Arrange your workspace
Use the activity rail to choose a workflow or open Connections, Local runtime, History, or Settings. Press Ctrl + K (⌘ + K on macOS) to find a page or command.
Sidebars and panels
Section titled “Sidebars and panels”The title bar has a button for each region. On macOS, use ⌘ in place of Ctrl in these layout shortcuts.
| Region | Contains | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Left sidebar | Quick workflow controls, or the current area’s list and navigation | Ctrl + B |
| Bottom panel | Recent, Runtime output, and Diagnostics tabs | Ctrl + J |
| Right sidebar | Detailed task options, or History’s details and retention settings | Ctrl + Alt + B |
Drag a divider to resize, or focus it with Tab and use arrows; Home and End move to its size limits. Freehand remembers visibility, sizes, and the bottom tab locally. These preferences do not store drafts, credentials, transcripts, or runtime output.
At narrow widths, sidebars open over the page. Use the title-bar button to reach the left sidebar and X, Escape, or the backdrop to close right-side options. Unsaved edits must be resolved first. Global Settings hides the bottom panel; returning restores your chosen tab and visibility. Short windows also hide it until there is room.
Save settings
Section titled “Save settings”| Where you edit | How changes apply |
|---|---|
| Quick controls in the left sidebar | Save immediately; show Saving…, then Saved |
| Detailed options opened with the task’s Settings cog | Choose Save; quick controls pause while you have unsaved edits |
| Connections | Saves shared server details for every task using that connection |
| Global Settings | General, Shortcuts, Overlay, and Vocabulary preferences |
Leaving detailed options offers Save, Discard, or Keep editing. A failed save keeps the editable draft and previous applied values. Correct the inline error and retry. While saving, the confirmation stays open until completion. Changes never alter requests already running.
Shared Vocabulary and Overlay options can also open beside a workflow. They edit the same saved preferences as Settings. Voice’s Delivery options apply to microphone transcripts; startup and appearance remain in General.
Find a detailed control
Section titled “Find a detailed control”| To adjust… | Open |
|---|---|
| Microphone, maximum duration, silence controls | Voice → Audio; expand Speech detection tuning for sensitivity and timing |
| Caption and overlay appearance | Overlay; expand Appearance and behavior for motion, spacing, opacity, and glow |
| Request timeouts and diagnostics | The task’s Request settings |
| File context and temperature | Audio file → Transcription controls |
| Voice context / temperature | Voice’s model options / Request settings |
| Cleanup output and reasoning | Cleanup → Generation controls |
Overlay preview shows unsaved appearance changes. Glow is unavailable with a Minimal surface. Model pickers read advertised IDs without running them and also accept exact IDs. Choose the matching model profile for its supported controls; language pickers search by name or code.
Check the active connection
Section titled “Check the active connection”Select connection status at the bottom of the window, then Check connection or Check again. Checks use applied settings and read metadata; they do not record, upload audio, or run a model. Technical details expands HTTP status and individual checks.
Choose Edit connection for server details or Choose connection to select a server. A managed connection shows Starting runtime during loading and warm-up; its check waits and refreshes when the runtime is ready. NeMo diagnostics include advertised capabilities and the server version when available.
Check this computer’s resource use
Section titled “Check this computer’s resource use”Select CPU / RAM / GPU in the status bar, or the activity icon in a narrow window. Readings refresh about every two seconds while the workspace is visible and pause when hidden or minimized.
| Reading | How to use it |
|---|---|
| CPU, RAM, GPU activity, or dedicated GPU memory at 90% | Amber signals pressure; close demanding apps or stop an unused runtime if work is slow |
| Available RAM | An estimate including reclaimable memory; it can differ from Task Manager or Activity Monitor |
| GPU activity | Status bar shows the busiest reported adapter; open it for individual adapters |
| Measuring… / Unavailable | Sampling is warming up / the metric could not be read |
Readings include all apps on this computer, not individual runtime processes or a remote inference server. Brief spikes while a model loads are normal. Windows reports dedicated GPU memory and shared system RAM. Apple Silicon GPU memory is part of shared system RAM, with no separate VRAM pool. Missing driver metrics stay labelled unavailable instead of appearing as zero.
Read results and runtime output
Section titled “Read results and runtime output”Live text follows new words until you scroll back. Choose Jump to latest, or scroll to the bottom, to resume. While you select transcript text, the displayed text stays still; clearing the selection shows the latest updates. Jump to latest also clears selection.
Focus a transcript to use select-all and copy, or select a smaller passage. Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, and arrows scroll its pane. These controls also work in expanded history and raw/cleaned comparisons.
For a selected local connection, the left sidebar shows Start, Stop, or Cancel, progress, and errors. Choose a downloaded model while stopped; Manage runtime opens its inventory entry. View output opens that runtime’s bottom-panel tab immediately. See runtime output controls.
The standalone Process output window requires Show output each time it opens or switches runtimes. See diagnostics privacy for buffer limits and lifetime.
Window controls
Section titled “Window controls”Use File, View, and Help beside the Freehand mark. The far-right controls minimize, maximize/restore, and close. Drag an empty title-bar area to move the window; double-click to maximize/restore. Windows 11 Snap Layouts may appear when hovering over maximize, depending on the installed WebView runtime.
Use the native traffic lights and system menu bar. The green control uses macOS fullscreen. Drag the title bar to move the window; double-click follows your macOS title-bar setting.
Closing resolves unsaved settings and hides Freehand. Reopen it through the tray or menu-bar icon; choose Quit from that icon’s menu to exit. See overlay and tray controls.