Your First Note

Create a note

Jump to the command bar with : and run:

:noteAdd my-first-note

The note opens in the viewer. The file is saved as notes/my-first-note.md inside your vault.

You can also use the command palette (ctrl+p) and search for "new note".

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Editing modes

Fern has five modes. The current mode you are in is always shown in the bottom left corner of the status bar.

Mode	How to enter	What it does
View	ctrl+e from Normal	Pretty markdown rendering. Read-only mode. Best used for scrolling/folds if you're reviewing notes (esp longer ones).
Normal	ctrl+e from View or Esc any others	Cursor movements and editing commands; Review notes.
Insert	i (before cursor) or a (after cursor)	Typing freely, like any text editor
Replace	R	Overwrites existing characters as you type out new ones
Visual	v (char) or V (line)	Select text to copy, cut, or change. Allows for batch manpulation of text.

When you first open a note, Fern starts in Normal mode (or View mode, depending on your start_mode setting).

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Write something

1. Press i to enter Insert mode.
2. Type in some your text.
3. Press Esc to return to Normal mode.
4. Press ctrl+s (or type :w in the command bar) to save.

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Useful editing shortcuts (in Normal mode)

Key	Action
o	New line below and enter Insert mode
O	New line above and enter Insert mode
dd	Delete the current line
u	Undo
ctrl+r	Redo
t	Toggle checkbox state
T	Insert a new checkbox item

NOTE: Press ? at any time to see the full list of key shortcuts.

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Journals

In addition to notes, Fern has a journal system. For example, to open today's daily journal entry (or create if it does not exist yet) we simply do:

:journalOpen today

Some other useful references:

:journalOpen yesterday
:journalOpen this-week
:journalOpen last-week
:journalOpen this-month

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Next: Try the demo Vault