Quick Thoughts

Browser Setup

• Chrome: Install the Chrome extension.
• Firefox: Install the Firefox add-on (Firefox 140 or later).
• Safari on macOS: The extension comes with TheBrain’s desktop app for Mac, version 15.0.640 or later. Install or update the app in your Applications folder and open it once. Then turn on TheBrain Quick Thoughts in Safari > Settings > Extensions. The first time you connect, Safari asks to give the extension access to thebrain.com; allow it.
• Microsoft Edge: Use the Chrome extension. (Choose “Allow extensions from other stores” when Edge asks.)
• Brave, Vivaldi and other Chromium browsers: Use the Chrome extension.
• Opera: Use the Chrome extension, after adding Opera’s “Install Chrome Extensions” add-on.
• Phones and tablets: Browser extensions aren’t available; use the widgets.

Connecting to Your Account

1. Click the Quick Thoughts icon in your browser’s toolbar. (If you don’t see it, pin it from the puzzle-piece extensions menu.)
2. Click Connect… to open a TheBrain tab, and sign in if asked.
3. Click Connect. The tab closes and the extension is ready.

Open the extension any time with Alt+Shift+U (Option+Shift+U on a Mac). Type your note and click Send; the extension shows which account it sends to.

iPhone and iPad

In any app, tap Share, then TheBrain. A Quick Thought sheet opens over the app; add a note and tap Send.

Android

Tap Share and choose Quick Thought from TheBrain. The capture card opens with what you shared.

Mac

Turn it on once in System Settings > Login Items & Extensions, under Sharing. Then choose Share > Quick Thought in Finder, Safari, Notes, Preview and other apps.

Windows

Select files in File Explorer, right-click them and choose Send to > Quick Thought. (On Windows 11, choose Show more options first.)

Linux

Run thebrain-stable --quick-thought followed by the files, or add that command to your file manager’s right-click menu.

Getting Your Address

1. In TheBrain, open Settings > User > Email to Quick Thoughts.
2. Click Create my address. It’s a random string of letters and numbers, so nobody can guess it.
3. Copy it, and save it as a contact in your email app, so it’s easy to pick when you send or forward.

What Arrives

• The subject is the note’s first line, and the email’s text follows, with its headings, lists, tables and links.
• Attachments become the note’s files: up to 10, of up to 100 MB each. When something can’t be added, the original email is attached as an .eml file, so nothing is lost.
• In the Quick Thoughts panel, a note that came by email shows an envelope and who sent it.

Who Can Send

Mail from your account’s email address always gets in. To send from another address too, such as a work account, type it under Who can send and click Add. The sender’s email provider must be able to verify that the email came from that address, so nobody can pretend to be you.

Mail from anyone else is quietly turned away, and the sender is never told. It’s listed under Recently refused for 30 days, where Allow this sender lets their next email in. When mail comes from addresses you can’t predict, turn on Accept mail from anyone, and keep your address private.

A New Address

If your address gets around, click Get a new address. The old one stops working at once, and your senders and options carry over. Turn off stops email altogether.