Help
If you are new, start with Getting started. If you are stuck, email foxquillstudio@gmail.com or ask on Discord.
Start here
- Getting started
Start writing in FoxQuill: the tabs, the calm page where the bars fade while you type, the bar at the bottom, and every keyboard shortcut.
- Installing on Windows
Install FoxQuill on Windows, get past the SmartScreen warning in two clicks, and find where the app and your books are kept.
- Installing on a Mac
Install FoxQuill on macOS 13 or newer, on Apple silicon or Intel, and open it the first time while the app is not yet signed by Apple.
- Installing on Linux
Run the FoxQuill AppImage on Linux: make it executable, add FUSE 2 if it will not open, and find where your books are kept.
- Updates
How FoxQuill updates itself on Windows and Linux, what is different on a Mac, and what a lifetime license covers when a new major version comes out.
Writing
- Books, sections, drafts, and scenes
How a book is built: sections hold scenes. Start a scene with Enter, set words aside, drop a flag, and use the Archive, the Trash, and scene history.
- Plan
Plan the book before you write it. The Corkboard lays scenes out as index cards, the Outline lists them, and Threads follow each plot line.
- Focus mode and sprints
Focus mode clears the screen down to your words. Add typewriter scrolling, line dimming, and a sprint timer that counts your words per minute.
- Notes and note types
Write notes on the whole book, a section, a draft, or one scene. There are five built-in types, with nested outlines and to-do lists, plus your own.
- Spell check
Fix a misspelled word, add your own words, choose the language, and see what is downloaded for a language other than English.
- Dictionary and thesaurus
Look up a word without leaving the page. Definitions come from Wiktionary and synonyms from Datamuse, both kept for offline use. You can add another dictionary.
- Library cards and the relationship map
Keep one card for each person, place, or thing in your book. FoxQuill spots card names in your prose and draws a map of how the cards link.
- Writing statistics and goals
Track net words by day, session, and sprint. Set daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or whole-book goals, with a streak and an optional deadline.
In and out
- Import and export
Import from Word, EPUB, Scrivener, Markdown, or plain text. Compile to Word, PDF, or EPUB, or save a dated PDF copy with a fingerprint of the text.
- Sharing
Send a reader a link to a section or the whole book. They read, comment, or suggest edits in a browser, and your text is encrypted before it leaves.
- Backup and where your data lives
Where FoxQuill keeps your books, the daily, plain text, and before-an-update copies it makes, how to restore one, and how to move a book.
Looks
- Themes
FoxQuill has four themes: Forest, Paper, Ink, and Dusk. One follows you across your books, a book can keep its own, and you can add background art.
- Every setting
Every FoxQuill setting, in the order the Settings page shows them, with what each one does and what it starts as.
Trust
- Security and privacy
FoxQuill keeps your writing on your own computer, with no account and no telemetry. See what does leave your machine, and how to encrypt your data.
- License, trial, and terms
The 14-day free trial, the two plans (US$59 once or US$4.99 a month), activating on up to three computers, and how refunds work.
- AI setup
Connect FoxQuill to Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or any OpenAI-compatible server. AI is off until you turn it on, and you choose what is sent.
- AI writing tools
What the optional AI can do: continue a scene, rewrite a selection, suggest ideas and beats, and fill a card. Nothing lands in your book until you accept it.
Common questions
- Does it run on Linux?
- Yes. FoxQuill for Linux is one AppImage file. Make it executable, then open it. It installs updates itself after you choose Update now. See the downloads.
- Can I import my Scrivener project?
- Yes. Zip the .scriv folder and import it from Settings. Folders become chapters, documents become scenes, and synopsis cards become scene summaries. More about importing.
- What happens when the trial ends?
- Your books still open, to read, search, and export. Nothing is deleted, and you can write again the moment you activate a license. More about the trial.
- Where is my book stored?
- In one folder on your own computer. Each day FoxQuill is open, it saves a copy of your books in that folder, keeps the last 14, and writes each book as a plain text file you can open anywhere. Where to find the folder.
- Does it need the internet?
- No. Writing, saving, and backups all work offline. A lifetime license never needs a connection after you activate, and a monthly plan needs one at least every 14 days. What leaves your computer.
- Can I use it on more than one computer?
- Yes. One key works on three computers, on either plan. FoxQuill does not sync between them, so to move a book, save it as a file of its own and open it on the other computer. How to move a book.
- Is there a phone app?
- No. FoxQuill is for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. A chapter you share as a link can be read in any browser, including on a phone. More about sharing.
- Does it have AI?
- Yes, if you want it. It is off until you turn it on for a book, and while it is off nothing leaves your computer for an AI. Once it is on, only what you choose is sent, and only to the AI server you set. It can continue a scene or rewrite a passage you select, and nothing goes into a scene until you keep it. FoxQuill has no AI of its own, so you connect a program on your own computer, such as LM Studio or Ollama, or a service you choose. More about AI setup.