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A mind map you type into, right on the board — a central topic, branches coming off it, and branches off those. It lays itself out as you go, so it always looks organised, and in a live class several people can build the same map at once.
Find itInsert → Mind map…. Pick a starting point — Blank (one central topic), Brainstorm (a topic and five idea branches), Four branches (Who / What / Why / How) or Study map (key ideas, vocabulary, examples, questions, links). It lands in a clear part of the board, with Main Topic already selected: just start typing to replace it. Esc on the picker adds nothing. With a map selected, Insert → Mind map… opens that map instead. Make as many maps on a board as you like.
Type, Tab, EnterThe keyboard does almost everything. Tab adds a branch to the selected topic, Enter adds a topic beside it (a sibling), and the new one is ready to type into straight away — so type, Tab, type, Enter, type builds a map without touching the mouse. Shift+Enter starts a new line inside a topic. Esc finishes typing; a second Esc closes the map. A new topic you leave empty simply disappears; emptying an existing one puts its words back. On the mouse or a tablet, double-click a topic to type in it, or tap the selected one again, and use + Branch / + Sibling on the toolbar or the round + beside the selected topic. Press ? (or the ? button) for the full list of keys.
Get aroundThe arrow keys move between topics: outwards and inwards along a branch, up and down between neighbours. F2, or just typing a letter, edits the selected topic.
ReorganiseDrag a topic onto another to move it there — everything that hangs from it comes too. The topic you are over is highlighted before you let go, and a short click never moves anything, so selecting cannot re-arrange a map by accident. Drag to the top or bottom edge of a neighbouring topic to change the order instead (a line shows where it will land), or use Alt+↑ / Alt+↓. A topic can’t be dropped inside its own branch. Drag the empty part of an open map to move the whole map.
Delete safelyDelete (or the toolbar button) removes a topic and its branch, and Slate tells you how many topics went. Ctrl+Z brings the whole branch back exactly as it was. The central topic stays; to remove a whole map, press Done and delete it like any other object.
Fold a branchSpace, the Fold button or the small circle at the end of a branch tucks it away. A folded topic shows a badge with how many topics are hidden, and nothing is lost — unfold to see them again. Folds are yours: folding a branch changes only your own view, so a student can focus on one branch without changing anyone else’s map. Your folds are saved in your .slate file.
Colours, shapes, themesEach first-level branch gets its own colour, and every topic under it follows, so a branch reads as one idea. Colour recolours the selected topic’s whole branch in one tap. Shape offers rounded box, pill, box, underline, circle, cloud, hexagon and burst — tick The whole branch to change them all at once. B (or Ctrl+B) makes a topic bold; A− and A+ make it smaller or bigger. Look holds twelve themes (Chalk, Night, Ocean, Sunset, Neon and Forest for dark boards; Paper, Pastel, Spring, Classic and Candy for light ones; Ink in the board’s own pen colour), the layout, four fonts and a background — none (the board shows through), twelve ready colours or any colour at all; on a background the words and lines switch to a colour that reads on it. Colour also has twenty more colours and Any colour for a branch. A new map picks the theme that suits your board.
Layout is automaticTopics are placed for you every time the map changes — there is nothing to straighten up. Look → Layout chooses Both sides (branches balanced left and right), To the right, or Downwards (a tree). Long topics wrap onto several lines. The map grows around its centre, so it stays where you put it. Tidy opens every branch and fits the map to the board if it has grown too big. Topics can’t be placed by hand.
UndoWhile a map is open, Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y undo and redo your own changes to it. Once it is closed, the ordinary board Undo works as usual.
From Mermaid codeInsert → Diagram from code… → Mind map (or paste any Mermaid
mindmap). The preview counts the topics, and Place on board makes the same editable mind map as Insert → Mind map — not a picture — so everything above works on it. The indentation sets the branches, and the node shapes are kept: ((circle)), (rounded), [box], {{hexagon}}, )cloud( and ))burst((. ::icon(…) and class lines are not used, and the preview says how many were skipped. A mistake gets a message naming the line. The code is only read, never run, and is not kept once the map is made. An older mind map placed from code (a picture) turns into an editable one the next time you open it and press Update.Together, in a live classA map you insert appears for everyone. When you let students edit (✏️ for one student, or Let everyone annotate), each of them can open the same map and add, rename, move, colour and delete topics, and everyone sees each change as soon as it is made — no refresh. A small name tag shows on a topic someone else is typing in. Students who are not allowed to edit can look but not change the map; the teacher’s device checks every change, so this does not rely on hiding buttons. A student with a writing box can’t change maps.
When two people edit at onceAdditions never clash: two people adding branches at the same moment both get them. If two people retype the same topic, the first to finish wins, and the second is told who changed it and shown their own words, so nothing disappears unannounced — it is not live character-by-character co-typing. If a topic is deleted while someone is typing in it, the delete wins and they are told, with their words. Moving a topic and renaming it at the same time both happen. For colours and styles, the last change wins. Every screen always ends with the same map.
Dropping outA student whose connection drops gets the current map as soon as they are back, including everything that changed while they were away. A change that was still on its way is never applied twice.
Good to knowOn the board a closed map is an ordinary picture, so replay, region covers, print, export and the Time Machine all show it. The map engine is only fetched the first time you use a mind map (or open a lesson with a folded one), so Slate starts as quickly as ever. One map holds up to 400 topics.
Part of the Slate guide — or read the whole guide on one page.