Get help with root

Getting started

Chrome Web Store Listing goes live at launch. Until then, use Load unpacked during beta.

• During the beta, open chrome://extensions.
• Turn on Developer mode.
• Choose Load unpacked and select the root extension folder.
• Open a new tab. root should appear as your workspace.
• Pin the extension if you want Quick Capture easy to reach from the toolbar.
• If you want one stable root tab instead of root on every new tab, open Quick Capture, turn on Redirect new tabs, use Open workspace, and pin that workspace tab if you want it parked.
• In our Chrome testing, if you install another new-tab extension, Chrome asks whether to keep the newer one or revert. If you keep the newer one, it takes over new tabs while root can still be opened from the extension button as long as root stays enabled.

What to try first

• Use Inbox for quick capture.
• Try Quick Capture from the extension button and append something small into Inbox.
• Add one or two checklist items so Open Tasks has something to show.
• Tag a few items as a project and try Copy Context.
• When you want a tighter AI handoff, try Selected items in Context Handoff with metadata off.
• Highlight useful text and save it as a Snippet.
• Paste a messy block of text and switch to Clean View.

Quick Capture

• Use Quick Capture when you want a tiny intake surface instead of opening the full workspace first.
• It appends into Inbox or a pinned item you choose. Pin a note if you want it in the popup list.
• The Task option turns each non-empty line into an unchecked task.
• The Date stamp option adds a logged block when you want one.
• The Current page option appends the active page title and URL alongside your note. On some internal Chrome pages, such as chrome://extensions and chrome://settings, that option may be unavailable.
• If you prefer root on demand, turn on Redirect new tabs in the small New tab behavior control at the bottom of Quick Capture.
• Open workspace reuses one stable root tab instead of spawning a fresh one each time.
• In our current Atlas testing, Quick Capture is not available yet because Atlas does not currently expose the extension button path root uses for the popup.

Voice dictation

• root does not ship its own in-app dictation button anymore.
• Browser new-tab and extension surfaces are not a reliable place to promise built-in voice typing.
• The better path is to click into a real text field in root, then use your operating system's dictation.
• On Mac, use the Dictation shortcut you set in Keyboard settings, commonly Fn or Globe twice, and follow Apple's Dictation guide.
• On Windows, press Windows logo key + H and follow Microsoft's Voice typing guide.

Backup and recovery

• Use Export regularly while testing or moving larger amounts of text.
• You can import by menu or drag one or more .md or .txt files straight onto the workspace.
• Archive hides items without deleting them.
• Delete moves items into Trash first.
• Version helps recover recent local snapshots for an item.
• If something really matters, export before a big cleanup or workspace reset.

Troubleshooting

• If the extension looks stale after an update, reload it from chrome://extensions.
• If Quick Capture does not see the current page yet, first check whether you are on an internal Chrome page like chrome://extensions or chrome://settings, where Current page may be unavailable. Otherwise, try reloading the extension after a manifest or permission change.
• If a context bundle looks too large for your destination, use a smaller scope or try Links only.
• If you are using a browser AI sidebar, keep the Context Handoff packet visible and narrow the scope first. In our Chrome testing, Gemini has been able to read the visible packet directly in some cases, especially with a narrower scope like Selected items and metadata off.
• If you are using Atlas, use the ATLAS button inside Context Handoff so the visible packet is selected for Atlas on the page.
• If Snippets seem empty, save selected text first from a normal item.
• Avoid editing the same item in multiple root tabs at once.
• If you need to move content between profiles or machines, export before switching.

Chrome is still the most reliable home for the full root extension experience. In our current Atlas testing, Atlas can install root, but the extension button path needed for Quick Capture is not available yet. The workspace itself can still be opened directly from the installed extension page in the form chrome-extension://<your-extension-id>/newtab.html, and that workspace tab can be bookmarked once it is open. Atlas can still be useful for Context Handoff and selected-text workflows, but root currently depends on Chrome-style new-tab extension behavior that Atlas does not always mirror yet. If you are using browser AI features like Gemini in Chrome or Atlas, the visible Context Handoff packet itself may be enough to work from in some cases, so you do not always need a separate copy-and-paste step first. That browser behavior is still separate from root's own Copy Context and export actions.