Help

Open and edit

DOCX, DOC, ODT, RTF, and plain text (.txt). Edits save back to the original format.

View as rich text

Markdown (.md) files fully round-trip: open, edit, and save back to .md with headings, lists, code blocks, tables, and inline formatting preserved. HTML files open as formatted rich text but save as DOCX or another format, not back to HTML.

Syntax highlighting

Source code files open with coloured keywords, strings, and comments. Supported: Swift, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, C, C++, C#, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Shell, SQL, YAML, JSON, XML, HTML, CSS, R, Kotlin, and Markdown.

Smart paste

Tables pasted from web browsers, ChatGPT, and Gemini land as proper grids. Code blocks get automatic syntax highlighting. LaTeX math notation (inline $...$ and display $$...$$) renders as typeset equations.

Export

Any document can be exported to PDF or HTML from the File menu.

Set up page size, margins, and orientation

Open the Inspector sidebar (⌘⌥I). The Document tab at the top gives you page size (A4, Letter, Legal), orientation (portrait or landscape), and margin presets (Normal, Narrow, Wide). Pick Custom to set each margin individually. Changes apply to the current document immediately.

Add headers and footers

In the Inspector sidebar, toggle Header or Footer on. A text area appears at the top or bottom of every page. Click it to type. The footer starts with a page number by default. You can toggle “Different first page” to use a separate header/footer on page one (useful for title pages).

Use columns

Go to the toolbar and choose Insert > Columns, or use the Inspector sidebar to pick 1, 2, or 3 columns. Text reflows automatically. Turn on Column Guides in the Inspector to see where each column sits on the page.

Insert and resize images

Use ⌘⇧G or Insert > Image to pick a file. Once inserted, right-click the image for alignment (left, centre, right) and resizing options. You can also drag the corner handles to resize directly. Right-click gives you text wrapping modes: inline, wrap around, or behind text.

Add comments

Select the text you want to comment on, then go to Insert > Review > Add Comment. Type your note and click Add. Commented text shows a yellow highlight. Open Insert > Review > Show Comments to see all comments in a sidebar, where you can navigate between them or delete them.

Use Focus Mode

Press ⌘⇧F or go to View > Focus Mode. All chrome hides and the window resizes to show the full page. Surrounding text dims to about a third opacity at the sentence level, so only the sentence you are working on stays fully visible. The dimming is purely visual and never modifies your document. Press Esc or click the exit button (top right of the page) to leave. Your entire workspace (inspector, sidebars, zoom, window size) is saved and restored exactly when you exit.

Insert and edit footnotes

Press ⌘⌥F or go to Insert > Footnote. A superscript number appears at the cursor and a popover opens for typing the footnote text. Click any existing footnote marker to edit it. Footnotes renumber automatically when you add or remove them, and they round-trip through DOCX.

Use Find and Replace

Press ⌘F to open the Find bar. Type your search term and use the arrows or ⌘G to jump between matches. Click the gear icon for case-sensitive, whole-word, and regex toggles. Expand the bar to show the Replace field for find-and-replace.

Insert a Table of Contents

Go to Insert > Table of Contents. Verso scans headings below the insertion point and builds a clickable list with page numbers and dot leaders. Use Insert > Update Table of Contents after editing to refresh it.

Work with tables

Press ⌘⌥T or go to Insert > Table to create a grid. Right-click any cell for the full context menu: insert or delete rows and columns, set cell background colours, and choose text wrapping. Tab moves between cells.

Paste from the web

Regular paste (⌘V) imports HTML from the clipboard, keeping bold, italic, links, headings, and images while stripping web artifacts like background colours. Paste and Match Style (⌘⌥⇧V) strips all formatting. Paste with Original Formatting (⌘⇧V) keeps everything from the source. Tables from ChatGPT, Gemini, and other tools paste as proper grids. Code blocks get automatic syntax highlighting.

Does Verso work on Intel Macs?

Yes. Verso ships as a universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.

Where are my files stored?

Wherever you put them. Verso is a regular macOS document app. Files live on your disk, in your folders. There is no cloud, no library, and no proprietary database.

Can I save a document back to Markdown?

Yes. Since version 1.3.1 Markdown files fully round-trip. Open a .md file, edit it, save, and headings, lists, code blocks, tables, and inline formatting are all preserved.

Will Verso always be free?

Verso is free during early access. After launch it will be a one-time purchase of $14.99. No subscription, no recurring fees. If pricing changes, you keep the version you downloaded.

Does Verso send any data anywhere?

No. There is no telemetry, no analytics, no crash reporting, and no network calls of any kind. Verso runs entirely offline.

How do I report a bug?

Email hello@versowriter.app. Please include your macOS version, what file you were working with, and a screenshot if you can. This helps us reproduce and fix the issue faster.