The Kortex desktop app is here! This article will explain how to get it, how to use two exclusive features of it, and how to update it.

Note that only the MacOS app is available right now. Don't worry, the Windows version will be coming very soon, and we'll let you know the moment it's available.

How to install

Go to the Downloads page here, click the version you'd like to get, and the download will start. Once you've downloaded the file, open it up, and the installation will begin.

Then the Kortex desktop app will be ready to use! It should open up on its own when the installation finishes. Then you can log in as usual - and you'll see all of your documents, captures, etc. just like you do in your desktop browser.

But Kortex on the desktop app isn't exactly the same as it is in your desktop browser. There are two new features exclusive to the desktop app…

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Floating Capture

First up - you can "pop out" a Capture window. The default keyboard shortcut to open (and close) the window is ⌥+C (option + C). This brings up the Capture window like this:

As shown above, you can move the Capture popout around on your screen, and it will stay on top of everything else.

That means you can switch over to a blog post, YouTube video, or anything else you're reading/watching/doing on your screen, and still easily write captures - without having to switch back to the browser tab Kortex is open in.

In the Capture popout, you can still do everything you normally can within a Capture window, such as searching, deleting, and editing, as well as connecting captures to specific documents.

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Floating Documents

Similarly, you can "pop out" a document editor. The default keyboard shortcut to open (and close) this is ⌥+D (option + D). This will bring up the floating document popout:

Just like the Capture popout, the Documents popout stays on top of everything else on your screen, so you can easily work on a document while you go through an article, video, or course without switching back and forth between browser tabs.

The first time you load the Documents popout, you can either click the button inside it to create a new document, or you can click the button in the top right corner of it to find a document you want to open in the popout like so:

Another way you can work with a specific document in the popout is by clicking the Open Floating Docs button in the top right corner of any document you have open in your main pane. That document will then open in the popout!

One last note: You open (and close) the capture popout or the document popout with the appropriate keyboard shortcuts (⌥+C and ⌥+D respectively) even when the Kortex app isn't active on your screen. As long as the app is running, when you press the keyboard shortcut, the popout will open (or close).

You can also show (or hide) the app itself by pressing ⌥+K as long as it's running.

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How to update

We're constantly improving every version of Kortex. As always, we'll announce changes to the desktop app (and the other versions of Kortex) in the #announcements-and-releases channel of our free community on Discord.

When we do release a new update, to make sure you get it, you need to completely restart the app. You can do this by clicking the Kortex icon in your tray (the area in the top right corner of your screen) then clicking Quit. The next time you open the app, it'll check if there's a new update available, and download it if there is.

Note that "closing" the app via pressing ⌘+W, clicking the x in the top left corner, or clicking Quit on the icon in your dock will not completely close the app, and therefore won't get you any new updates when it comes back up. "Closing" the app via those 3 methods lets the app keep running in the background - this lets you still bring up floating capture, floating documents, and the main app screen via their keyboard shortcuts as mentioned above.

Another note: You can change the keyboard shortcuts for showing and hiding the capture popout, document popout, and the desktop app itself by going into your settings page. The default keyboard shortcut to directly open your Shortcuts page is ⌘+/ (but you can even rebind that too).

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Your next steps

If you have any problems, encounter any bugs, or just simply have feedback for us - please send a message to Joey by sending him an email at joey@kortex.co or a direct message on Discord (joeyjusticeco). Of course, you can always contact Kortex Support by sending an email to support@kortex.co.

Speaking of Discord, if you haven't yet joined the free Kortex community, do so now! Click here to accept the Discord invitation - then you'll be able to ask questions, join free live events, and network with other writers.

Thank you for reading!

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