Editing from the Outline

The outline panel is not just for navigation — you can restructure your document directly from it without scrolling through the editor. Renaming, adding, deleting, and reordering sections all work from the outline tree.

Pro: Editing from the outline — renaming, adding, deleting, and reordering — requires a Pro license. Browsing and navigating the outline are available to everyone.

Renaming Headings

To rename a heading, select it in the outline and press F2, or double-click the item. An inline text field appears in the tree. Type the new heading text and press Enter to confirm, or Escape to cancel. You can also right-click the item and choose Edit.

The change is written directly to the corresponding line in the document. The heading marker (for example ##) is preserved; only the text after it changes.

Adding New Headings

Right-click any item in the outline to open the context menu:

  • Add Sibling inserts a new heading at the same level, after the selected item.
  • Add Child inserts a sub-heading one level deeper than the selected item.

The new node opens for inline editing so you can type its text right away. (On the root item, Add Sibling is unavailable.)

Deleting Headings

Right-click a heading in the outline and choose Delete. This removes the heading and all of its content — paragraphs, lists, and nested sub-headings beneath it. A confirmation prompt appears first; you can turn the prompt off in Settings > General. (The root item cannot be deleted.)

Reordering Sections by Drag and Drop

Drag any outline item to a new position in the tree to reorder sections. As you drag, an insertion indicator shows where the section will land when you release. By default a confirmation prompt appears before the move completes — this can be turned off in Settings > General.

When you drop a section, MarkNode moves the heading line and all of its content — including nested sub-headings and their content — to the new location in the document. The document text is restructured to match the outline’s new order.

A few things to keep in mind:

  • Dropping a section onto another section places it as the last child of that parent, making it a sub-section.
  • Dropping between sections at the same level places it as a sibling at that position.
  • Undo (Cmd/Ctrl+Z) reverses a drag-and-drop reorder as a single operation.

Context Menu Reference

Right-clicking any outline item shows these options:

ActionDescription
Add ChildInsert a sub-heading one level deeper
Add SiblingInsert a sibling heading after the selected item (unavailable on the root)
EditEnter inline rename mode (same as F2)
DeleteRemove the heading and all content beneath it (unavailable on the root)