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Quick Start

CiteDesk is a Markdown editor combined with a reference manager: writing, citing and reading all happen in one application. This page walks you through your first session.

What CiteDesk is

  • Your text is a Markdown file. Files live in the workspace folder you open, and any other Markdown tool can read them. A document stores only what you write and CiteDesk's markers, never the typeset result.
  • References live in the library. The library is a database in the application data directory, shared by all documents. Every reference is standard CSL-JSON, so you can import and export it to and from Zotero and other tools.
  • A citation is a marker in the text. Citations are written as [@…@] and annotations as [@?@]…[@/?@]; see Citations and Annotations.
  • A style decides the layout. Citations, footnotes and the bibliography are produced by a CSL style, so switching the style changes the whole document.
  • A finished manuscript is a separate file. When you are done, use Export Manuscript to produce Word, PDF, HTML or Markdown; see Exporting a Manuscript.

The interface

  • The left pane holds the file list and the outline, plus a page for searching the whole workspace. Use File > Open Folder… to choose a folder as your workspace.
  • The middle holds document tabs. Each tab shows a live preview of one Markdown document; use View > Toggle Live Preview/Source Mode to switch between preview and source.
  • The right pane is the Citation Workbench, the writing sidebar. It lists the citations and annotations of the current document, lets you search references, insert citations, change the document preferences and export the manuscript.
  • The library opens by default in a window of its own, the counterpart of Zotero's main window, which you can place on another screen next to the writing window. Open it with View > Open Library; Open Library as Tab in Main Window moves it into the writing window. Only one library view exists at a time.
  • Settings are under Settings… (in the application menu on macOS, in the File menu elsewhere). Each page is explained in Settings.

Building your library

References can be added in these ways:

How to work in the library is described in The Library.

Your first citation

  1. Open or create a Markdown document (File > New Note).
  2. Put the cursor where the citation belongs and choose Insert > Citation.
  3. Search for a reference in the dialog and select it; add a locator such as a page number if needed; confirm.
  4. A [@…@] marker appears in the text, and the live preview shows it as the citation text produced by the style.
  5. In the right pane, press Change on the document card to choose the bibliography style and the layout language; see Document Preferences.

Pasting and dropping images and files

  • Paste a screenshot or a copied image into the Markdown editor, or drop files into the text. The files are copied to the folder chosen under Default location for new attachments in Settings, and a link that embeds each one is written at the cursor, for example ![[Pasted image 20261021153045.png]]. Images without a name, such as screenshots, are called Pasted image followed by the date and time; a name that is already taken gets a number.
  • A file that is already inside the workspace is not copied; it is embedded where it is.
  • Hold Option (macOS) or Ctrl (other systems) while dropping to insert only a link without copying: a file in the workspace gets its link, a file outside it gets a file:/// link to its original place.
  • How the link is written follows New link format and Use Wikilinks in Settings.
  • One paste or drop is one editing step. Undo only undoes the text; files that were already copied stay in the workspace.
  • A single file can be at most 64 MiB, and folders cannot be dropped directly.
  • Dropping an attachment from the library's reference list into the text writes a file link if the attachment file is already inside the workspace (a linked file); otherwise it writes the citation marker of the reference the attachment belongs to; a standalone attachment with no reference is copied like any other file.

Exporting

When you are done, choose File > Export Manuscript… and pick a format: Word, PDF, HTML or Markdown. The footnotes and bibliography in the result are real, finished content. See Exporting a Manuscript.

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