Getting started with Polimake Desktop: a tour of the app

Polimake Desktop has few parts, and they're always in the same place. This guide introduces them so you know where everything is before you start working. If you haven't installed it yet, start with Install Polimake Desktop.

The sidebar

On the left is the sidebar. At the top are the main entries:

• Search: the search for everything you have in Polimake. It appears as soon as there's at least one folder or library.
• Libraries: the home page, with all your folders and libraries.

Below them are your folders, in two groups:

• On this computer: the folders on your computer that you've added to Polimake.
• Shared: the libraries in your Polimake account that you bring to this computer.

Right-clicking the sidebar gives you a shortcut to Add folder… without going through Libraries.

Libraries, the home page

Libraries brings together everything Polimake knows about. Each folder or library is a tile:

• Click one to open it and see its files.
• Right-click it and choose Inspect to see its details alongside: how many files it has, how much space it takes and when it was last read.
• Click Add, at the top right, to add another folder. We explain it in Add folders.

The search box is at the top centre. You don't need to click it: if you start typing on this page, search opens with what you typed.

Tabs

Polimake works with tabs, like a browser. Each tab remembers where you were.

• New tab: Ctrl+T.
• Close tab: Ctrl+W.
• Duplicate tab: Ctrl+Shift+D.
• Open in new window: Ctrl+N.
• To switch tabs, Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab, or Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 to jump straight to one.

The same actions are in each tab's menu, with a right-click.

Background activity

Polimake does a lot of work in the background: reading new folders, creating thumbnails, looking at your photos to tag them. You can see all of it at the bottom of the sidebar:

• Up to date when nothing is pending.
• N in progress while it works, or an error notice if something failed.

Click there to open the Activity panel, with what's running and what needs attention. From that panel you get to History, which groups what's been done into Today, Yesterday, This week and Earlier. To clean it up, click Clear history.

Settings

The gear at the bottom of the sidebar opens Settings. It has three sections:

• General: your Account (name, photo and Sign out), Appearance (Theme: Light, Dark or System; and Language) and Data, with the Reset button.
• Models: the models Polimake uses on your computer, such as the vision model that looks at your photos or the one for searching by what's in the picture. You download or delete them here.
• About: the app version and updates.

Reset deletes Polimake's index, thumbnails, session and downloads from this computer, and the app starts again from scratch. Your files aren't touched, but it can't be undone.

Frequently asked questions

Why don't I see the Search entry?

Because there's nothing to search yet. Search appears in the sidebar as soon as you add your first folder or bring in a library.

What's the difference between "On this computer" and "Shared"?

On this computer are folders on your computer: Polimake reads them where they are. Shared are libraries in your Polimake account, in the cloud, that you bring in to see them from the app.

Does Reset delete my photos?

No. Reset only deletes what Polimake keeps on this computer: the index, thumbnails, session and downloads. Your folders and files stay where they were.

How do I switch the app to Spanish?

In Settings › General › Appearance, change the Language. With System, the app uses the Windows language.