Getting started

Math Notes is a sheet of lines. You write one calculation per line and the answer appears to the right of it as a dimmed hint. There is no = button and no cell grid: the sheet recalculates as you type.

1 + 1

2 * 3 + 1

A line can be a plain number, an expression, an assignment, a comment, or a label followed by an expression. The total bar at the bottom adds up every line that shows a number (by default; Settings can choose the average or the median). Assignments such as x = 5 show no result and are left out of totals, sum blocks, tag totals and group subtotals.

The screen#

• The editor is the large text area. Its ghost layer shows results, tags and errors in place.
• The total bar sits under the editor and aggregates the sheet. Use its dropdown to switch between total, average and median.
• The footer holds text-size controls and the Share, Settings, Examples and Docs buttons.
• The tabs bar at the top holds separate sheets (see Files, sharing & data).

Results#

Results are formatted with thousands separators and written with the unit or currency they carry.

1000000

1cm to m

By default a result shows up to 3 decimal places. A value with more precision ends with an ellipsis, while the calculation itself keeps full precision. Change this in Settings → Decimal precision (see Settings & appearance).

When a line cannot be evaluated, the error appears inline in red. Errors never stop the rest of the sheet from evaluating.

Editing#

• Indentation — Tab indents and Shift+Tab outdents the current line (when the caret sits at its start or inside its leading whitespace) or a multi-line selection. Indentation is two spaces and does not change how a line is evaluated. Anywhere else Tab moves focus to the next control, and Esc leaves the editor for the tab bar (an open suggestion popup or find bar takes Esc first), so the keyboard is never trapped.
• Comment a line — click a line's number in the left gutter to comment or uncomment it. A line that already starts with ## just loses one #.
• Line numbers — the left gutter numbers the sheet and highlights the line the caret is on.
• Undo / redo — ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z and ⇧⌘Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z, with a separate history for every tab.
• Jump to line — ⌘G / Ctrl+G, then type a line number.
• Find & replace — ⌘F / Ctrl+F searches the active sheet with live match highlighting, then replaces one or all matches.
• Text size — the footer's − / + step the editor between 50% and 200% of your browser's default font size; Reset size returns to 100%.

Autocomplete#

As you type, a popup suggests the sheet's variables and #tags plus the built-in functions, keywords, constants and units. Press Ctrl+Space to open it on demand. Tab inserts the highlighted suggestion; ↑/↓ choose another, after which Enter inserts it too (as it does when you opened the popup with Ctrl+Space). Otherwise Enter just starts a new line, so finishing a word like grams never swaps it for kilograms. A word that is already a complete name opens no popup on its own. Esc dismisses.

First run#

A first visit opens with a working Welcome sheet instead of an empty page — variables, labels, sum, tags, unit durations, percentages and dates. Use its Keep content / Clear content buttons to dismiss it or empty the sheet.

Offline#

Math Notes is an installable PWA. After the first visit a service worker keeps the app available offline; currency rates are cached so conversions keep working too. See App & platform.