Support

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Getting started

Creating your first project

Open Cora and choose File → New (⌘N). Give your novel a title and save it wherever you like — your Documents folder or iCloud Drive are both good choices. The file extension is .cora.

Understanding the structure

A Cora project is organised as Parts → Chapters → Scenes. You can drag any item in the sidebar to reorder it. Each Chapter has its own Drafts and Notes tab alongside the main text.

Importing a manuscript

From Word or Pages

Choose File → Import… (⌘⇧I) and select your .docx or .pages file. A style-mapping panel will let you assign heading sizes to Part, Chapter, or Scene Break roles before the import runs.

From Google Docs

Make the document public (Share → Anyone with the link can view), then paste the URL into the Google Docs tab in the Import panel.

From plain text files

Select a folder of .txt files. Sub-folders become Parts; files inside them become Chapters. A flat folder with no sub-folders creates one Part named after the folder.

Exporting your novel

Choosing a format

Choose File → Export As and pick PDF, ePub, Word, or Plain Text. Each format has its own settings panel for typography, layout, cover image, and headers.

What is included in an export?

Only the story text — Parts, Chapters, and Scenes. Notes, Drafts, scene synopses, character profiles, and place bibles are not exported.

iCloud sync

Setting up sync

Save your .cora file to your iCloud Drive folder. macOS handles sync automatically. Open the same file on another Mac signed in to the same Apple ID and it will be up to date.

Conflict resolution

If two Macs edit the same file while offline, iCloud may create a conflict copy. Cora will show a notification and let you review the conflicting version before merging.

Common issues

The app won’t open my file

Make sure the file ends in .cora and that it was created by Cora Novel. If it was created on a newer version of Cora, try updating the app via the Mac App Store.

Import produces garbled text

This usually means the source document uses a non-standard encoding. Export it as plain UTF-8 text first, then import the .txt file into Cora.

iCloud is not syncing

Check System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Drive and make sure iCloud Drive is enabled. If the file is in a folder not covered by iCloud Drive, move it to your iCloud Drive folder.

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Still stuck? Email us — include your macOS version and a brief description of what happened.