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Quick Entry

Quick Entry is a small window that opens from the macOS menu bar. Use it to write down a thought, save a picture or keep a link the moment you come across it, wherever you are on your Mac. Everything you save goes to your Inbox Stack, so you can place it on a Canvas later.

Quick Entry is part of the macOS desktop app.

Open Quick Entry

  • Press ⌘⇧L anywhere on your Mac, or
  • Click the Lino icon in the menu bar.

Press ⌘⇧L again or Esc to close it. It also closes when you click somewhere else, unless it is pinned (see below).

The shortcut works even when the menu bar icon is hidden and Lino's main window is closed, as long as Lino is running.

Add a Card

  1. On the Add Card tab, type your note. You can give it a Concept at the top, the same as on any Card, or leave it as a Plain Card.
  2. Format as you type: Markdown shortcuts such as # for a heading, - for a list and > for a quote work here, and checklists are supported.
  3. Click Save, or press ⌘↵.

You'll see Card saved to Inbox! and the window is cleared for the next note. The mop button clears what you've typed without saving.

The Quick Entry editor is lighter than the full Card editor: tables, code blocks, images, equations and references are not available here. Add them later in Lino.

Switch to the Drop & Paste tab ("Drop or paste anything, images, links, or even text!").

  • Images — drag image files (or an image from a web page) into the window, or paste one with ⌘V. You'll see Image saved to Inbox!
  • Links — paste a web address, or drag a link in. Lino saves it as a Link, with its title and preview. You'll see Link saved to Inbox!
  • Text — paste or drop plain text, and Quick Entry switches to Add Card with that text filled in, ready to save.

See what you just saved

The stack at the bottom shows what you've saved from Quick Entry that is still in your Inbox, newest on top, with a count. Hover an item and click its delete button to throw it away if you saved it by mistake. Once you place an item on a Canvas from the Inbox, it leaves this stack.

Search what you have

Click the search box at the top (Search cards, images, links...) to look through your Cards, Images and Links — handy to check whether you already saved something. Press Esc or the back arrow to return.

Keep it open

Click the pin button at the top right to pin Quick Entry. A pinned window stays open when you click elsewhere, so you can drag in several things in a row. Click the pin again to unpin.

Where things go

Everything saved from Quick Entry lands in your Inbox Stack, under its Quick Entry tab, in the order you saved it. Open Lino, open the Inbox, and drag each item onto a Canvas. See Inbox Stack.

Quick Entry writes straight to the same local library as the main window, so a saved item appears in Lino right away, and it syncs to your other devices like anything else.

Go to Settings → System → Menu bar:

  • Show Lino in the menu bar — shows or hides the menu bar icon. Hidden or not, ⌘⇧L still opens Quick Entry.
  • Launch at login — starts Lino in the background when you log in, so Quick Entry is ready. It needs the menu bar icon, because Lino starts without a window and the icon is how you find it.

Right-click the menu bar icon for Open Lino, Launch at Login and Quit Lino.

The shortcut is listed in Settings → Shortcuts → Quick Entry as Open Quick Entry.

Tips

  • If your plan's Artifact limit is reached, Quick Entry tells you instead of saving. See Settings → Subscription.
  • If you see Couldn't save, Lino could not open its local library; your note stays in the window, so you can try again.