Your first few minutes in Hearthspace #

After installing Hearthspace, select it at the login screen. If you're running it inside another desktop, some keys may be intercepted by that desktop and system controls may be unavailable.

Open something familiar #

Tap Super (also called Meta or the Windows key), or click Apps List at the bottom right. Type an app's name and press Enter. Super+Return opens the foot terminal directly; install it with the desktop runtime packages.

Favorites stay in the dock when they're closed. A running app has an indicator; click it to return to its window, and click again to cycle through its windows. Apps List also searches running-window titles. The separate canvas search can find desktop objects and controls as well.

Spread out #

Drag a window by its title bar to place it. You aren't limited to the part of the canvas currently visible on screen.

Navigation	How
Pan with a keyboard	Super+arrow keys.
Pan with a mouse	Open Canvas map in Canvas tools; drag its highlighted viewport.
Pan with touch	Slide three fingers on a touchpad or touchscreen.
Zoom with a mouse	Hold Super while scrolling.
Zoom with touch	Pinch with three fingers.
Change zoom from the map	Use its minus and plus buttons.

Panning moves your view; it doesn't rearrange windows. Zooming out helps you see more work at once. Pan and zoom covers gesture cancellation, window states, and device differences.

Find your way back #

Alt+Tab gathers open windows into a temporary grid. Keep Alt held and press Tab to move forward, or Shift+Tab to move backward. Release Alt to choose; Escape cancels. The arrangement you made remains intact.

Ctrl+K or Super+K opens canvas search. Type a window title, app, file, folder, or control name, then choose a result. File results come from your Desktop directory, not a full-disk content index. Closing search restores the canvas.

You can also swipe four fingers sideways to switch windows, or pinch inward with four fingers and lift to leave the switcher open. Touchscreens additionally support five-finger switching. See window switching for the full interaction.

Make the edges useful #

Choose Change layout from Canvas tools at the bottom left. Select a control, window, or desktop item. Drag it to an edge to keep it within reach while the canvas moves, or choose Canvas or Background to put it back with your work.

Drop frame attachments together to group them. Side controls turn vertically, keeping their icons upright. Pinned windows leave a narrow visible strip until you open them. Press Escape or Done when you're finished.

If you move or hide a control, search can find it again. Settings → System also opens Change layout and restores Canvas tools. Shell controls explains removal, grouping, and narrow-screen behavior.

Personalize the desktop #

Open Hearthspace Settings from Apps List. Choose a light or dark appearance, a coordinated accent, or a photo background. Displays controls arrangement and scale. Choose the Gestures category in Settings to assign a simple drawing to an app; the Draw tab in Apps List recognizes it when you lift your finger or release the mouse.

A drawing that doesn't clearly match won't launch an app. This launcher doesn't require a model. The separate AI opt-in supports gathering related windows and explains its download before enabling it. See gesture launching and window groups.

Step away or finish #

Power at the top right contains Lock screen, Suspend, Log off, Reboot, and Turn off, subject to system availability. Ending the session or shutting down asks for confirmation, with Cancel focused first.

Super+L locks a native session. Unlock locally with your account password. The lock screen protects the running session; it doesn't close your apps. Before logging off, save application work. Hearthspace remembers spatial placement on normal shutdown, but it doesn't save documents on an app's behalf.

If something feels wrong, check the known limits and report the steps that led to it. The documentation catalog has detailed guides for applications, notifications, clipboard, power, and other features.