General
In Settings > General > Language, choose French, English or Spanish; French is the fallback. This choice is independent of the macOS language. Help, newly opened examples and automatic callout titles in Visual mode follow Balise’s language. This change does not translate your text or examples that are already open.
Open Tools > Command Palette… (⇧⌘P) and search for General, Markdown, CSV, License or Permissions to go directly to the corresponding tab.
Spotlight metadata
Two switches separately disable Markdown and Data result enrichment. Balise adds only bounded local metadata: Markdown headings, column names and CSV/TSV dimensions.
Balise never adds Markdown body text, row values, source paths or security bookmarks to Spotlight. The importer activates no saved permission and uses no network. macOS remains responsible for removing or renaming entries when the corresponding file changes.
Last session
After a normal quit, a compact sheet after Welcome explains that Balise remembered the previously open windows and may offer Restore Last Session. Choosing Continue Without Restoring forgets the session.
At Launch determines whether Balise should Ask, Restore Automatically or Start a New Session. The last option forgets the session manifest but does not disable saving future sessions after a normal quit. The session summary and Forget Last Session… also appear here. An unreadable manifest can therefore still be deleted. Forgetting removes only the remembered working layout; local versions and recovery snapshots remain intact.
Experimental options
In editions that offer this option, Experimental options is initially disabled. Enable it to access the whiteboard. Your choice is remembered after relaunching Balise.
Enabling the option downloads the local model if it is missing. The download size appears in Settings. Once ready, the model runs on your Mac for search by meaning, link suggestions and grouping by theme. Your documents are not sent to the model host.
Balise updates reuse the compatible model already installed. Turning the option off keeps that model and stops any download in progress. To delete it, choose the separate Remove model action in Settings. If the option was already enabled before an update and the model is missing, explicitly start its download in Settings > General.
Disabling hides whiteboard commands and preserves existing boards, cards, links and layouts. Unsaved changes stay preserved. Opening a board while disabled shows how to enable it again in Settings > General.
Updates
In Settings > General, choose Check for Updates… to see available versions. The same command appears in the Balise menu. Automatically check for updates controls periodic checks. An Internet connection is required to find and download a version.
Balise’s distributed versions use Sparkle to download and install signed updates. If Balise says updates are unavailable in this version, use an officially distributed copy. The public version and build number are separate; the build continues increasing even when the public version goes from 7.13.1 to 1.0.
Local versions
Local history can be disabled globally, and a specific document can be excluded.
See Local versions and recovery.
Markdown
This tab chooses Visual typography in all Markdown windows: Default Mac Theme retains Balise’s historical appearance, New York offers more spacious editorial reading and GitHub uses a compact hierarchy familiar in code repositories.
All three themes use the same dynamic Mac colors. They automatically follow light or dark appearance and have no color settings.
This is a local application preference. It does not change Source mode, printing, export or rich copy, and writes nothing to Markdown files or sidecars.
Formatting shortcuts while typing, initially enabled, lets Visual mode transform a marker on its own at the start of a paragraph when validated by a space. For example, ## becomes a level-two heading, while ##Title stays text. The change applies immediately in all windows without retroactively altering contents, selection or history.
When disabled, Balise preserves literal prefixes by escaping them in the source if they could otherwise become headings or lists on reopening.
CSV
Choose where Balise stores data-file display preferences.
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Beside the file | A file.csv.balise.json is written in the same folder |
In .balise/ | Preferences are grouped in a repository folder |
| Local metadata only | Nothing is written beside your files |
| Disabled | No display preferences are kept |
None of these choices changes data-file content.
License
Balise remains fully usable without a license. A perpetual license only removes the welcome page at launch and can be activated on three Macs.
The price is USD 19.99 as a one-time payment; applicable taxes are calculated at checkout.
Buy Balise opens Balise’s purchase page in your browser. From there, choose the purchase to open Polar checkout. After purchase, find the key in the Polar order confirmation or customer portal. Copy it, open License, then choose Activate a License…. Balise asks for no email address.
This tab shows the current state, last validation and number of activations used. Verify Now contacts Polar. During a network failure, a successful validation stays recognized for thirty days. An expired or deactivated license or one for another product is refused immediately.
Deactivate This Mac… releases the remote activation after confirmation. If the network is unavailable, Balise keeps the license so you can retry without losing the instance identifier.
Permissions
The table of remembered access has its own page: File and folder access.
What this surface does not do
- No setting changes the content of a previously saved file.
- No setting retroactively reformats your files.