Help

Getting started

Open NovelDesk and start writing. There’s nothing to download and no account to make. On the empty screen, give your manuscript a title and choose Start writing; from your desk, choose New manuscript.

Your desk begins with a sample manuscript, a public-domain book, so you can look around and try the tools. It doesn’t count toward the free desk’s two manuscripts.

Where your writing lives

On the free desk, your writing is saved only in this browser. If the browser clears this site’s data (Safari does after 7 days without a visit), the writing goes with it. With Plus, everything is saved to the cloud.

NovelDesk never deletes your writing, and nothing leaves this browser unless you subscribe to Plus (saving to the cloud then turns on by itself), publish a chapter, or ask for an illustration. On the free desk the browser’s storage is the only place your writing exists, so two things are worth knowing. Clearing this site’s data in your browser deletes your manuscripts. And Safari can clear the data of a site you haven’t opened for seven days, unless you’ve added it to your Dock or Home Screen.

NovelDesk asks your browser to keep its data safe from clearing when you start your first manuscript, but browsers decide for themselves. Settings, under Storage, says whether yours agreed, lets you ask again, and shows how much space NovelDesk uses. Either way, save a backup file now and then (see Backups) and keep it somewhere other than this browser. With Plus, everything is also saved to the cloud, which keeps your manuscripts on your other devices and keeps them if this browser’s data is cleared.

A manuscript you delete waits under Recently deleted on your desk for 30 days, then it’s removed for good. To remove everything NovelDesk keeps in this browser at once, use Delete all writing on this device in Settings, under Storage. It asks you to type a word first, and it leaves your account and anything saved to the cloud alone.

Chapters

A manuscript is a list of chapters, and there’s nothing smaller: no scenes or sections inside a chapter. If you think in scenes, make each scene a chapter.

Add one with New chapter in the sidebar, or with New chapter at the foot of the last chapter. To move between chapters, choose one in the sidebar, or click the next chapter, which shows faintly at the foot of the page. A new chapter opens with the last lines of the one before it, faint above the heading, so you can see where you left off. You can change how strong it is, or turn it off, in Settings under Previous chapter. A free manuscript holds 30 chapters.

Versions. While you write, NovelDesk saves earlier versions of each chapter in this browser: the text as it was when you opened the chapter, then another when you pause for a few seconds, when you leave the chapter or the page, and at least every five minutes of non-stop writing. Choose History in the top bar (under More on a phone) to see this chapter’s versions, newest first. Open one to read it and compare its length with the chapter now, then choose Restore this version. The text before the restore is saved as a version first, so you can go back. It keeps every version from the last two days, then the last one of each day. The free desk lists the last 7 days; Plus lists them all.

People and places

Choose Add person or place under Notes in the sidebar and write down what you want to remember. In the manuscript, type @ and start on the name: pick it from the list, or add a new one from the same list. The name becomes a mention. Click it and the note opens beside the page, with the chapters it appears in.

With Plus, a person or place can have a picture. Open its note and choose Add a picture: NovelDesk reads the note and draws a portrait or a view in the style you choose, for one of your 20 drawing credits a month. You can also use a picture of your own. To draw it, that note’s text is sent once, as with illustrations, and we don’t keep it.

Writing tools

Line focus

Blurs the lines above and below the one you’re on. Turn it on with Line focus in the top bar (under More on a phone). Settings, under Line focus, sets the blur, whether the line or the whole paragraph stays sharp, and whether the sharp line holds its place as you scroll.

Typewriter scrolling

As you type, the line you’re on stays about where it is on the screen, a little above the middle, and the page moves instead. It’s always on. If you scroll with a wheel or trackpad it leaves the page alone until you type again.

Typing animation

The caret glides and new letters settle in like ink. Turn it off in Settings, under Writing.

Timer

Writing sessions and breaks by the clock (the Pomodoro method). The Timer button is in the top bar (on a phone, under More, and at the bottom while it runs); set the lengths in Settings, under Timer, where you can also hide it.

Goal and stats

Set a daily goal in Settings, under Writing, and choose whether to count words, characters, or characters without spaces. The goal and the count are kept for each language. The count at the bottom left of the writing screen opens Stats: today against your goal, your last 30 days, your days in a row at your goal, when you write, and a line for each manuscript. Stats counts only what you write here, in this browser.

Focus mode

Hides the sidebar and bars so only the page is left. By default it also takes the browser full screen where the browser allows it (Settings, under Focus mode, Full screen). Choose Leave focus to come back. A phone has no focus mode: its screen is already just the page.

Themes, text size and language

Settings, under Appearance, has six themes (Paper, Apricot, Dawn, Night, Forest and Lamplight), Match system, and the language of the app (English or 한국어): the app changes at once and remembers it. Each manuscript keeps its own language. Text size, 16 to 24 px, is under Writing.

Text width and pictures

Settings, under Page layout, sets Text width: Normal, Wide or Widest. Under Illustrations, Where pictures go puts chapter pictures above the text, on the left or on the right. Beside the text needs a wide window; on a narrow one, pictures go back above the text.

Aa in the writing screen

The Aa button at the right end of the top bar (in focus mode too, and under More on a phone as Text and colors) changes the theme, text size, text width and where pictures go without leaving the page, and turns the typing animation and the previous chapter’s last lines on or off. These are the same settings as in Settings.

Import and export

Import is free. Choose Import a file on the empty screen or Import on your desk, or drop a file on either. NovelDesk opens .txt, .md and .docx files. The file is read in your browser and nothing is uploaded. You see what was found, can change the title, and can choose whether to split it into chapters at the headings.

Headings start new chapters: Word’s heading styles, # in Markdown, and lines like “Chapter 3” or “제3장”. Only the text comes in. Bold, italics, pictures, footnotes and page layout are left behind. To add a file to the manuscript you’re writing, as one new chapter at the end, use Import a chapter in the sidebar (on a phone, in the chapters sheet from the button at the top left). A free manuscript holds 30 chapters; if a file has more, the rest is joined onto chapter 30, and nothing is dropped.

Export. Plain text (.txt) and Markdown (.md) are free. Word (.docx), EPUB, PDF for print and PDF for submission are part of Plus. Export is in the top bar (under More on a phone).

Every export holds the whole manuscript: its title, then each chapter with its number and title, as plain paragraphs. Bold and italics aren’t carried, and a mention becomes just the name. Word, EPUB and the book PDF put each chapter’s illustration under its heading; plain text, Markdown and the submission PDF hold text only. Word and EPUB are files your browser downloads. The two PDFs open your browser’s print window, where you choose Save as PDF: print is book pages (6 × 9 in), and submission is manuscript format (Letter, or A4 in Korean; 12 pt, double-spaced, 1 in margins).

Backups

A backup file is a copy of your manuscripts and their notes that you keep yourself. Choose Save backup at the foot of your desk, or open the backup panel (the “Backed up…” or “No backup yet” button at the bottom right of the writing screen, under More on a phone) and choose Save backup file. Your browser downloads a file named “NovelDesk backup” with the date, ending in .noveldesk. It’s free, and on the free desk it’s the copy that survives if your browser clears this site’s data.

To restore, choose Restore from file in the same panel, or choose Import on your desk (Import a file on the empty screen) and pick the .noveldesk file. NovelDesk lists what’s inside before it changes anything. A manuscript that’s already here is replaced by the backup’s version, so read the list first. Keep your backups somewhere other than this browser.

The cloud

With Plus, everything is saved to the cloud: your manuscripts are stored on NovelDesk’s server, so they open on your other devices and survive a cleared browser. It turns on by itself when you subscribe, and when you sign in to a Plus account on a device where you haven’t turned it off. To stop it on a device, choose Stop saving to the cloud on this device on the Cloud page (also in Settings, under Storage). It stays off on that device until you turn it on again or sign out.

NovelDesk uploads the chapters you’ve changed after about 30 seconds without typing, and at least every two minutes while you keep typing. While the page is open it checks for changes from your other devices every few minutes. If a chapter changed in two places, nothing is overwritten: both texts are kept, and the other one goes into the chapter’s history.

The server keeps the last 20 versions of each chapter, up to 2 GB per account. If Plus ends, uploading pauses and what you saved to the cloud stays on our server, no longer updated, until you delete it; you can download or delete it at any time. Turning it off stops uploads on that device and leaves what is already in the cloud; deleting it from the cloud removes it from the server. The manuscripts in this browser stay either way.

Illustrations

With Plus, a chapter can have one picture. Choose Add an illustration on the chapter, pick a style (watercolor, pencil, ink wash or etching), and say what it should show, or leave that empty to let it choose a moment. NovelDesk reads the chapter and draws one picture. A drawing or a redraw uses one of your 20 drawing credits for the month, which also pay for pictures of your characters and places; unused credits don’t carry over.

To draw it, that chapter’s text is sent once, through our server, to AI services in the United States. We don’t keep the text; we keep the picture, in your account. Nothing else from your manuscript is sent. The Privacy policy names the companies.

You can also use your own picture instead: it stays on this device (and goes to the cloud, if saving to the cloud is on). Remove a picture from the chapter at any time. Settings, under Illustrations, sets whether pictures show, the style NovelDesk starts with, and where they go: above the text, on the left or on the right.

Publishing

With Plus, you can publish chosen chapters as reading pages at read.noveldesk.app. Choose Publish in the top bar of the writing screen (under More on a phone). Your address starts with a name NovelDesk picks for you, like quiet-harbor-4821. While nothing is published, Change name lets you choose your own (3 to 30 lowercase letters, digits or hyphens). Pick which chapters to publish, check the title and byline, add an intro if you like, and choose Publish. Anyone with the link can read the pages, without an account.

Search engines are told to stay away unless you turn on Allow search. To change a page, open Publish and choose Update; to take it down, choose Unpublish. Readers then see that the page was taken down. Readers start on a cover with the title, byline, intro and the list of chapters, and read one chapter to a page. Chapter illustrations go along under each chapter title; turn off Include chapter pictures to publish text only. Readers are counted without cookies, once a month per device and network, so the numbers are approximate; you’ll find them in Stats. Each page has a Report this page link.

When you cancel Plus, the Account page asks what happens to your published pages when it ends: take them down, or keep them online. With no answer they’re taken down. Until Plus ends you can change your answer there. Pages you keep stay up until you take them down; updating them and seeing reader counts need Plus again.

NovelDesk Plus

Writing is free. Plus is a bigger desk, for $8 a month or $60 a year:

• Everything saved to the cloud, so your manuscripts open on your other devices (free: your writing is saved only in this browser, and it can be cleared if you don’t open the site for 7 days).
• No limit on manuscripts or chapters (free: two manuscripts of 30 chapters each).
• Every version from the last two days, then the last one of each day, listed in History (free: the last 7 days).
• Export to Word, EPUB and PDF for print or submission (free: plain text, Markdown and backup files).
• Chapter illustrations and pictures of your characters and places: 20 drawing credits a month, with a chapter’s picture above, left or right of the text.
• Publishing chapters as reading pages, with reader counts.

Polar handles checkout and tax. You can cancel any time with Manage billing on your Account page, which opens Polar’s customer portal: Plus stays until the end of the period you paid for. Back on the Account page, you choose whether your published pages stay online after that. You can keep working on everything you’ve written, your manuscripts stay in this browser, and what you saved to the cloud stays for you to download or delete. See the Refund policy and the Terms.

Account and signing in

Writing never needs an account. You only need one for Plus. Sign in with Google, with Apple, or with an email code: we send a 6-digit code that works for 10 minutes. There are no passwords.

The Account page shows your plan, drawing credits and the cloud, opens Manage billing, and has Sign out. Signing out doesn’t touch the manuscripts in this browser.

Deleting your account. Choose Delete account on the Account page and type the word it asks for. Your Plus subscription ends right away, and these are deleted from our servers: your account and sign-in records, what you saved to the cloud, your illustrations, your published pages with their reader counts, and your credit records. It can’t be undone. The manuscripts in your browsers stay until you clear them yourself, and Polar keeps its own payment records.

Privacy

NovelDesk has no ads. Visits are counted with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which uses no cookies. Your writing stays in this browser unless you subscribe to Plus (which saves it to the cloud), publish a chapter, or ask for an illustration.

The server knows your account (your email address) and whether you have Plus. With saving to the cloud on (it turns on by itself with Plus), it also holds your manuscripts, which only you can read in the app. When you ask for an illustration or a picture of a person or place, that one chapter or note is sent once to be drawn and we don’t keep it. Published chapters are public.

The details are in the Privacy policy, the Terms and the Refund policy.

Contact

Questions, bugs, or something you wish it did: write to support@noveldesk.app. It helps to say which browser you use and what you were doing.