You can either style a node from scratch, or copy a style from another node. To move a node, click and drag it over the right end of the node you want to graft it onto (make it a child of) and release (you will see a gradient highlight when you you are correctly positioned).

Roll over it so it is highlighted, and hit F2 to edit it. If it is a node that has child nodes, clicking it will collapse/expand the children.If it is the last one on a branch, you can just click it to edit.Hit TAB to to add a child node “below” itĪfter your node is created, you can start typing, then hit RETURN to finish.

Hit RETURN to add a sibling node after it (at the same level in the outline).To make a new node, select an existing one (roll over to highlight it) and: When you open Freemind, start a new mind map (document) by pressing CMD + N (CTRL + N on Win/Linux). Nodes can be text, hyperlinks, graphics, and more. Working With NodesĮach item in the branching structure is a “node” (a node is basically a point in your outline). While you can move a large mind map around with the scrollbars, it's much faster to just move the map around by clicking and dragging an empty part of the background. Whole branches can also be collapsed (to be re-opened as needed) in order to tidy up large, complex outlines.

You can easily prune an item (or whole branch of items) from one spot and graft it on in another spot with a single click and drag. In a nutshell, Freemind allows you to create outlines, but in a visual, tree-structure style. This is a quick rundown on the basics of using it. You can also read a more detailed description of Freemind. It is written in Java, and runs on OSX, Windows, and Linux. Freemind is an open source tool that is very useful for outlining and mind-mapping.

Freemind osx