# Getting started

Wymark is a Mac (and soon Windows) app that edits the markdown files you already have, where they are. Nothing is imported, copied or converted.

## Requirements

- macOS 26 or later, on an Apple Silicon Mac. There is no Intel build.
- No account, no sign-in, no network connection.

## Install

Download the disk image from the [beta page](/beta). The app is signed and notarized.

Install Wymark to **Applications**. From the disk image or from Downloads it cannot update itself.

## First launch

Wymark opens an introduction document with a short tour over it. **Show the tour** in Settings > General replays it.

The introduction document lists the main features of Wymark and has a real comment thread in it. Reply to it and edit a paragraph to see a review. Do not keep work in it. An update that brings a new introduction replaces your copy.

## Open your files

| To | Do |
| --- | --- |
| Open a folder | **Open folder...** in the Files tab of the left panel. Earlier folders are under Recent folders. |
| Open one file | Double-click it in Finder, choose Open With > Wymark, or drop it on the window. |
| Start a new document | `⌘N`. It has no file until `⌘S` asks where to put it. |

- A folder gives you a file tree and search across it (`⇧⌘F`).
- A file dropped on the Files panel while a folder is open is copied into that folder.
- Wymark never makes itself the default app for markdown. The tour has a button for it, and so does Finder's Get Info > Change All...
- The first time you open a folder in Documents, Desktop or another protected place, macOS asks for access. Say yes once.

See [Files, tabs & windows](/docs/guide/workspace).

A folder at any depth inside a `git` repository also gets a Git section in the `vs ...` menu: compare the document with a commit or a branch. Wymark makes no commits and changes no branch. See [Git & comparisons](/docs/concepts/git).

<figure class="docs-shot">
  <img class="docs-shot-light" src="01-getting-started-assets/vs-menu-git-light.png" width="700"
       alt="The vs Review menu open from the ribbon. Under Review baseline, Last saved version and All versions is a Git section naming the repository and the branch, with Last commit, Previous commit, main since branching, and main now.">
  <img class="docs-shot-dark" src="01-getting-started-assets/vs-menu-git-dark.png" width="700"
       alt="The same in dark mode.">
</figure>

## Saving

There is no Save. Every edit reaches the file as you type. `⌘S` saves a **version**: a named checkpoint you can return to. See [Review & versions](/docs/concepts/review).

## Updates

Wymark checks for a newer version shortly after it starts and regularly while it is open, and asks before it downloads anything. What the check sends is on the [Privacy](/docs/reference/privacy) page.

The current download is at [wymark.app/download](/download); older versions are at [wymark.app/releases](/releases).

## Help

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **These pages** | Help > Documentation |
| **Shortcuts** | Help > Keyboard Shortcuts (`⇧⌘?`), or the [shortcuts reference](/docs/reference/keyboard-shortcuts) |
| **Questions** | `#help-and-questions` on [Discord](/discord). Threads are published on the web. |
| **Bugs and requests** | The [issue tracker](https://github.com/wymarkapp/wymark/issues), or Help > Issues & Discussions on GitHub... |
| **A diagnostic report** | Help > Something Went Wrong... It is private and sent only when you send it. See [Privacy](/docs/reference/privacy). |
| **Anything private** | [hello@wymark.app](mailto:hello@wymark.app) |