The Inspector
The Inspector on iPadOS
The Inspector is a panel alongside the editor that reveals document metadata, writing statistics, and connections. Its contents adapt based on the type of document you're viewing. It is represented by a guage icon .
Tip
You can show or hide the Inspector at any time from View > Show/Hide Inspector (Cmd+Option+I) on macOS and on iPad/iPhone running iOS 26 or later.
Overview
The Overview tab is available for all document types and contains:
Synopsis
A brief summary of your document. The synopsis is visible in the Folder Outline View (when the synopsis toggle is on) and on Canvas cards set to synopsis display mode, making it useful for chapter summaries and at-a-glance project overviews.
Tip
Use the synopsis as your "elevator pitch" for each document — a sentence or two that captures its purpose.
Notes
A longer-form metadata field for tracking context, revision reminders, research notes, or anything that shouldn't appear in the main text. Notes are separate from the document body — they don't appear in the editor or in exported output.
Tags
Assign and manage tags for the current document. Tags are displayed in a flowing layout with their custom colors. See Tags and Search for more on creating and using tags.
Details
Shows the Last Edited and Created dates for the document. Both dates are tappable — tap to open a date picker and adjust them.
Outline
The Inspector Outline on macOS
The Outline tab is available for text documents and contains four sections.
Statistics
Live-updating writing metrics that refresh as you type:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Words | Total word count |
| Characters | Total character count including spaces |
| Characters (no spaces) | Character count excluding spaces |
| Sentences | Total sentence count |
| Paragraphs | Total paragraph count |
| Words per Sentence | Average words per sentence (one decimal place) |
The Inspector with a selection word count on macOS
When text is selected in the editor, the statistics update to reflect only the selected range — useful for checking the word count of a specific section or passage.
Tip
Words per sentence is a quick readability indicator — lower averages generally mean more accessible prose.
Outline
A hierarchical view of all headings in your document (H1 through H6), indented by level. Tap any heading to jump directly to that section in the editor.
Consistent heading structure makes the outline more useful for navigation — treat it like a living table of contents.
Annotations
All annotations in the document, showing the annotated text and a preview of the comment. Tap any entry to navigate to the annotation in the editor. See Annotations and Footnotes for details on creating them.
Footnotes
All footnotes in the document with numbered entries and a content preview. Tap any entry to navigate to the footnote in the editor.
Attachments
The Attachments tab shows the connections between your document and other content:
Links
All outgoing links in the document — both internal document links and external URLs. Selecting a link scrolls to its location in the editor. Right-click (Mac) or long-press (iPad/iPhone) on a link entry to open a context menu where you can open the link's source directly from the Inspector.
Media
All embedded media in the document, with thumbnail previews. Tap an entry to scroll to its location in the editor.
Incoming Links
Documents that link to the current one, forming a bidirectional knowledge graph. Tap any entry to open the referring document.
Info
Incoming links update automatically as you add and remove links throughout your project.
Referenced By
Canvases and documents that include the current document as an embedded item or canvas card. Tap to open the referring document.
Canvas Items
A Inspector showing the Canvas Section on macOS
When viewing a canvas document, the Inspector includes an Items tab showing all items grouped into two sections:
- Pins — All pin markers on the canvas, with their shape, icon, and title
- Cards — All document reference cards and labels
Select any item to navigate to it on the canvas. Items can be reordered via drag-and-drop and show a lock badge when locked.
Media Details
When viewing a media document, the Inspector includes a Media Details tab showing file metadata: file type, dimensions, aspect ratio, file size, and date added.
See Also
- Writing with Markdown — Headings create the document outline
- Annotations and Footnotes — Creating annotations and footnotes
- Linking — How links and incoming links work