Start writing in your browser

The quickest way to try Onwarder is the browser. There is nothing to install and you do not need an account. Your books are kept in the browser you write in.

Open your library

1. Go to onwarder.com and choose Start writing. This opens onwarder.com/app.
2. Onwarder opens your library. The first time, you will see A place for your next chapter. while it gets ready, then Your books.
3. Type a name for your book in Working title. It can be anything; you can change it later.
4. Choose Start writing. Your book opens with Chapter One and an Untitled scene, ready for your first line.

Next time, go back to the same address in the same browser and your books are waiting. Continue writing takes you back to where you stopped.

Where your books are kept

Without an account, your library lives inside this browser on this device. It does not appear in a different browser, or on another computer, by itself.

That makes two things worth knowing:

• Clearing your browser’s site data removes it. So does writing in a private or incognito window, which forgets everything when you close it.
• Save a file now and then. Open Settings, then Storage and backup, choose Save to file, then Save library to file. The file holds your whole library and can be opened on any device. See Backups and restoring.

You can also ask the browser to hold on to your books. In Settings, Storage and backup, under This browser, choose Ask this browser to keep these books. Most browsers agree; some do not. Either way, a saved file is the copy that does not depend on the browser.

Install it like an app

Many browsers offer to install Onwarder so it opens in its own window from your dock, taskbar or home screen. Look for an install button in the address bar, or on an iPhone or iPad choose Share, then Add to Home Screen in Safari.

If you install it from Safari, the installed copy keeps its own library, separate from the one in the Safari tab. To move books between them, save a file in one and open it in the other.

Which browsers work

Use a current version of Chrome, Edge or Safari, on a computer, tablet or phone. Onwarder needs the browser to keep a proper library on the device. If a browser cannot, Onwarder says This browser cannot safely keep a local library and saves nothing there, rather than letting you write into something that might vanish.

If you see Your browser library is already open in another tab, close the other Onwarder tab and try again. Only one tab at a time can write to the library.

When you want more

Onwarder in the browser is free with no time limit. If you later want your books on more than one device, look at Onwarder Cloud. If you prefer an app, Onwarder is also on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android.