What is a mind map?

Mind mapping was popularised in the 1970s by the British author Tony Buzan. Instead of writing top to bottom, you branch out from a central topic, so the relationships between ideas become a shape you can see — and each branch tends to pull the next idea out after it, which is why mind maps suit brainstorming so well.

• Project planning — goal, scope, schedule, people, resources and risks on one page.
• Book and lecture notes — the key ideas, lines that stayed with you, what to apply.
• Trip planning — itinerary, getting around, where to stay, budget, packing.
• The week ahead — the three things that matter most, plus work, health, people and you.
• Writing outlines — reorder the branches, switch to outline view, and you have a table of contents.

Six layouts and when to use them

• To the right (default) — reads left to right; good for outlines and book notes.
• To the left — the centre on the right; suits working back from a result to its causes.
• Both ways — branches shared out left and right, the classic mind-map shape for big maps.
• Downward (org chart) — top to bottom, for teams, weekly plans and staged work.
• Radial — all around the centre, for breaking down a goal or free brainstorming.
• Outline — an indented list; easiest to read with very many branches or on a phone.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Tab branch under · Enter branch beside · Shift+Enter new line
• F2 edit · Delete remove · Space fold · arrow keys move between branches
• Ctrl+Enter mark done · Ctrl+Z undo · drag a branch to re-hang it
• Ctrl+B bold · Ctrl+I italic · a branch’s Text style tool for colours and sizes · nearly sixty icons
• Drag a box’s edge to make it wider; double-click to reset.

AI ideas, placed where they would go

Stuck? Pick a branch and press ✦ (AI ideas). Words that could go under it and beside it appear on the map as faint boxes, in the very spots they would take — no window or list to read first.

• Press to keep — press a faint box and it becomes a real branch right there. Take them all at once (✓✓) or ask for others (↻).
• It follows the thread — not the whole map, but the path from the centre to the branch you picked, plus the branches under it and beside it. Pick “Trip › Jeju › Food” and the ideas fit that thread; words already there are left out.
• It keeps up as you write — leave it on, pick another branch or change a word, and it suggests again for that branch.
• Only a few words leave your device — branch names along that path, nothing else; the rest of the map and your notes stay put. Signed in with Google: 20 a day free, 200 a day with Pro.

How to make one in 24Houring

1. Open Mind, pick Mind map — Use the button below to open the Mind tab, then press Mind map in the menu at the top. The page you opened last is remembered.
2. Write the central idea — Start a blank map and write your topic in the middle, or choose “Start from a preset” and pick one of five examples.
3. Branch out from the keyboard — Tab adds a branch under, Enter a branch beside. Write as it comes and drag branches to re-hang them later. On a phone, a button bar above the keyboard does the same.
4. Stuck? Ask the AI — Pick a branch and press ✦ (AI ideas): words that could go under it and beside it appear as faint boxes, right where they would go. Press one and it becomes a branch.
5. Change the shape — Pick right, left, both ways, downward (org chart), radial or outline. The words stay, only the arrangement changes.
6. Tidy it into plans — Mark finished branches done, send the ones that need a date to the calendar, or press “To mandal-art” to turn the map into a goal chart.
7. Save it as an image — Export at the top saves the whole map as one PNG.

Start a mind map now

Five presets

From ideas to dates and goals

• Send to the calendar — pick a branch and a date and it becomes a plan in the calendar.
• Turn it into a mandal-art — “To mandal-art” makes a new mandal-art chart: the centre is the goal, the first eight branches the sub-goals, their first eight branches the actions. You are told how many did not fit; they stay in the map.
• Share as an image — Export saves the whole map as a PNG.

Free and Pro

To be clear about what it is not: it is a thinking tool, not a team whiteboard — a shared group edits a map together in real time, but there are no comments or change history. In return it opens instantly with no account, keeps your maps on your own device first, and sits in the same app as your calendar and daily timetable.

FAQ