A first tour
OpenArch has no tab strip and no toolbar. The sidebar on the left holds your tabs, and the page takes the rest of the window. This tour walks through it from top to bottom. Each step links to the page with the details.
1. Open something with the command bar
Section titled “1. Open something with the command bar”Press ⌘T. The command bar opens over the page. Type an address, a search, or part of the name of a tab you have open. It completes addresses as you type, finds open tabs, pinned tabs, history and archived tabs, and lists OpenArch’s commands. Press ↩ to open the first row.
Try “new doc”: the first row goes straight to a new Google Doc.
More in The command bar.
2. Find your way around the sidebar
Section titled “2. Find your way around the sidebar”From top to bottom:
- The address of the page in front, if you keep it on (Settings › Allgemein › Tabs › Adresse oben in der Sidebar). Click it, or press ⌘L, to change it. ⇧⌘C copies it.
- Favorites, the grid of icons: the sites you use all the time. Spaces with the same profile share them.
- Pinned tabs and folders: the tabs that belong to this space and stay.
- The line, and under it today tabs: everything you open, with Neuer Tab at the top. They go to the archive after 12 hours unless you pin them.
- At the bottom: the library button, an icon for each space, and + for a new space, folder, GitHub live folder and more.
Drag a today tab above the line, or press ⌘D, to pin it. ⌘S hides the sidebar and brings it back.
More in The sidebar and Tabs.
3. Make a space for each part of your day
Section titled “3. Make a space for each part of your day”A space is a sidebar of its own: its own pinned tabs and today tabs, its own color, and if you like its own profile, so work and private logins stay apart. Click the icons at the bottom of the sidebar to switch, or swipe sideways over the sidebar with two fingers.
Make one with + at the bottom of the sidebar. More in Spaces and profiles.
4. Put two pages side by side
Section titled “4. Put two pages side by side”Drag a tab from the sidebar onto the right half of the page. Both now share the window, with a divider between them. You can split up to four tabs, beside and above each other. ⌃⇧- ends the split.
More in Split view.
5. Find downloads and old tabs in the library
Section titled “5. Find downloads and old tabs in the library”Downloads fly into the library button at the bottom of the sidebar. Click it for the newest ones, or press ⇧⌘L for the whole library: media, downloads, spaces and the archive of tabs that were cleared away.
More in Library and downloads.
6. Tune it
Section titled “6. Tune it”⌘, opens the settings. A few worth a look right away:
- Allgemein: the default browser, the search engine, how the sidebar looks, and when tabs sleep and go to the archive.
- Profile: the profiles your spaces can use.
- KI: OpenArch’s AI features. They run Claude Code on your Mac; see How OpenArch talks to Claude.
- Tastatur: every shortcut, and your own.
The full list is in Settings.