editor

Editor

Anytype is a block-based editor and all Pages are built with blocks, which makes your content flexible and easy to use. The editor is the primary way for you to build documents on Anytype.

How it works

Blocks are the building pieces of every Object, think of them as lego bricks for every document. When you open an Object and start editing, you're adding and arranging Blocks — paragraphs, headings, images, lists, embeds, and so on. Each Block is independent and can be moved, restyled, or replaced without affecting the others.

If you've used Notion, this concept will be familiar. If you've used Microsoft Word or Google Docs, the difference is that Blocks are discrete units — you can drag them, nest them, turn one type into another, or build columns by placing them side by side.

Adding Blocks

You can access the different kinds of blocks via the Block Menu using the plus button or slash command.

Plus button

Hover over the left side of any block. A plus icon appears — click it to insert a new block above. The same menu as the slash command opens.

Slash menu

Type / anywhere in the editor. A menu appears with every available block type, organized by category. Type a few characters of the block name to filter — /h2 for Heading 2, /code for code block, /image for an image.

This is the fastest way once you know what you want.

Keyboard shortcuts

For text-style blocks, you can use Markdown-style keyboard shortcuts at the start of a line. Press space after the shortcut and the block transforms.

Type this	To create
#	Heading 1
##	Heading 2
###	Heading 3
>	Toggle
* or -	Bullet point
1.	Numbered list
[]	Checkbox / to-do
```	Code block
---	Divider
#>	Toggled Heading 1
##>	Toggled Heading 2
###>	Toggled Heading 3

Styling Blocks

Single block

Click anywhere in a block to focus it. The block's options appear:

• Block handle (three dots on the left) — for moving, deleting, or transforming
• Plus button (+ button on the left) — for inserting a new block
• Inline toolbar (in some blocks) — for inline style formatting

Multiple blocks

Click on a block, hold Shift, and click on another to select all blocks between. Alternatively you can click and drag with your mouse to highlight as many blocks as you'd like to select. You can then:

• Drag them as a group to a new location
• Delete them all at once
• Apply formatting (bold, italic, color) to all selected text
• Convert them all to a different block type (e.g., turn five paragraphs into bullet points)

Inline styling

Within any text block, you can format individual characters or words. Highlight the text and a floating toolbar appears with these options:

• Bold — Cmd/Ctrl + B or **text**
• Italic — Cmd/Ctrl + I or *text*
• Strikethrough — Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S or ~~text~~
• Inline code — Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + L or backticks: `code`
• Underline — Cmd/Ctrl + U
• Link — Cmd/Ctrl + K, then paste a URL or search for an Object
• Highlight color — select text, choose a color from the toolbar
• Text color — same as highlight, in the toolbar
• Quote in discussion — copies text into a discussions.md post.

Block handles

Every block has a handle on its left side that opens the Block Options Menu:

• Turn into — convert a block into another block type, such as a sentence → heading or a numbered list → bulleted list.
• Color — change the text color
• Background — change the background color
• Move — to relocate the block to another object
• Copy / Cut / Paste / Delete / Duplicate
• Quote in discussion — start a thread on this specific block

You can also right-click any block to access the same menu.

The block handle isn't just for menus — it's a drag handle to move blocks around. Click and hold, then drag the block:

• Up or down to a different position in the same Object
• Left or right of another block to create a column
• Out of a nested list to outdent it
• Onto a sub-Object link to add the block as content in that Object

Indenting and nesting

Most block types support nesting — paragraphs, images, list items, toggles, and headings can all have children.

• Tab to increase the indentation (indent)
• Shift + Tab to decrease the indentation (outdent)

Columns

Columns work with all block types. You can put text next to images, embeds next to lists, or any other combination. This is the closest equivalent to a desktop publishing layout — useful for project pages and dashboards. You can place blocks side by side to create columns:

1. Click the block handle (six dots) on the left of a block.
2. Drag the block to the right side of another block until you see a vertical drop indicator.
3. Release. The two blocks now sit side by side.

Repeat to add more columns. To break a column back into a single column, drag a block back below or above its sibling.

Tips

{% hint style="info" %} Toggled Headings + Table of Contents = best long-page navigation. With both turned on, you can collapse sections you're not editing and use the Table of Contents to jump between sections. See Toggled Headings. {% endhint %}