Help
How to use Write 500 Words.
Found a bug or have a suggestion? Get in touch at support@terriblemushroom.com.
Getting Started
Creating your first project
Projects are created from the Project Library (Cmd+Shift+L). The New Project window offers three ways to begin:
- Start a new project creates an empty project with a single untitled document, ready to write in.
- Explore a Sample Novel opens a complete copy of Pride and Prejudice so you can look around a finished project. You can also add the sample later, at any time, with Help ▸ Restore Sample Project…
- New Project from Template creates a project pre-structured as a Simple Novel, Chapter Only, Three-Act Structure, or Non-Fiction book, with a chapter count of your choosing.
Templates are only a starting point. You can add, rename, reorder, and nest folders and documents at any time, so any structure you like, whether that's beat sheets or scene sequences or a method of your own, can be built in the sidebar.
Bringing in an existing draft
To import work from another app, drag files onto the sidebar or choose File ▸ Import File…. The app imports Word documents (.docx, text extracted, formatting stripped), markdown (.md), and plain text (.txt). Each file becomes a document in the current section. You can import several files at once; if one file in a batch can't be read, the rest still import and an alert lists the failures.
The first-launch walkthrough
The first time you open the app, a short walkthrough introduces the project structure and lets you set your daily writing target. It runs once. The target can be changed at any time in Settings ▸ General.
Where your work lives
Each project is a folder of plain text files on your Mac: manuscript, notes, cut material, and version history. Your writing can be opened in any text editor, on any computer, with or without Write 500 Words. No account or sign-in is required. If you use more than one Mac, projects can follow you through iCloud. See iCloud Sync.
Read more: Why plain markdown? The thinking behind the file format.
Writing
The editor uses markdown: type symbols like **bold** and *italic* and the text is styled for you. As you move off a line, the symbols fade and the line reads as styled prose; move the cursor back and they reappear for editing. (If you choose SF Mono as your editor font, symbols stay visible at all times.)
Formatting
The editor supports bold (Cmd+B), italic (Cmd+I), strikethrough (Cmd+Shift+X), highlight (Cmd+Shift+H), inline code, headings (Cmd+1 / 2 / 3), bulleted and numbered lists, blockquotes, links (Cmd+K), horizontal rules, and footnotes. Every formatting action has a keyboard shortcut, so you never have to type a symbol yourself.
In lists, Return continues the list (bullets continue, numbers increment), Return on an empty item ends the list, and Shift+Return adds a line break inside the same item.
Read more: Why the editor keeps markdown simple What was left out of the formatting set, and why.
Annotations
An annotation is a note to yourself inside the prose. It shows in the editor in a softer treatment and never appears in previews or exports. Select text (or place the cursor) and press Cmd+Shift+A, or use the editor's right-click menu.
Highlights
A highlight puts a marker-pen background behind a passage you want to come back to. Select text and press Cmd+Shift+H. Highlights never appear in exports. The highlight colour can be switched between Bright and a softer theme-matched treatment in Settings ▸ Editor.
Read more: Annotations and highlights What each is for and when to reach for which.
Auto-save
Documents save automatically about a second and a half after you pause typing. You can also save at any time with Cmd+S.
Focus modes
Three tools in the Focus menu reduce what's competing for your attention. They can be combined.
- Typewriter Scrolling (Cmd+Control+T) keeps the line you're typing at a fixed position near the middle of the window, so the page scrolls beneath your cursor rather than the cursor travelling down the screen. The fixed line's position can be adjusted in Settings ▸ Focus.
- Focus Mode dims everything except the paragraph or sentence you're writing. Choose Paragraph or Sentence scope from Focus ▸ Focus Mode, or set a default in Settings ▸ Focus.
- Distraction-Free (Cmd+Control+H) hides the sidebar and panels. Settings ▸ Focus can also hide the toolbar and footer. Combine with macOS full screen for a bare page.
Read more: Focus modes and the split editor Which tool suits which kind of session.
The split editor
The split editor shows two documents side by side in the same window: a scene and its character notes, say, or a chapter and its outline. Toggle it with Cmd+Shift+E, or Option-click any document in the sidebar to open it in the second pane. Both panes are fully editable, and each keeps its own cursor and scroll position. A copper strip marks the pane your typing goes to. You can open the same document in both panes; edits appear in both as you type.
Search
Cmd+F finds within the current document; Cmd+Option+F opens Find and Replace; Cmd+G and Cmd+Shift+G step through matches.
Cmd+Shift+F searches the whole project (Manuscript, Reference Material and Cut Material) from three typed characters. Click a result to jump to it; Option-click a result to open it in the second pane instead, leaving your current document in place. Results include text you've typed but not yet saved.
The reading preview
The preview (Cmd+Shift+P) shows the current manuscript document as it will export: annotations stripped, footnotes in place. A toolbar control switches between Reading (a comfortable serif layout) and Manuscript (the double-spaced submission format, with font and spacing controls alongside). The preview refreshes when you pause typing, or on demand via View ▸ Refresh Preview. It's available for manuscript documents only.
The right-click menu
Right-clicking in the editor shows a menu suited to markdown prose. Look Up, Search With, Spelling and Grammar, Substitutions, Speech, and Services are all present; the system Font panel and Layout Orientation are not, and Insert Annotation is added at the bottom. Apple's Writing Tools appear only if you've opted in via Settings ▸ Editor.
Substitutions
On first launch, the Edit ▸ Substitutions toggles are set to suit prose: Smart Quotes on, Text Replacement on, Smart Links off, Data Detectors off, Spelling Correction off (autocorrect rewrites character names too eagerly for fiction). Spell-check underlining is separate and stays on; change it in Settings ▸ Editor. Anything you change in Edit ▸ Substitutions persists. Smart Dashes isn't listed: the editor always keeps your dashes exactly as typed.
Paste
Pasting always inserts plain text. External formatting is removed, and what arrives is exactly the characters. (Cmd+V.)
Toolbar
The main toolbar carries navigation and panel toggles; the formatting toolbar (toggle via View ▸ Show Formatting Toolbar, Cmd+Shift+T) adds Italic, Heading 1, font-size controls, and the Insert (+) dropdown, which groups every insertable element by how exports treat it: elements that reach a manuscript reader (rules, footnotes, lists, strikethrough), elements for ePub (bold, sub-headings, links), and the private drafting aids (annotation, highlight). When the window is narrow, toolbar items collapse into a >> overflow menu; everything stays reachable.
Typing width and justification
The editor column can be set to Full Width, Comfortable, Narrow, or Narrowest from Editor ▸ Typing Width or Settings ▸ Editor. Editor ▸ Justify Text (Cmd+Shift+J) renders body paragraphs flush on both sides; it's display-only and doesn't affect your files or exports. On the narrowest widths, justified text can show uneven word spacing, which is normal for short justified lines.
Organising the Manuscript
Every project has four sections in the sidebar:
- Manuscript. The book itself. This is what exports and what counts toward your statistics.
- Notes (Reference Material). Characters, locations, research, and other material around the book. See Reference Material.
- Cut Material. Text you've removed but might want back.
- Trash. Items awaiting permanent deletion.
Within a section you can create folders, nest them, and reorder everything by dragging. The sidebar order is the export order.
Creating, renaming, moving
Cmd+N creates a document and Cmd+Shift+N a folder, next to your current selection and ready to name. Press Return on any selected item to rename it. Drag to reorder or re-nest; when you drag several items, their order is kept. Cmd+Delete moves items to Trash, and the right-click menu offers Move to Cut Material, Duplicate, and more.
Selecting several items
Cmd-click or Shift-click to select multiple items. A footer appears with batch actions (Move to Trash, Cut, Copy to Manuscript, Copy to Project, or Restore for trashed items) and the right-click menu offers the same.
Trash and restore
Trashed items keep a memory of where they came from. Right-click an item to restore it, and Reference Material items will name their destination ("Restore to Characters"). Or right-click the Trash header for Restore All. File ▸ Empty Trash deletes the contents permanently, including their version history.
Copying between projects
Select documents in the sidebar, right-click ▸ Copy to Project, and choose the destination. The source project is unchanged; the destination gets its own copy.
Reference Material
The Notes section holds eight template folders: Characters, Locations, Objects, Themes, Timeline, World Rules, Research, and General. A new document in any of them starts with that template's prompts instead of a blank page. Nothing in Reference Material counts toward word targets or appears in manuscript exports.
Customising templates
Edit each template's prompt text per-project in Settings ▸ Reference Material (or its Edit Note Templates… window), and reset any template to the bundled default at any time. Template folders you don't use can be hidden from the sidebar by right-clicking the folder or using the section header menu. Hidden folders keep their documents.
How the folders behave
The eight template folders are fixed: they can't be renamed, moved, or deleted, and documents can't be dragged from one template folder into another, into Manuscript, or into Cut Material. Within a template folder you can create subfolders (for example Protagonists / Supporting under Characters) and move documents freely between them. New documents need a folder: with the Notes header itself selected, Cmd+N creates into General.
Read more: The Reference shelf What it's for and how it differs from Cut Material.
Targets & Statistics
Open the Stats panel with Cmd+Shift+I. It tracks today, the week, the month, and lifetime records.
The daily target
Set your daily word target in Settings ▸ General; the default is 500. The Today ring fills as you write and celebrates when you reach the target, resetting at midnight. Only manuscript writing counts, so notes, cut material and formatting symbols won't move the number.
Streaks and rest days
The streak counts consecutive days you've met your target. Rest days, which you set in Settings ▸ General, are weekdays the streak skips over instead of breaking; writing on a rest day still counts. Changing your rest days affects future days only. Milestones are celebrated at 3, 7, 14, 30, 50, 100, 200, and 365 days.
Week, month, and records
This Week is a bar graph with your target line drawn across it; a day met under an older, different target shows a hatched bar. This Month is a calendar grid: green for target met, copper tones for partial progress, grey for no writing, a muted tint for an unwritten rest day. Records shows lifetime totals: words, best streak, best day, days written. This Document and Project show the current document's count and the manuscript total.
Hiding the numbers
If you'd rather not see counts while you write, Settings ▸ General ▸ Hide Stats can hide the today/target read-out and the word counts independently. Tracking continues in the background, so nothing is lost while they're hidden.
Read more: Why a daily target? and How the Stats panel keeps track.
Version History
The app keeps earlier versions of each document automatically, periodically while you write and whenever you switch documents, open or close the project, or restore a version. Versions where nothing changed aren't kept, so the history stays meaningful.
Viewing and restoring
Choose File ▸ Version History, or right-click a document in the sidebar and choose Version History…. Versions are grouped by day with timestamps and word counts; select one to read it, and click Restore to bring it back. Restoring first saves your current text as a version of its own, so a restore can always be undone. If a version was captured while a Content Analysis synopsis existed, that synopsis is shown with it.
Where versions live
Version history is stored inside the project, so it moves with the project across Macs, into backups, and into project archives. Older versions are gradually thinned: everything is kept for a week, then one version per day for a month, one per week for six months, and one per month beyond. Version History covers Manuscript and Reference Material documents.
Read more: Version history: every draft recoverable.
Backups & Archives
A project is an ordinary folder on your Mac, so Time Machine and other backup tools back it up like anything else, with no export step needed.
Project archives
To carry a whole project as a single file, use the Export Wizard's Save a complete project archive intent. It writes a .500words file (a standard zip with your plain text inside) containing the manuscript, notes, version history, and settings. The original project is unchanged.
Importing an archive
Project ▸ Import Project… opens a .500words archive and adds it to your library as an independent copy, with documents, folders and version history intact. Editing the copy doesn't affect the original project, and both can be kept.
Plain-text backup
The wizard's Back up the full project intent writes everything, manuscript and notes and cut material alike, into one labelled plain-text file, readable anywhere.
Duplicate names
Project names must be unique in the Library; creating or importing a project under an existing name prompts you to rename or open the existing one instead.
iCloud Sync
With iCloud Drive on, projects sync across every Mac signed in to the same Apple Account: manuscript, notes, cut material, version history, and writing statistics. Your daily word target, rest days, and week start day follow you between Macs as well. There's no separate account or setup in the app. iCloud Drive just needs to be enabled in System Settings ▸ [your name] ▸ iCloud on each Mac. On a single Mac, sync isn't needed and the app works the same without it.
The sync indicator
The bottom-right of the window shows the sync state: Up to date in iCloud, Uploading changes to iCloud…, or Checking iCloud…. If iCloud can't be reached, the indicator says so. Keep writing; work saves locally and syncs when iCloud returns. A document that hasn't downloaded to this Mac yet shows Downloading from iCloud… in the editor until it arrives.
If two Macs edit the same chapter
The more recent version becomes the live chapter and the other is saved into that chapter's Version History. If the version replaced was the one on your screen, a Restore my version notice appears and brings it back with one click, and the other version is kept in history in turn. Neither version is ever lost.
What sync is and isn't
Sync keeps your Macs matching, deletions included, so it isn't a backup; use Time Machine or an archive for that. Your writing syncs through your own iCloud account and is not visible to the studio.
Read more: How iCloud syncing works.
Export
Open the Export Wizard with Cmd+Option+E. It asks what you're doing, then asks only the questions that matter for that job, with a preview alongside and a Review step at the end.
The five export jobs
- Send to my agent. The manuscript in standard submission format. Asks about file format, title page, font, table of contents, and scope; Save or Print.
- Share with readers for feedback. A Reading Copy for beta readers. Asks about a DRAFT watermark, font, title page, contents, and scope; Save or Print.
- Make an ePub. An e-reader file. Asks about the cover and scope.
- Back up the full project. One plain-text file of everything.
- Save a complete project archive. A single
.500wordsfile of the whole project.
If none of those fits, Custom… in the wizard footer opens the full export sheet with every format and option available at once.
What exports contain
Exports follow the sidebar order. Annotations and highlights are always removed; bold, italic, headings, lists, blockquotes, links, and footnotes are carried according to the format. Footnotes are collected as endnotes, numbered across the whole book. A title page, copyright page, and end-of-book marker can each be included, drawing on your Book Metadata. A table of contents can be generated from your structure. If a chosen job needs metadata you haven't filled in (an ISBN for ePub, say), the Review step lists what's missing with an Edit metadata… button.
Chapter and section headings
Two toggles, found in Project Settings, the Custom sheet and the wizard alike, control how your sidebar structure appears in the book:
- Use document names as chapter headings (on by default): each document's name becomes its chapter heading, and headings you've typed inside sit beneath it.
- Use folder names as section headings (off by default): folders like Part 1 get their own divider page, as published novels do. Off, folders still group entries in the table of contents.
Manuscript format
The submission format looks quite unlike the editor, with Times or Courier, double spacing, indented paragraphs and centred # scene breaks, because that's the layout agents and publishers expect to receive. The Manuscript Compatibility tick tells you in advance whether anything in your prose would change on the way out.
Printing
Cmd+P prints the current document through the standard macOS print dialog.
Read more: Why an export looks different from the editor.
Book Metadata
The book's publishing details live in Settings ▸ Project: title, subtitle, author, contact details, agent details, copyright statement, cover, ISBN, publication date, and language. They feed the title page, copyright page, ePub details, and the Library card. None are required for writing; changes apply immediately.
Title, byline, and legal name
The title and optional subtitle appear on the title page. The Author field is your byline, the name printed under "by". If you write under a pen name, fill in Author Legal Name too: agent submissions show the legal name in the contact corner, while the byline stays on the title page. The running header on submission exports pairs your surname with the title.
Agent details
With any agent fields filled in, submission exports put the agent's details in the title page's contact corner, as agented submissions expect. With no agent set, your own details are used. Empty fields are simply skipped.
Copyright
The copyright statement defaults to the standard form (© year name. All rights reserved.) using your byline and the current year, and can be edited. An export can override the year without changing the stored statement.
Cover
The cover appears in ePub exports and on the project's Library card. Most image formats work. Aim for about 1600×2400 pixels, the standard 2:3 book shape used across e-book stores; the app tells you at upload if an image is small or unusually shaped, and compresses very large files. Without a cover, ePubs use a neutral placeholder.
ISBN, publication date, and language
ISBN and publication date are used in ePub files only; both can be left blank (for agent submissions, they should be). The language is the language the book is written in. It travels in the ePub so reading apps hyphenate and lay out the text correctly.
Content Analysis
Content Analysis reads your manuscript with Apple Intelligence and shows what's in it: a synopsis, and the characters, locations, objects, themes, and time references you've mentioned. It runs on-device, so your manuscript never leaves your Mac. It doesn't write or rewrite prose. Toggle the panel with Cmd+Shift+Y.
Synopsis
The synopsis card offers three styles via the picker at its top: Short (a few sentences), Flowing (a longer narrative summary), and Beats (a bullet list). Each style has an Edit link for rewriting it by hand; hand-edited synopses are protected, and the app warns before replacing one. Synopses are captured into Version History alongside the text.
Entities
The panel lists the people, places, objects, themes, and timeframes found in the document. Click an entity to create a Reference Material note for it (pre-filled with the right template) or link it to an existing note. The app recognises likely matches, so M. Walton links to your Margaret Walton note rather than creating a duplicate. Linked entities show a chain icon that opens the note in the second pane. Hovering shows Mentioned In, listing every document that references the entity. Right-click ▸ Hide Entity removes one from the list permanently; the panel's filter can show hidden entities again for unhiding.
When analysis runs
Analysis runs automatically after you save a manuscript document of at least 100 words, when your changes are substantial enough to be worth it; the Refresh button in the panel footer re-analyses on demand at any time. Project ▸ Generate All Content Analysis queues every manuscript document and works through them in the background while you write. Very long documents have a word limit for analysis. Past it, the panel shows the current limit and suggests splitting the document into scenes or chapters so each part can be analysed.
Manuscript Compatibility
The tick at the top of the panel reports whether the document will export to submission format without losing anything. Green: nothing important changes. Amber: the panel lists what would be transformed (bold rendered plain, for example) so you can decide whether it matters. Annotations and highlights never affect the tick, since they're removed from every export in any case. Project ▸ Check Manuscript Compatibility… runs the same check across the whole project.
Availability
Content Analysis needs an Apple Silicon Mac with Apple Intelligence enabled in System Settings; without that, the panel doesn't appear and the rest of the app is unaffected. It can also be turned off in Settings ▸ Editor.
Read more: Content Analysis: a mirror for your manuscript.
Appearance & Settings
Themes
Eight themes are available in Settings ▸ Themes or Editor ▸ Editor Theme: five light (Light, Paper, Sepia, Soft Grey, Warm Stone) and three dark (Midnight, High Contrast Night, Forest). Pick a light theme and a dark theme; the app shows the right one for the system appearance, or force Light or Dark in View ▸ Appearance. On macOS 26, the sidebar and toolbar take on the system's Liquid Glass look; the page itself stays opaque for readability.
Fonts and text size
Choose the editor typeface from Editor ▸ Font, which offers seven faces suited to long sessions including a monospaced option, and step the editor text size with Cmd+= / Cmd+- (Cmd+0 resets). The interface (sidebar, panels, toolbar) scales separately via Settings ▸ Accessibility ▸ UI Text Size, in five steps up to 1.5×.
The Settings tabs
Cmd+, opens Settings, with seven tabs: General (daily target, week start day, rest days, Hide Stats, Bin retention, Reset All Defaults), Editor (font, size, typing width, text checking, Apple Intelligence, manuscript export typography, highlight colour), Focus (what distraction-free hides, typewriter position, focus scope), Themes, Accessibility (UI Text Size, Reduce Motion status), Project (the current book's metadata), and Reference Material (note templates and folder visibility).
Reset All Defaults returns app-wide preferences, including the theme, to their starting values; it doesn't touch your UI text size, project metadata, or note templates. The app also respects the system Reduce Motion setting throughout.
Picking up where you left off
On relaunch, the app restores your last project and document, the sidebar's expanded state, the split editor's arrangement, and the window's size and position. The window's subtitle names the open project.
Project Library
The Project Library (Cmd+Shift+L) shows every project as a card with its name, byline, and word count. A copper Current pill marks the open project. Right-click a card to open, rename, duplicate, archive, or delete a project.
The Bin
Deleted projects move to the Bin rather than disappearing. They stay for the retention period set in Settings ▸ General, which runs from 7 to 90 days or Forever for manual control. The default is 30 days. Right-click a binned project to put it back or delete it permanently.
Archiving
Archiving hides a finished or paused project from the main grid without deleting anything. Switch to the Archived view in the Library header to see and restore archived projects.
Trial & Purchase
The 14-day trial
The trial starts at first launch and gives you the complete app for 14 days, with every feature available and no card or account required. It belongs to your Mac rather than to a copy of the app, so reinstalling doesn't restart it. A badge in the toolbar shows the state: copper while there's plenty of time, amber at two or three days left, red on the last day and after.
When the trial ends
The app moves to a read-only state: you can open and read every project, browse notes and history, and search, though you can't create projects or documents or use the regular export formats. Nothing about your projects is changed or removed.
Save My Writing, reached from the trial badge or App ▸ Purchases, always works, trial or not, expired or not. It saves everything you've written as one plain text file.
Buying
Write 500 Words is a single purchase through the Mac App Store. Click the trial badge or open App ▸ Purchases. There's no subscription and nothing else to buy; updates are included. The purchase covers every Mac signed in to your Apple Account.
Restore Purchase and Family Sharing
If the app shows trial screens on a Mac where you've already bought it, perhaps after a clean install or on a new Mac, App ▸ Purchases ▸ Restore Purchase confirms the purchase with the App Store and unlocks at no charge. Family Sharing is supported: one purchase covers your Family group (up to six people), each writing their own projects. A member who later leaves the group returns to the read-only state, with their projects intact.
Refunds
Refunds for App Store purchases are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Your projects stay on your Mac regardless of licence state. Trial, purchase, refund and reinstall never touch the writing itself.
Keyboard Shortcuts
File
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+N | New Document |
| Cmd+Shift+N | New Folder |
| Cmd+D | Duplicate Document |
| Cmd+Delete | Move to Trash |
| Cmd+S | Save |
| Cmd+Option+E | Export… |
| Cmd+P | Print… |
| Cmd+Shift+L | Project Library |
| Cmd+W | Close Window |
Edit
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+Z | Undo |
| Cmd+Shift+Z | Redo |
| Cmd+X | Cut |
| Cmd+C | Copy |
| Cmd+V | Paste (plain text) |
| Cmd+A | Select All |
| Cmd+F | Find |
| Cmd+Option+F | Find and Replace |
| Cmd+G | Find Next |
| Cmd+Shift+G | Find Previous |
| Cmd+Shift+F | Find in Project |
View
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+Control+S | Show Sidebar |
| Cmd+Shift+I | Show Stats Panel |
| Cmd+Shift+Y | Show Content Analysis |
| Cmd+Shift+E | Show Split Editor |
| Cmd+Shift+P | Show Preview |
| Cmd+Shift+T | Show Formatting Toolbar |
Editor
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+Shift+J | Justify Text |
| Cmd+= | Increase Font Size |
| Cmd+- | Decrease Font Size |
| Cmd+0 | Reset Font Size |
Focus
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+Control+T | Typewriter Scrolling |
| Cmd+Control+H | Distraction-Free Mode |
Format
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+B | Bold |
| Cmd+I | Italic |
| Cmd+Shift+X | Strikethrough |
| Cmd+Shift+H | Highlight |
| Cmd+1 / 2 / 3 | Heading 1 / 2 / 3 |
Insert
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+K | Link |
| Cmd+Shift+A | Annotation |
Sidebar
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Return | Rename selected item |
| Option+click | Open document in second editor pane |
| Escape | Exit search |
Window
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd+, | Settings |
| Cmd+? | Help |
System Requirements
- macOS 26 Tahoe or later.
- Apple Intelligence (optional). Needed for Content Analysis only; everything else works identically without it.
- iCloud Drive (optional). Needed only to sync projects between Macs.
The app supports VoiceOver, full keyboard navigation, an interface text-size preference (Settings ▸ Accessibility), and the system Reduce Motion setting.
Help & Diagnostics
This help page
Available from Help ▸ Write 500 Words Help and at terriblemushroom.com/write500words/help/. It opens in its own panel, so it can stay open beside the editor.
Restore Sample Project
Help ▸ Restore Sample Project… adds a fresh copy of Pride and Prejudice (about 122,000 words, public domain) to your Library. If a sample already exists, it's replaced, with the old copy moved to the Bin in case you'd made edits you want back.
Opening markdown files from Finder
Double-clicking a .md file in Finder (or dropping one on the Dock icon) opens it in a read-only viewer window, styled like the Reading Preview. The viewer's Import button brings the file into any of your projects, or into a new project named after the file.
The diagnostic log
If something goes wrong, Help ▸ Export Diagnostic Log… saves the app's activity log as a plain text file for sending to support. The log records app events only. It never contains your writing, your document or project names, your searches, or personal file paths, so it's safe to share when reporting a bug.
About
Write 500 Words is made by Terrible Mushroom Ltd. App ▸ About Write 500 Words shows your version and build, and the acknowledgements for the open-source projects and typefaces the app uses. Feedback and bug reports: support@terriblemushroom.com.