The Many Windows of Scrivener and How to Use Them

Scrivener provides an integrated writing environment. All of its main features are in a single window with several parts. There is the Binder on the left, the Editor in the center, and the Inspector on the right, with format bars and toolbars above them.

As you become familiar with Scrivener, you realize that it has quite a few windows. Some of these you only use occasionally, and some are useful enough that you may want to display them more often. In this article, we look at the various windows of Scrivener and how they can assist in your writing projects.

Note that this article discusses windows, not the many dialogs, such as the Compile screen, which aren’t independent of the main Scrivener window and block it when visible. These are known as modal windows or modal dialogs, because they display above the app’s main window and block access to the rest of the app.

Quick Reference windows

Quick Reference windows are one of the most practical tools in Scrivener when you want to check a detail in a chapter or scene other than the one you are working on. To open a Quick Reference window, select any item in the Binder, then press the space bar or click the Quick Ref icon in the toolbar. This item could be a scene, a chapter, or any item in your research folder.

The window that displays is small enough so it doesn’t hide what you’re looking at in the Editor. You can position it on your screen so you can check a detail of, for example, a description of a setting or a bit of dialogue that a character said. You can open multiple Quick Reference windows at the same time.

Read how to work with Quick Reference windows in Use Quick Reference Windows to View Multiple Parts of Scrivener Projects.

Scratchpad

Scrivener’s Scratchpad is a unique tool. Like its analog equivalent, you can use it to take notes, and you can create multiple files in the Scratchpad. Choose Window > Show Scratchpad to display this window.

The Scratchpad can remain visible as you write, revise, and edit, but what makes it unique is its ability to remain on screen even if Scrivener is in the background. You can use the Scratchpad when you’re doing research in your web browser, take notes, and later integrate those notes into your Scrivener project.

There are three ways to do this:

• You can manually copy and paste notes.
• You can send them to your project, appending them to a specific file, adding them at the end of the selected file.
• Or you can send them to your project as a sub-document of any folder, such as your Research folder.

And if you don’t do any of the above, you can go to the Scratchpad when you want to refer to your notes.

For more about using the Scratchpad, see How to Use the Scrivener Scratchpad to Collect Research and Capture Ideas.

Project Bookmarks

If you have a complex project, or if you have a lot of research in your Scrivener project, you may want to create project bookmarks to quickly access certain files. You can view and access project bookmarks in the Inspector, but you can also display them in the Project Bookmarks window. Choose Project > Show Project Bookmarks (Mac) or Project > Project Bookmarks (Windows) to display this window, where you can access these files quickly with a single click.

You can also open bookmarked files as Quick Reference windows, as a new Editor split in the main Scrivener window, or in an external editor, if they are files such as PDFs, videos, or graphics. You can do all of these and more by right-clicking a bookmark.

See Use Scrivener’s Project Bookmarks to Easily Access Research Files for more on project bookmarks.

Name Generator

The Name Generator is a window that you won’t use often, but when you are searching for character names, it is invaluable. Choose Edit > Reference Tools > Name Generator (verify WIN) to display this window, select which gender names you want, choose from a number of name lists, then click Generate Names.

There are several options allowing you to tweak the results. See How to Manage Your Characters in Scrivener to learn more about using the name generator.

Project Targets, Statistics, and Writing History

These three windows are all useful as you work toward a target word count. The Project Targets window lets you set a global target for the project and for each session. The Statistics window shows your current word count. And Writing History shows how much you’ve written each day and/or month. This latter window can help you maintain motivation over time, showing you how much progress you’ve made.

See Track Statistics and Targets in Your Scrivener Projects and Use Scrivener’s Writing History to Track Your Progress for more on these windows.

Find

The Find window is similar to that of every word processor or text editor. You type a word or phrase you want to search for, and then click Find. You can find multiple instances of your search terms, and you can replace them. Scrivener’s Find feature is especially powerful, allowing you to do searches with regular expressions or RegEx. Most people won’t use this feature, but if you know what it is, you understand how powerful it is.

See Find and Replace Text in Your Scrivener Projects and Use Regular Expression or RegEx Searches with Scrivener.

Keywords

Keywords are a type of metadata, or information attached to files. One way you can use keywords in Scrivener is to add them to each of your documents, indicating which characters are in each scene or chapter. In a non-fiction work, this metadata could indicate specific years or topics that you are exploring.

You can apply keywords in the Inspector, but if you want to work with keywords often, choosing Project > Show Project Keywords displays a small window where you can add and edit keywords to your project. You can also drag an item from the Binder onto a keyword in this window, or drag a keyword from this window onto an item in the Binder. Both of these attach the keyword to that item.

For more on using keywords, see Use Keywords to Manage your Scrivener Projects.

Other windows

There are other Scrivener windows, such as Settings (Mac) and Options (Windows), Project Settings, Styles, and Layouts. The windows discussed in this article are some of the most commonly used and can make working with your Scrivener projects easier.