
This paste method discards all formatting, including the URL for links with titles, and matches the style of the note into which you are pasting.
You can use this paste method as your default by changing the setting for Pasting from Other Apps.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Shift+Command+V on Mac
Paste with Original Style
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Row Shortcut Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
This paste method preserves all original formatting, and ignores the style of the note into which you are pasting.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Shift+Command+V on Mac
Paste Style
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Pastes the previously copied style onto the current selection.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+V
The Copy Style and Paste Style options are very useful for cleaning up your document. Once you have a row styled the way you’d like, you can select Copy Style select the other rows that you’d like to have the same style, and then select Paste Style.
See also Copy Style and Clear Style
Pause Audio Recording/Resume Audio Recording
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Pause your in-progress Audio Recording. Select this item again to resume recording.
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Opens the print panel, where you can customize the appearance of your outline for printing or PDF export.
To learn more, see Printing in OmniOutliner.
- Command+P
— –>
Quit OmniOutliner
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Stop using OmniOutliner and put it away for now.
You may be prompted to save documents, depending on your settings for Ask to keep changes when closing documents and Close windows when quitting an application in System Settings for Desktop & Dock > Windows
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+Q
Quit and Close All Windows
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Stop using OmniOutliner, and close all windows. The next time you open OmniOutliner, you will have only a single window open.
You may be prompted to save documents, depending on your settings for Ask to keep changes when closing documents and Close windows when quitting an application in System Settings for Desktop & Dock > Windows
Keyboard shortcut:
- Options+Command+Q
Redo
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Re-create the most recent change
that you just used
Undo
to reverse.
You can keep redoing edits,
allowing you to return to a later point in time.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Shift+Command+Z
See also Undo
Release Notes
Available on Mac in the Help Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
Read the release notes for the current version of OmniOutliner.
Remove Column
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in the Organize Menu
Removes the selected column.
Rename
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Choose this option to highlight the filename in the document’s title bar, so you can enter a new name for the file.
Revert To
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Opens Time Machine, so you can walk back through earlier versions of the current document, as well as restore from those versions.
To learn more, see this Apple User Guide article:
Row Filters
Available on Mac in the View Menu
This submenu provides the option to create a new saved filter for your outline, and lists any other saved filters you have already created (just like the Filters Tab in the Sidebar).
Row Numbering
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
The options in this submenu are used to assign a row numbering style to part or all of your document, and are split into two parts.
The upper section of the menu determines the style of numbering to use as the prefix for the rows in your document:
- None — Rows in your document are not numbered.
- 1, 2, 3, 4 — Rows in your document are numbered sequentially, starting with 1.
- A, B, C, D — Rows in your document are lettered sequentially, using uppercase letters, starting with A.
- a, b, c, d — Rows in your document are lettered sequentially, using lowercase letters, starting with a.
- I, II, III, IV — Rows in your document are numbered sequentially, using uppercase Roman numerals, starting with I.
- i, ii, iii, iv — Rows in your document are numbered sequentially, using lowercase Roman numerals, starting with i.
- 1, 1.1, 1.1.1 — Rows in your document are numbered sequentially, using section numbering, starting with 1 for the parent row, 1.1 for the next level of indented rows, and so on.
If you select a style other than None, the styles in the lower section can also be applied to the row number; for example 1.1.1., 1.1.1), or (1.1.1), respectively.
Choose from these formatting options:
- x. — This places a period after the chosen row number style; for example, 1.1.2..
- x) — This places a closing parenthesis after the chosen row number style; for example, 1.1.2).
- (x) — This places row numbers in parenthesis; for example, (1.1.2).
See also Row Inspector
Save
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Save the contents of the current document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+S
Save As
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Save your current document in one of the following formats, which are described in Exporting from OmniOutliner:
- OmniOutliner Document
- OmniOutliner Template
- OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language)
Your current document will be updated to the new format, and remain open, allowing you to keep editing.
The format of document that you were previously editing remains in the same location it was originally saved, so you can return to that format in the future.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Shift+Command+S
Save As Template
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Saves the current file as an OmniOutliner template file.
For more on using templates, see Managing and Working with Templates.
Search Web
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
This is a system-provided command which allows you to search the web for the selected text.
Select All
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Select all visible rows in the outline, or if you are editing text, all text in the cell.
Note that collapsed/hidden rows are not selected.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+A
Services
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Access system-wide macOS services offered by other applications.
To learn more, please read the Apple User Guide article:
Set Status
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Set one of these options for status checkbox on selected row(s):
- Checked — Mark the status checkbox completed.
- Unchecked — Mark the status checkbox uncompleted.
- Calculated — Calculate the value of the status checkbox.
- None — Hide the status checkbox.
Assigning a status of Checked or Unchecked to a parent row also assigns that status to all child rows. If you want a parent row to reflect the status of child rows, instead of setting their status, select Calculated. This option is only available for parent rows with a current status of None, and at least one child set to either Checked or Unchecked. Once selected, the parent row will display as:
- Checked — If all children are Checked.
- Unchecked — If all children at Unchecked
- Mixed — If some children are Checked, and others are Unchecked.
Settings
Available on Mac and iPad in the OmniOutliner Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
Open
Settings,
where you can customize how the application works for you.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+,
Share
Available on Mac in the File Menu
Send selected content (in plaintext) from OmniOutliner to another application,
using the system macOS, iOS, iPadOS, or visionOS dialog.
See Using the Share Button to learn more.
Show All
Available on Mac in the OmniOutliner Menu
Show all windows, from all applications.
Show All Notes/Hide All Notes
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Show or hide all notes in your document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Command+‘
Show All Tabs/Exit Tab Overview
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Switch to a view that displays thumbnail views of each tab as a tile in the OmniOutliner window, or return to the standard full view.
Show All Windows
Available on iPad in the Window Menu
Operating system command to show all OmniOutliner windows.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Fn+Down Arrow on iPad
See also New Window
Show Colors/Hide Colors
Available on Mac in the Format Menu
Show or hide the Colors window, to make adjustments to the selection color.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+C
Show Fonts/Hide Fonts/More
Available on Mac in the Format Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
On Mac, show or hide the Fonts window from which you can choose a font, styling, and size.
On iPad, iPhone, or Apple Vision Pro, show the More… window, from which you can choose a font, styling, size, alignment, and color.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+T
Show Full Row Text
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Use these options for displaying text within a row:
- Always — The text in a row will always be visible, even when the cursor is in another row.
- When Editing — Text in the row is truncated at the end of the first line (rather than wrapping and continuing) when the row is not being edited. This is particularly helpful when you’ve imported text from another document, and you only want to see the text for the row you’re working on.
The option to truncate row text when rows are not being edited is a Pro-only feature otherwise known as Text Folding.
Show Inspector/Hide Inspector
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Show or hide the Inspectors, which contain the Selection Style Inspector and Document Inspector.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+I
Show Keyboard
Available on iPad in the Edit Menu
Show the on-screen keyboard.
Show Next Tab/Show Previous Tab
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
With multiple OmniOutliner documents open in tabs of the same window, navigate to the next or previous tab in the bar.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Tab to Show Next Tab
- Control+Shift+Tab to Show Previous Tab
Show Note(s)/Hide Note(s)
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Shows or hide notes on the selected rows.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+‘
Show Note Pane/Hide Note Pane
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Shows or hides the note pane, if Display in Pane is selected in the Notes submenu.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+‘
Show Sidebar/Hide Sidebar
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Show or hide the Sidebar, which contains the Sections, Styles, and Filters tabs.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+1
Show Status Bar/Hide Status Bar
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Hides or shows the Status Bar, which contains the word count, character count, and row count.
Show Status Checkboxes/Hide Status Checkboxes
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Display or hide the clickable status checkboxes.
These are helpful when you have an outline that pertains to a project, and you want to tick things off as you go.
You can use the status checkboxes together with Sort Outline or Keep Sorted, to sort rows by checked or unchecked status boxes.
This option is available on iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, using the Row Status toggle in the Document Inspector.
Show Tab Bar/Hide Tab Bar
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Show or hide the macOS tab bar on the current OmniOutliner window.
Show Toolbar/Hide Toolbar
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Show or hide the Toolbar at the top of your document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+T
Sidebar
Available on Mac in the View Menu
Use this submenu to navigate between tabs in the Sidebar:
Sign Up for the Omni Newsletter
Available on Mac in the Help Menu
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in the Toolbar Menu
Visit the Omni Newsletter web page, where you can subscribe to our email newsletter. You’ll get nothing but the latest news and tips for OmniOutliner and the other apps in the Omni Group family.
Slide Over
Available on iPad in the Window Menu
Operating system commands to manage Slide Over windows.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Fn+Option+Left Arrow for Move to Left Slide Over
- Fn+Option+Right Arrow for Move to Right Slide Over
- Fn+\ for Hide Slide Over
- No shortcut for Exit Slide Over
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide articles:
Though these articles are for Mac, most of the commands and shortcuts are also available on iPad.
Smaller
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Decrease the size of the selected note text.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+-
See Bigger
Sort Outline/Sort Selected Rows
Available on Mac in the Organize Menu
Select an option from this submenu to update the structural order of rows in your document.
These options change the order of the rows in your document, not just the display order. Contrast Keep Sorted.
If you have selected one or more rows, sorting affects the selected rows; if you do not have any selected rows, sorting affects the entire document.
Undo can be helpful, when using this command.
- Notes, A-Z — Sorts the contents of the document in alphabetical (A-Z) order, based on the Note contents for each row.
- Notes, Z-A — Sorts the contents of the document in reverse alphabetical (Z-A) order, based on the Note contents for each row.
- Status, Unchecked to Checked — Sorts the contents of the document based the state of the Status Checkboxes, from unchecked to checked.
- Status, Checked to Unchecked — Sorts the contents of the document based the state of the Status Checkboxes, from checked to unchecked.
- Topic, A-Z — Sorts the contents of the document in alphabetical (A-Z) order, based on the Topic contents for each row.
- Topic, Z-A — Sorts the contents of the document in reverse alphabetical (Z-A) order, based on the Topic contents for each row.
Speech
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
The Speech submenu supports having your Mac read selected text out loud.
- Start Speaking — Start reading the selection.
- Stop Speaking — Stop reading the selection.
A similar feature can be turned on for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, using Accessibility settings in the Settings app.
Spelling
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Choose one of the following options for checking spelling and grammar in your document:
- Show/Hide Spelling and Grammar — Opens the Spelling and Grammar window so you can check for any spelling or grammatical mistakes in the current document.
- Check Spelling Now — Checks the spelling in the current document.
- Check Spelling While Typing — Turned on by default, this option checks your spelling as you type. Any words you misspell get a red squiggle underneath, and macOS suggests up similar words from which you can select the correct spelling.
- Command+: for Show/Hide Spelling and Grammar
- Command+; for Check Spelling Now
Spelling and Grammar
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
The Spelling and Grammar submenu contains the standard macOS spell checking commands:
- Show Spelling and Grammar — Opens the Spelling and Grammar window, where you can check spelling and grammar, add words to your personal dictionary, get definitions for entered words, or have the spelling engine guess at a word for you.
- Check Document Now — Checks spelling in the open document.
- Check Spelling While Typing — Checks spelling while you are typing.
- Check Grammar With Spelling — Checks grammar at the same time spelling is checked.
- Correct Spelling Automatically — Automatically corrects spelling, instead of simple alerting you to the issue.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Command+: for Show/Hide Spelling and Grammar
- Command+; for Check Document Now
Split Row
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Keyboard shortcut available on Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Splits the current row at the location of your cursor, creating two rows from a single row.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Control+Return
See also Insert Line Break and When Pressing Return
Stage Manager (Mac)
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
This menu command is provided by the operating system:
- Remove Window from Set
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide article:
Start Audio Recording/End Audio Recording
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Add an Audio Recording to your document. Select this item again to end recording.
Start Dictation
Command may also be named Dictation
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
With dictation turned on for Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, select an editable text field and use this command to enter text by speaking.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Fn+D
A separate shortcut key can also be set in Keyboard System Settings.
Start Editing
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Begin editing the topic field of a selected row.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+Return
Strikethrough
Available in the Font Inspector
Apply or remove the strikethrough style to the selected text, row, or document.
Substitutions
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
The Substitutions submenu allows you to choose which macOS text substitutions will be used in OmniOutliner.
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide article:
System Search
Available on Mac and iPad in the Help Menu
On Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, search OmniOutliner menu items in order to find a specific command.
On Mac, the same command will also search OmniOutliner Help (this document). Results appear as a list of menu items and help topics respectively.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Shift+Command+?
Text
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Alignment and direction options for text, images, and attachments.
Align or Justify
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Adjust the alignment of the row or column containing selected text:
- Align Left — Aligns text and objects to the left margin of the current row or column.
- Center — Aligns text and objects based on the midpoint of the current row or column.
- Justify — Evenly space the words in a row or column so that multiline text uses the full width of the column.
- Align Right — Aligns text and objects to the right margin of the current row or column.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- No shortcut for Align Left
- Command+| for Center
- No shortcut for Align Right
Writing Direction
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Adjust the writing direction of the selected text, or of the paragraph containing the selected text.
Paragraph:
- Default — Writing direction of paragraph matches the default for the selected language.
- Left to Right — Writing direction of paragraph is left-to-right. May override the selected language.
- Right to Left — Writing direction of paragraph is right-to-left. May override the selected language.
Selection:
- Default — Writing direction of selected text matches the default for the selected language. May override the above setting for Paragraph.
- Left to Right — Writing direction of selected text is left-to-right. May override the above setting for Paragraph.
- Right to Left — Writing direction of selected text is right-to-left. May override the above setting for Paragraph.
Transformations
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
The Transformations submenu contains commands that apply to selected text in the outline, sidebar, and inspector, to convert it to upper case, lowercase, or capitalize each selected word.
- Make Upper Case
- Make Lower Case
- Capitalize
Translate
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
This is a system-provided command which allows you to translate the selected text.
To learn more, please read this Apple User Guide article:
Though this article is for Mac, the information also applies to other platforms.
Underline
Available on Mac and iPad in the Format Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
Available in the Font Inspector
Apply or remove the underline style to the selected text, row, or document.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+U
Undo
Available on Mac and iPad in the Edit Menu
Reverse the most recent change that you made.
You can keep undoing edits,
allowing you to return to an earlier point in time.
You can use Redo to restore an edit that you have undone.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Command+Z
See also Redo
Ungroup
Available on Mac and iPad in the Organize Menu
Ungroup the rows of a selected group, turning the children of the parent row into sibling of the parent row.
The parent row can then be removed, if you choose.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Option+Command+U
See Group
Use Typewriter Mode
Available on Mac in the View Menu
By default, OmniOutliner keeps your scroll position static when you add a new row to an outline, or select a row other than the current one (until you reach the very bottom of the window).
Typewriter Mode detects when your selection moves above or below the center of the document window, and adjusts the scroll position. This keeps the row you select front and center, just like it would on a typewriter.
Writing Tools
Available on Mac in the Edit Menu
Available on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro in the Editing Shortcut Menu
To learn more about Writing Tools, please read these Apple User Guide articles:
Zoom Window
Available on Mac in the Window Menu
Operating system command to switch the front OmniOutliner window between the largest possible size, and the last size you set.
To learn more, read the Apple User Guide article:
Zoom In
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Magnify the view of your document, up to 400 percent.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+>
See Zoom Out and Zoom to Actual Size
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Zoom Out
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Demagnify the view of your document, down to 50 percent.
Keyboard shortcut:
- Command+<
See Zoom In and Zoom to Actual Size
Zoom to Actual Size
Available on Mac and iPad in the View Menu
Scales your document back to 100 percent (normal size).
Settings
Settings can be used to customize the app’s behavior and appearance, so that OmniOutliner is fully configured for your needs.
This chapter is structured to help you easily find the information you need, with each section organized for a different purpose.
- Mac Settings — Listed in app order, for ease of reference.
- iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro Settings — Listed in app order, for ease of reference.
- Settings Reference — Listed in alphabetical order. A good place to start if you would like more information about a setting, want to see which platforms support the setting, or need to locate the setting on different platforms.
To open Settings:
- On Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro,
choose
![]()
Settings…
from the
OmniOutliner menu,
or press Command+, - On iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro,
tap
![]()
More
in the
Toolbar,
then tap
![]()
Settings
Where appropriate, sections of this chapter may link to a related section of the Commands and Shortcuts chapter.
Mac Settings
Settings panes are listed in the order they are displayed in the app.
- General Settings
- Keyboard Settings
- Text Import & Export Settings
- RTF Export Settings
- Audio Recording Settings
- Update Settings
On Mac, each settings pane has a Reset button in the bottom corner. If you press the Option key, the button updates to Reset All. Clicking on either option will present a confirmation before making any changes.
- Reset will restore settings in the pane you are viewing to the state they were in when OmniOutliner was first installed.
- Reset All will restore all settings to the state they were in when OmniOutliner was first installed.
General Settings ![]()
General settings affect app-wide interactions in OmniOutliner.
Keyboard Settings ![]()
Adjust how OmniOutliner interprets certain keys:
Text Import & Export Settings ![]()
View or change the characters used to represent elements when importing a plaintext document, or exporting an OmniOutliner document to plaintext.
You can update:
- Bullets for rows with no children
- Bullets for rows with children (expanded)
- Bullets for rows with children (collapsed)
- Checkboxes that are checked
- Checkboxes that are unchecked
- Checkboxes that are indeterminate (a mix of checked and unchecked children)
There is also a popup menu that lets you select the Text encoding for import/export, which defaults to Unicode (UTF-8).
RTF Export Settings ![][richtext.page.prepend]
View or change the characters used to represent elements, when exporting an OmniOutliner document to RTF.
There are preset characters and sizes, based on the object types for bullets and checkboxes, as well as spacing for indents, and the distance between columns.
You can update:
- Bullets for rows with no children
- Bullets for rows with children (expanded)
- Bullets for rows with children (collapsed)
- Bullet minimum width
- Bullet width
- Checkboxes that are checked
- Checkboxes that are unchecked
- Checkboxes that are indeterminate (a mix of checked and unchecked children)
- Checkbox minimum width
- Checkbox width
- Indent width per level
- Space between columns
Audio Recording Settings ![]()
See which microphone you’re using for recording, change the compression level, or access in-progress recordings.
Input Device displays the currently selected input, and an Edit Settings button to quickly open System Settings and change the selected input.
Input Device:
- Displays the currently selected input.
- The Edit Settings button opens System Settings, so you can change the selected input.
Compression:
- Best Performance — Smaller file sizes, less processor power, and basic audio quality.
- Best Quality — Larger file sizes, slightly more processor power, and the best quality sound.
Compression allows you to select between Best Performance and Best Quality, allowing you to strike your preferred balance.
Temporary Recording Folder:
- OmniOutliner creates a temporary file to store audio while you are recording.
- When you finish recording, that temporary file moves into your OmniOutliner document.
- If OmniOutliner unexpectedly quits while you are recording, your audio is safe, as the temporary file is still there!
- Click the Open Folder button, and the temporary file will show in the Finder.
- Drag the file into OmniOutliner, or put it in the Trash if you would rather start over.
Update Settings ![][arrow.down.circle.prepend]
Update settings control how frequently OmniOutliner checks for updates to itself (for non-App Store builds), and offers the option to help Omni improve future versions of OmniOutliner by sending us anonymous data about your device.
iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro Settings
Settings rows and groups are listed in the order they are displayed in the app.
The options on this screen are particularly helpful if you are using an external keyboard:
Settings Reference
This section lists all OmniOutliner settings (or commands found in Settings on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro) in alphabetical order.
Each entry contains links to where the setting (or command) can be found on each platform. If no platforms are specified, it is available on all devices.
- App Lock
- Apply Named Styles With
- Color Palette
- Command-V Pastes as Plain Text
- Configure Plug-Ins
- Check for Updates (Omni Store Only)
- For New Documents
- Full Screen Mode
- Higher-Quality Audio Recording
- Include Handles in Text Export
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Links
- New Rows Are Created
- New Rows Use Peers’ Style
- OPML Display Theme
- Pasting From Other Apps
- Send Anonymous System Information to the Omni Group
- Send Anonymous Data
- Show Keyboard Shortcuts in Inspectors
- Styles
- Tab Navigates Between Cells
- Warnings
- When Pressing Escape
- When Pressing Return
- When Pressing Tab
App Lock
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
If you use OmniOutliner on a device that you occasionally share (with your children, coworkers, or clients, for example), there may be times you would prefer that your OmniOutliner data be hidden. The App Lock feature prevents accidental taps and casual glances by adding a password-locked privacy screen that must be dismissed before accessing any of your OmniOutliner data or settings.
App Lock does not encrypt your OmniOutliner data, nor does it prevent someone with physical access to your device from connecting it to another device and copying your data file, or deleting OmniOutliner from your device outright.
The Files app can also be used to retrieve your OmniOutliner data file regardless of whether App Lock is turned on.
App Lock is solely intended as a privacy feature, to prevent accidental exposure or corruption of data when others are using your device. It is not meant to thwart serious attempts to access or compromise your data. Device-level security measures are recommended for those with additional security needs.
App Lock is turned off by default. To turn it on, tap App Lock.
When you turn on App Lock, you will be prompted to choose (and confirm) a new App Lock password, which is distinct from both your OmniOutliner sync password and encryption passphrase.
If you use OmniOutliner on multiple devices, you need to configure and set an App Lock password on each device where you would like the additional privacy.
Warning
If you forget the App Lock password, OmniOutliner can no longer be used on your device.
If you are syncing your OmniOutliner data, the easiest way to recover is to delete OmniOutliner, then reinstall the app from the App Store, and use your existing sync credentials to restore your database.
If you have chosen not to sync, you can retrieve your OmniOutliner data by connecting your device to the Finder or iTunes, and copying your OmniOutliner data (the OmniOutliner.ofocus file) to a safe location.
You can also use the Files app to retrieve your data file, and share it using email, or another option in the Share menu, to another location.
After saving a backup of your data, delete OmniOutliner from your device and reinstall it from the App Store. Once you have reinstalled OmniOutliner, you can set a new App Lock password, and use Finder or iTunes to load your OmniOutliner.ofocus file back onto your device.
After choosing a password, App Lock is turned on.
App Lock Settings offer the option to turn App Lock off, change your password, or use Touch ID, Face ID, or Optic ID to unlock OmniOutliner on supported devices.
To change your App Lock password, Tap Change Password…. You are prompted to enter your old password, and then to choose and confirm a new one.
With App Lock turned on, the next time you open OmniOutliner you will see a privacy screen with a field to enter the password you chose. Enter the password, and jump into your action list!
If you choose to use Touch ID, Face ID, or Optic ID, a prompt for your fingerprint, face, or eye will appear instead. You will still have the option to enter a password, or you can tap the icon next to the password field to unlock with Touch ID, Face ID, or Optic ID if you dismissed the prompt initially.
To minimize interruptions while using OmniOutliner, App Lock will not engage for 90 seconds after switching away, in case you are quickly switching between apps.
Apply Named Styles With
Available on Mac in Keyboard Settings
You can use these keyboard shortcuts to apply one of the Named styles to the current row.
On Mac, Named styles are found in the lower portion of the Styles section of the Sidebar.
- Function keys — Press and hold the Fn key, then press a numbered function key (F1 through F9) to apply the style. For example, to apply the Heading 1 named style in the default Blank template, press Fn+F1.
- Control + number — Press and hold the Control key, and then press a number to apply the style. For example, to apply the Heading 1 named style in the default Blank template, press Control+1. These are the keyboard shortcuts used on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro.
For iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, see Show Keyboard Shortcuts in Inspector.
Color Palette
Available on Mac in General Settings
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
Command-V Pastes as Plain Text
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
When turned on, Command+V (the standard paste keyboard shortcut) pastes copied text without any of its original style attributes, and Option+Shift+Command+V pastes rich (formatted) text.
When turned off, Command+V pastes rich text, and Option+Shift+Command+V pastes plain text.
For Mac, see Paste and Paste with Original Style.
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
Open a sheet with a list of connected locations that the app will check for template files.
Tap Add Location to open a file browser and navigate to the desired folder, then tap Done to link it.
Not all cloud storage providers are capable of acting as linked resource folders for OmniOutliner. Providers that aren’t compatible have their names greyed out in the browser list.
–>
Configure Plug-Ins
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
Open a sheet with a list of the Omni Automation Plug-Ins available in connected folders on your device.
To add Plug-Ins to this list, choose Add Linked Folder at the bottom of the list, and navigate to the folder on your device that contains them.
For more information about this feature, see the Omni Automation in OmniOutliner website, as well as the OmniOutliner Plug-In Collection.
Check for Updates (Omni Store Only)
Available on Mac in Update Settings
OmniOutliner will periodically check for updates. You can choose the interval you prefer, or uncheck the box to turn off automatic checking.
You can manually check for updates by clicking on Check Now, or with the Check for Updates… command.
For New Documents
Available on Mac in General Settings
Choose what happens when you create a new document using the New command:
- Open Template Picker
- Use Template
Opening the Resource Browser allows you to choose a template for a new document, or open a recently edited document or template. To change the default template, click Change Template… and select a different template from the Resource Browser.
Full Screen Mode
Available on Mac in General Settings
Select which Full Screen mode you would like to use:
- Standard — The Toolbar, Sidebar, and Inspector are visible at all times.
- Distraction Free — The Toolbar, Sidebar, and Inspector are hidden, until you move the cursor to the edges of the screen.
Higher-Quality Audio Recording
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
When turned on, Audio Recordings are recorded at high quality (a higher sample rate).
Turn this off to save space on your device.
Include Handles in Text Export
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
When turned off, row handles are not included when exporting to plain text.
When turned on,
row handles are represented as a single dash (-) when exporting to plain text.
This applies to text export from OmniOutliner or OPML files.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in Keyboard Settings
Keyboard shortcuts make it easy for you to quickly access menu options without having to use a mouse. You can create, export, and import sets of keyboard shortcuts customized for your needs.
To open the Keyboard Shortcuts window, click on the Customize button in Keyboard Settings, or choose Keyboard Shortcuts… from the OmniOutliner Menu.
The Keyboard Shortcuts window is divided into two sections:
- Outline — The top section contains commands used when navigating and manipulating The Outline. Keyboard shortcuts for Outline commands can be a single letter or number, without needing to use a modifier key (Control, Option, Shift, or Command).
- Menus — Menus found at the top of the screen, along with each menu item or Command in that menu. You can expand and collapse each menu section by clicking the disclosure arrows to the left of each menu name.
You can use the Search field at the top of the window to search for a menu item or command. This makes it easy to see how the assigned keyboard shortcuts relate to each other, and to set or reassign keys, if desired.
Editing Keyboard Shortcuts
To set or change a keyboard shortcut, click the field to the right of a menu item or command, and press keys for your new shortcut. You can use one or more of Control, Option, Shift, or Command, along with a letter or number.
The changes are immediately available, without needing to quit and restart OmniOutliner.
If you enter a shortcut that is already used by another menu item or command, the Keyboard Shortcuts window displays a warning symbol in both shortcut fields. In addition, the normally-grayed out warning button at the top of the window becomes available. This makes it easy for you to identify and correct the conflict.
Clicking the Warning button at the top of the Keyboard Shortcuts window focuses on the conflicting items, and a revert arrow is placed to the right of each item causing the conflict. Clicking the revert arrow changes that item back to its default keyboard shortcut, or removes the shortcut if none was previously assigned.
To remove a keyboard shortcut for an item, click the field to the right of a menu item or command, and press Delete. This removes the keyboard shortcut for that item.
The first time you make a change to the Default keyboard set, the name of the current keyboard set (used in the drop-down menu) becomes editable. By default, OmniOutliner places your user account name in the field, but you can change this to whatever you’d like.
If you would like to change the name of a keyboard set,
click the
Action menu,
and select Rename.
Enter a new name,
and press Return to apply it.
Sharing Keyboard Sets
To export your keyboard set:
- Click the
![]()
Action menu,
and select Export Shortcuts…. - OmniOutliner will create a shortcuts file named after your set, with an .outliner-shortcuts file extension (such as Rapid Edit Set.outliner-shortcuts).
To import another keyboard set:
- Click the
![]()
Action menu,
and select Import Shortcuts…. - In the window that opens, locate and select the .outliner-shortcuts file to import, then click Open to add that keyboard set to the Keyboard Shortcuts drop-down menu.
- You can also double-click a .outliner-shortcuts file in the Finder. The Keyboard Shortcuts window will open with that shortcuts file already selected in the popup menu.
Pasting from Other Apps
Available on Mac in General Settings
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
This setting only applies to styled text copied from outside of OmniOutliner, and pasted into an OmniOutliner note.
By default, OmniOutliner attempts to Merge Styles when pasting text copied from outside of the app. Selecting another option for this setting will update the Paste method for styled text:
- Merge Styles — Uses Paste and Merge Styles for styled text. Preserves only essential styles such as bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, subscript or superscript, ligatures, and writing direction, as well as links with titles, and attachments.
- Match Style — Uses Paste and Match Style for styled text. Discards all formatting from the copied text, including the URL for links with titles.
- Keep Original Style — Uses Paste with Original Style for styled text. Preserves all styles from the copied text.
When copying and pasting styled text within OmniOutliner, Paste with Original Style is always used, so that all formatting is retained.
Links
Available on Mac in General Settings
OmniOutliner automatically creates clickable hyperlinks when you type or paste URLs, such as omnigroup.com or https://omnigroup.com.
If you turn off this setting, any URLs you type or paste will remain text, and clicking them will not open the URL.
New Rows Are Created
Available on Mac in Keyboard Settings
Choose what happens when you create a new row:
- Indented if there are children — Return creates a new child row, if the selected row already has children; but creates a row at the same level, if the selected row does not have children.
- Always at the same level — Return always creates a row at the same level as the selected row.
OPML Display Theme
Available on Mac in General Settings
Select the Theme to use for OPML files in OmniOutliner.
Unlike theming for OmniOutliner documents, where text and row styles are saved with the document, this setting only affects the display of OPML documents, and is not saved.
To change the default theme, click Change Theme… and select a different theme from the Resource Browser.
Send Anonymous System Information to the Omni Group
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
Available on Mac in Update Settings
Available on Mac in System Information Settings
If you would like to help improve future versions of OmniOutliner, you can choose to send us anonymous information about your OmniOutliner data and device.
On iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, all the information that will be shared is visible in this Settings screen.
On Mac, click on Learn more about what kind of information is sent.
Show Keyboard Shortcuts in Inspectors
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
You can use Control+1 through 9 to apply one of the Named styles to the current row.
Named styles are found in the Apply Styles section of the Inspector.
When this setting is turned on, keyboard shortcuts appear next to the related style. When this setting is turned off, keyboard shortcuts do not appear, but can still be used to apply styles.
Keyboard shortcuts on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro use the Control + number presentation, which is also an option on Mac.
For Mac, see Apply Named Styles With.
Styles/New Rows Use Peers’ Style
Available on Mac in General Settings
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
When turned on,
adding a new row
(by pressing Return,
Shift+Return,
or using the
New
button)
applies the styles of the previously selected row to the newly created row.
When turned off, new rows are created using the default styles from the theme you are using.
When turned on, new rows use the selection styles applied to the previously selected row.
Warnings
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
Set whether compatibility warnings will appear when you open older OmniOutliner documents or OPML documents.
When Pressing Escape
Available on Mac in Keyboard Settings
Select which Esc key behavior you would like:
- Unchecked — Esc opens the system-wide completion menu.
- Checked — Esc begins or ends editing.
The system-wide completion menu can be very useful, when you aren’t quite sure how to spell something. You can type in the first few characters of the word, press Esc, and a popup menu appears with a list of possible options. To accept one of the options, you can click it with your mouse, or use the Down Arrow and Up Arrow keys to highlight the word you want, then press Tab or Return to accept that option.
Beginning or ending editing is useful for quickly moving around your outline, editing rows and cells more efficiently. Pressing Esc after entering text in a row will highlight that row. Pressing Esc again places the cursor at the end of the line, so you can continue typing.
When Pressing Return
Available on Mac in Keyboard Settings
Select which Return key behavior you would like:
- Create a new empty row — Return creates a new empty row.
- Insert a line break in the current row — Return inserts a line break inside of the current row.
- Split the current row at the insertion point — Return splits the row being edited into two, at the point of insertion.
Regardless of the above setting:
- Option+Return always inserts a newline in the current row.
- Control+Return always splits the current row into two rows.
When Pressing Tab/Tab Navigates Between Cells
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Available on Mac in Keyboard Settings
Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro in Settings
On Mac, select which Tab key behavior you would like:
- Indent row — Tab indents a row, and Shift+Tab outdents a row.
- Go to next cell —
Tab navigates to the next cell in the row, and Shift+Tab navigates to the previous cell in the row,
On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, turn on Tab navigates between cells for Go to next cell, and turn it off for Indent row.
Regardless of the above setting, Option+Tab always inserts a Tab character.
Support and Troubleshooting
When you’re in need of help—whether you’re trying to figure out how columns work, how to apply a theme, or having some other issue with OmniOutliner—it’s good to know that the Support Humans at the Omni Group are always available to lend you a hand.
In addition to contacting Support directly, there are several online and in-app resources that can help answer your questions about OmniOutliner, and provide additional troubleshooting.
Release Notes
For a summary of the latest changes, start by reading the Release Notes.
They are available:
- On Mac, from the Help Menu
- On iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro,
from the
OmniOutliner Help
menu item in the
![]()
Toolbar Menu on iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision Pro
Online Support
Our OmniOutliner Support page provides a wealth of information (including this reference manual), as well as support articles which cover other topics related to working with OmniOutliner.
Community Support
Omni maintains a public Discourse Forum, which is available to everyone. Come share your questions and ideas with other users, share tips to show off how you’re using OmniOutliner, and seek help from the OmniOutliner community.
Omni also maintains a public Slack Workspace, where you’re welcome to join the community of fellow productivity enthusiasts to hang out and share OmniOutliner-related insights.
Note that while Discourse and Slack are a great resource for interacting with others in the OmniOutliner community, they are not monitored for troubleshooting purposes, and are not considered an official support channel. Please use our email and phone options to contact our support team directly.
Email Support
If you are stuck, have a great idea for the next version of OmniOutliner, or just want to let us know how we are doing, please send us an email.
Using the Contact Omni command creates an email message addressed to us, and includes information about the version you’re running, which operating system you’re running it on, and what type of license you have, which helps us quickly assist you.
Alternatively, you can email omnioutliner@omnigroup.com directly! Either way, we take support seriously, so you can expect a prompt response typed by our Support Humans.
If you are contacting support with an issue, it’s very helpful if you can include a screenshot or screen recording of the behavior that you’re experiencing, along with the steps that are causing the issue. This helps us understand the problem and find a solution more quickly and effectively.
Apple provides useful instructions for capturing screenshots or screen recordings:
Phone Support
We understand that sometimes you just can’t wait for an email response, like when you’re knee-deep in a project, and something isn’t working quite right. When this happens, you can call our Support Humans!
Please check our Support site for current hours and telephone numbers.
Troubleshooting
Move any troubleshooting sections here…
Glossary
Some words and phrases used in OmniOutliner have very specific meanings, and though we strive to make those meanings clear, this is a good place to come for further assistance.
Is there is a term missing from this list, or something here that doesn’t quite make sense? Please Email Support about what would be helpful, and we’ll do our best to clarify or update.
App Menu
- The App Menu contains information to help you get the most out of OmniOutliner and settings for customizing your OmniOutliner experience. Tap in the toolbar of the document browser to access it. See The App Menu for more details.
Apple User Guides
Apple provides User Guides for a variety of devices, operating systems, and applications:
Columns
Requires OmniOutliner Pro
Compact View
Default view on iPhone, or iPad (when running in some split screen sizes). This view shows each pane of OmniOutliner individually, and can be thought of as navigating a series of stacked cards. You can see the Sidebar, Outline, or Inspector.
Compare this with Regular View.
Context Menu
See Shortcut Menu
Contextual Menu
See Shortcut Menu
Device
Hardware that runs each Platform supported by OmniOutliner.
Supported devices include Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro.
Document
OmniOutliner creates two different types of documents. Outlines (with the file extension .ooutline) represent structured writing or other data, and are the primary document type. Templates (with the file extension .otemplate) are the other type, used to store style presets or other document attributes you might frequently reuse.
To learn more about Documents, see the Documents and Templates chapter.
Document Browser
- The file browser that OmniOutliner uses to help you manage OmniOutliner outlines and templates. Starting with OmniOutliner 3.4, OmniOutliner uses the built in iOS file browser for document management, including access to your files in the cloud (with iCloud Drive or another storage service) and files synced with OmniPresence to Omni Sync Server or a WebDAV server.
Drag and Drop
A system-level function that allows dragging items into OmniOutliner, out of OmniOutliner, and between OmniOutliner and other apps on Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro. Try dragging text into OmniOutliner from other apps, reordering items in the outline, and dragging rows or selected text from OmniOutliner to other apps on your device.
Editing Menu
A menu available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, which allows editing of text in text fields; normally accessed by tapping in a text field while editing text.
Most often contains system commands such as:
May also contain OmniOutliner-specific commands, such as:
Files
- The Files app offers a way to access files in local app directories, as well as those in the cloud. You can copy files to the local app directory, tap OmniOutliner files to open them in OmniOutliner, and also drag from OmniOutliner into the Files app.
Gutter
The space on the leading edge of the document,
immediately before the row handle,
and after the
Note icon.
Tapping or clicking in this space will select the row.
Hierarchy
The structure of your outline, showing the relationship between rows.
Read the Hierarchy section of The Outline chapter, to learn more.
Inspector
A view on the trailing side of the OmniOutliner window (in Regular View), or that opens from the bottom of the window (in Compact View), which allows you to adjust all the details for text, rows, and columns.
With
something selected in the Outline or Sidebar, the Inspector automatically shows
relevant fields. Click
Inspector
in the Toolbar,
or choose
Show Inspector
from the
View menu.
Additional information is available in the Inspector chapter.
Keyboard Shortcut
A single key, or set of keys pressed in combination, that calls a Command. These are available when using a Mac, or with an external keyboard attached to an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro.
Leading/Trailing Edge
When using OmniOutliner with a left to right language, the leading edge is the left side, and the trailing edge is the right side.
When using OmniOutliner with a right to left language, the leading edge is the right side, and the trailing edge is the left side.
Omni Account
Your Omni Account can be used to start a free trial of our applications, purchase a license or subscription, upgrade an existing license, or sync our applications using the Omni Sync Server.
Read the Using and managing your Omni Account support article to learn more.
Omni Automation
A method of scripting OmniOutliner with JavaScript. See the Omni Automation website for more information on this feature.
Outline
On Mac, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, this is the center area of the OmniOutliner window, with the Sidebar available on the Leading Edge, and the Inspector available on the Trailing Edge.
On iPhone, this is also the primary area of OmniOutliner, with both the Sidebar and Inspector hidden most of the time, but available for changing your view or data.
See The Outline chapter to learn more.
Platform
Operating system that runs on each Apple Device supported by OmniOutliner.
Supported platforms include iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS.
Plug-In
Omni Automation Plug-Ins are written in JavaScript, and can be used for automating various tasks, when using OmniOutliner Pro.
Visit the Omni Automation in OmniOutliner website to learn more.
Regular View
Default view on Mac, iPad (when running in full screen), Apple Vision Pro, and Web. This view can show the Sidebar, Outline, and Inspector at the same time.
Compare this with Compact View.
Row
The basic building block of content in OmniOutliner.
Read the Rows section of The Outline chapter, to learn more.
Settings
See OmniOutliner Settings or System Settings, depending on whether you want to change something about OmniOutliner, or something about the system on which OmniOutliner is running.
Shortcut Menu
If you touch and hold on a Row, Column, or selection of text, a Shortcut Menu may appear with relevant commands.
Apple previously referred to this type of menu as a context or contextual menu.
Sidebar
A pane to the left of the Outline, which can display folders, projects, tags, or a calendar, depending on which Perspective you are viewing. When using Regular View, choosing Show/Hide Sidebar will show or hide the Sidebar, next to the Outline. When using Compact View, the Sidebar will slide in from the left, and will slide out to the left when you are finished using it, leaving the Outline visible.
Read the Sidebar section of the Perspectives chapter, to learn more.
Status Bar
The status bar, at the bottom of your document window on Mac, displays the number of rows, words, and characters currently shown in the outline.
Displayed numbers are based on the rows currently displayed in the outline, if they were fully expanded. Filtering the outline will change the numbers, but expanding or collapsing displayed rows will not.
System Settings
Apple application that allows you to change options that affect either your entire device, or only OmniOutliner.
This application is named Settings on iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro; it is named System Settings on Mac, where it was previously named System Preferences.
Template
An OmniOutliner document that contains the base settings such as the row styles, background colors, or numbering used when creating a OmniOutliner outline. Templates can also include outline content, which is used as the basis for documents using the Template Picker.
Toolbar
An area at either the top or bottom of the OmniOutliner window which contains tools for modifying the contents of that window, or provides access to additional functionality, such as Commands, Settings, OmniOutliner Help, or Automation.
For additional information, see the Toolbar chapter.