Documentation
From installation to your first encrypted file in 5 steps.
Quick Start
Download and install
Go to the download page and install Filarr on your platform (Windows or Linux; Mac coming soon). Installation takes less than a minute.
Create your profile
On first launch, Filarr asks you to create a profile with a password. This password generates your encryption key (KEK). Remember it well — it cannot be recovered.
Add your files
Drag and drop your files into Filarr. They are encrypted instantly with AES-256-GCM. You can switch between views: list, grid, kanban, masonry.
Create your first note
Click "New note" to open the rich editor. Add text, tasks, tables, wiki-links to other notes. Everything is encrypted automatically.
Explore the graph view
Open the graph view to visualize connections between your notes and files. Wiki-links and tags automatically create relationships visible in the graph.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Navigation
- New noteCtrl+N
- Daily noteCtrl+Shift+D
- Graph viewCtrl+Shift+G
- Focus modeCtrl+Shift+F
- Command paletteCtrl+P
Editor
- Slash commands/
- Wiki-link[[
- BoldCtrl+B
- ItalicCtrl+I
- HighlightCtrl+Shift+H
Views
Switch between views using the selection bar at the top of the editor.
List
Sidebar + editor. Sort by date, title, or word count.
Masonry
Pinterest-style card grid with content preview.
Kanban
Drag-and-drop columns (Inbox, In Progress, Done).
Sticky Notes
Free-form 2D canvas with colorful repositionable notes.
Canvas
Infinite whiteboard with SVG connection lines between notes.
Graph
Interactive network with physics simulation and cluster detection.
Databases inside your notes
Type /database in a note to insert a structured table: typed columns, Table or Kanban view, auto-fill from a link. Everything lives inside the note — encrypted and synced like the rest.
The essential moves
/bddInsert a database (also /bdd, /board)
＋At the end of the header row: adds a column to the right and opens its editor (name, type, options, ← → reorder)
⚡On a row with a filled URL column: fetches the page’s title, description and image to fill the empty cells
Table ⇄ BoardSwitch views in one click; the board groups by a Select column, cards drag and drop
14 column types
"Linked note" points to another note in your vault; "Created" and "Updated" timestamp themselves. Changing a column’s type never destroys existing data.
⚡ auto-fill and your privacy
On the desktop app, the page is read directly from your machine — no server involved. On the web, an opt-in relay is required: off by default, it asks for your explicit consent on first use, transmits only the URL (never your note content), logs nothing, and can be turned off in Settings → Security.
Ideas to get started
Reading tracker
Columns: Title, Author, Status (To read / Reading / Done), Rating ★, URL. Paste a book link and ⚡ fills the title. Switch to Kanban to see your reading pile.
Movies & shows watchlist
Kanban status (To watch / Watched), Rating ★ after viewing, watch Date, page URL + ⚡ to grab title and poster.
Job applications
Company, offer URL (⚡ fills the role title), Status (Applied / Followed up / Interview / Answer), and the auto "Created" / "Updated" columns track your follow-ups for free.
Read-later queue
Paste URLs as you browse, ⚡ grabs title and description, a Progress % column tracks how far you are, a Multi-select tags the topics.
Lightweight project board
Tasks in Kanban, Progress %, Due date, and a "Linked note" column pointing to the detailed spec in your vault — all inside the project note.
Inventory or collection
Items with Value (Number), Category (Select), Condition (Rating ★), product page URL. The table stays encrypted with the note, like everything else.
Wiki-links & Graph
Creating links
[[Note]]Bidirectional link to a note
[[file:doc.pdf]]Link to a file
![[Note]]Transclusion — embed a note’s content inside another
Automatic backlinks
The right panel of the editor shows all backlinks (notes pointing to the current note), outgoing links, and automatically detected potential links. Notes without connections are flagged with an "orphan" badge.
Graph features
- Real-time physics simulation (force-directed layout)
- Automatic cluster detection (Louvain algorithm)
- Heatmap — visualize note recency (red = recent, blue = old)
- Time travel — see your graph as it was at any point in time
- 3 node types: notes (circles), files (squares), folders (hexagons)
Frequently Asked Questions
I lost my password, what do I do?
Use your recovery phrase (12 words, generated at onboarding) to restore your encryption password. If you’ve lost that too, your data is permanently inaccessible: nobody, including us, can decrypt your files. Keep your recovery phrase in a safe place.
Where is my data stored on disk?
By default in your user folder: Windows: %APPDATA%/Filarr, Linux: ~/.config/Filarr. Each profile has its own isolated folder.
What file formats are supported?
51+ formats with built-in preview: PDF, images (PNG, JPG, SVG, WebP), videos (MP4, WebM), audio (MP3, WAV with waveform), source code (with syntax highlighting), Markdown (with Mermaid and KaTeX), and more.
How do I uninstall properly?
Uninstall the application normally (Add/Remove Programs on Windows, your package manager on Linux). To remove all data, also delete the user data folder mentioned above.
Is my data sent anywhere?
By default, Filarr runs locally. If you enable cloud sync, your files and notes are encrypted on your device before upload — our servers only store and transport ciphertext. Two auxiliary connections exist: the update check (version number and OS only), and, if you explicitly enable it, the link-preview relay (the URL alone, never your content, never logged).