# Write mode

> Write mode in InnerHook, a lyrics writing app: everything but the words hidden, your line kept in the middle, the controls tucked away.

Canonical: https://innerhook.com/docs/write-mode/
Last updated: 2026-10-06

Write mode clears the screen down to the lyric. The header, the side panel, the section chips and buttons, the line numbers and the hints fade away; the text moves to the middle and grows, and the line you're on stays in the centre of the screen while you type, like a typewriter.

## Where to find it

- **Write mode** in the song's header (the highlighted button).
- ⌘ ⇧ ↩ (Ctrl+Shift+Enter on Windows and Linux) turns it on and off.
- Type `/` and pick **Write mode**; inside Write mode the same row says **Leave Write mode**.

## Step by step

1. Open a song and press **Write mode** (or the shortcut).
2. Write. The other sections are dimmed, and the name of the section you're in (for example *Chorus 2*) shows quietly beside it.
3. Move the mouse, or press Tab, to bring back the controls for a couple of seconds.
4. Press Esc, or **Exit Write mode** in the corner, to leave. Your line stays where it is on the screen.

If a menu, an AI suggestion, the side panel or a dialog is open, Esc closes that first; the next Esc leaves Write mode.

## What's still there

Write mode hides almost everything, but these controls appear in the corners when you move the mouse:

- **☰** opens the side panel over the page (the song brief, Versions, Comments…) without leaving Write mode.
- **Home** and **Songs** take you out of the song.
- **🎧 Hear it sung** opens [Hear it sung](https://innerhook.com/docs/hear-it-sung/) over the page, for the song's owner and editors. It uses AI (Eleven Music) and costs credits.
- **🎙️ Record** opens [Record an idea](https://innerhook.com/docs/recordings/) for the section the caret is in.
- **▶ 120 BPM** plays the metronome, when the song has a tempo. While it plays, a small dot pulses at the edge of the page. See [Tempo, key & metronome](https://innerhook.com/docs/tempo-key/).
- **Syllables** hides or shows the syllable counts, which stay very dim in the margin. See [Syllables & language](https://innerhook.com/docs/syllables/).
- **Full screen**, where your browser allows it. Leaving Write mode leaves full screen too.
- **Exit Write mode**.

Everything else still works from the keyboard: the `/` menu, the Space menu on an empty line, undo and redo.

### Saving and comments

Your work is saved as usual, but Write mode only tells you when something is wrong: a small red dot means the last change wasn't saved. Comment threads become a small dot beside their line; open the side panel's **Comments** to read them.

## Tips

> **Tip**
>
> Write mode is remembered on this device. If you leave a song in Write mode, the next song you open (or a page reload) opens in Write mode too.

- Want the metronome running while you write? Set the tempo in the song brief first; the ▶ control only appears once the song has a BPM.
- With reduced motion turned on in your system, the text doesn't glide; it simply switches.

## Limits

> **Limits**
>
> - Line numbers and the section gutters (chips, versions, ⋮, drag handles) are hidden in Write mode. Leave it to change a section's type or move a section with the mouse.
> - **Comment on this line** isn't in the `/` menu in Write mode.