Quick capture

This article covers what Capture is, how to open it, the three things you can capture, where they land, and the keyboard shortcuts that make it fast.

What Capture is

Capture is a quick-entry composer that lives in the command menu. It does one job well: take a thought, link, or file and put it on a board in a couple of keystrokes. There's no setup and nothing to configure — open it, type or drop something in, and send.

It's built for speed. The composer remembers the board you're working in, so most captures are just "type, then ⌘ Enter." When you want to send somewhere else, you can change the board in a click.

Opening Capture

There are two ways in:

1. 01

   From the command menu

   Press ⌘ K (Ctrl K on Windows) to open the command menu, then switch to the Capture tab — press Tab to move between tabs, or click the "Capture" chip at the top.

2. 02

   From the sidebar

   Click Capture in the left sidebar, just under Getting Started. This opens the command menu straight to the Capture tab.

The three modes

Capture has three modes along the bottom-left of the composer: Text, Link, and Media. Press Tab / Shift + Tab to cycle between them, or click an icon.

Text

The default mode is a plain writing box — jot something down and it lands on the board. A single toggle next to the board picker chooses how the text is saved:

• Card — a sticky note. One thought, captured fast. This is the default.
• Document — a markdown document, for longer-form writing with headings and paragraphs.

Use a card for what you're thinking, a document for what you're writing.

Link

Paste a URL and Capture fetches a preview — title, description, and thumbnail — so you can confirm it's the right link before sending. The saved item is a proper link card on the board, not raw text. In Link mode, pressing Enter saves immediately (it's a single line, so there's nothing to wrap).

Media

Drag and drop files onto the composer, or click to browse. Capture accepts images, PDFs, and markdown files:

• Images and PDFs upload and land as media cards.
• Markdown (.md) files become documents on the board — blank lines are tidied up so the imported file reads cleanly in the editor.

You can stage several files at once and remove any before sending.

Choosing where it lands

The board pill at the bottom-right of the composer shows where your capture will go. By default it's the board you're currently on (or the last one you visited), so capturing while you work usually needs no thought at all.

To send somewhere else, click the board pill or press ⌘ Shift Enter. This opens a board picker — choosing a board only changes the destination; it doesn't send anything yet. You can also create a new board from the picker. Your choice sticks for the rest of the session, then resets to your current board next time you open Capture.

Sending a capture

Press ⌘ Enter (or click the circular send button) to save your capture to the selected board. The composer clears so you can keep going — capture several things in a row without reopening the menu.

Recent captures

Under the composer is a Recent list of what you've captured and which board each item went to. It's the quickest way to jump back to where something landed:

• Use the arrow keys to highlight a row, then press Enter to open that board.
• Or just click a row.

Keyboard shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Open the command menu	⌘ K
Switch capture mode (Text / Link / Media)	Tab / Shift + Tab
Send to the selected board	⌘ Enter
Send in Link mode	Enter
Change the destination board	⌘ Shift Enter
Open a recent capture's board	Arrow keys, then Enter

Where to go next

• New to boards? Start with creating your first board.
• For capturing from the web while you browse, see the Chrome extension.