Reading & Navigation

552 words · 3 min read
Reading a note in Legible: the vault tree on the left, a breadcrumb above the title, and a page outline on the right.
Reading a note in Legible: the vault tree on the left, a breadcrumb above the title, and a page outline on the right.

The sidebar

The left sidebar mirrors your vault's folder structure. Click any note to open it; folders collapse and expand, and Legible remembers what you left open.

Press ⌘K to open search. Results appear as you type, ranked by relevance, with a matching excerpt from each note. Hit Enter to open the top result, or use the arrow keys to pick one.

Legible resolves Obsidian-style [[wikilinks]], including aliased links like [[note|display text]] and heading links like [[note#section]]. Unresolved links are styled distinctly so you can spot broken references.

At the bottom of each note, Backlinks shows every other note that links to the one you're reading, giving you the same connective tissue you rely on in Obsidian.

Themes

Legible ships a considered light mode and a dark mode that was designed as its own palette, not a mechanical inversion. Toggle between them with the sun/moon control; your choice is remembered.

Reading size

Use ⌘+ and ⌘- to scale the reading text up or down, and ⌘0 to reset. This scales the note content only; the interface chrome stays put.

Zen mode

Press z, or use the zen control in the top bar, to drop everything but the words. The sidebar, top bar and contents panel slide away and the note fills the window at its ideal reading width. Press z again, or Esc, to bring the interface back. Your reading size and theme carry over into zen mode.

Zen mode: the sidebar, top bar and outline slide away, leaving the text centred in the window.
Zen mode: the sidebar, top bar and outline slide away, leaving the text centred in the window.

Reading filters

Open Reading preferences in the top bar to switch the reading filter:

  • Default: the standard palette.
  • Sepia: a warm, low-glare tone for long reading sessions.
  • High Contrast: stronger contrast for clarity and accessibility.

The filter sits on top of your light or dark theme and is remembered between sessions.

The Sepia filter gives the whole page a warm, low-glare tone.
The Sepia filter gives the whole page a warm, low-glare tone.
The High Contrast filter darkens the text for clarity.
The High Contrast filter darkens the text for clarity.

Heading style

The same Reading preferences panel lets you choose how headings are set:

  • All serif: every heading uses the serif typeface, for one continuous editorial voice.
  • Classic: headings use the interface sans-serif against the serif body, the more familiar document look.

Pick whichever reads better to you; the choice is remembered.

Edit in your own editor

Legible is a reader, not an editor, so when you want to change a note you open it in the editor you already use. With a note open, use the Edit in control in the top bar to hand the file to Obsidian, VS Code, Typora or your system default for .md files.

Live reload

While a note is open in Legible, any change you save to that file on disk shows up immediately. Edit in your own editor on one side, watch it render in Legible on the other, with no refresh and no plugin.

Reading position

Legible remembers where you were in each note. Reopen a long note and it returns you to the spot you left, rather than jumping back to the top.