Getting Started

Vast opens with one workspace and one New Tab on a clean profile. The default first-launch experience is intentionally sparse: the tab sidebar and tools sidebar are closed, startup audio is muted, and New Tab focuses on search with no preloaded quick links.

Install

Use an official Vast release artifact. On Windows, Vast is distributed as an installer, a portable build, and a Microsoft Store package. The current direct release is 0.5.0; Microsoft Store availability follows a separate rollout. The direct installer and portable build are intentionally unsigned, so Windows displays Unknown publisher and SmartScreen may warn — check the published SHA-256 or SHA-512 value before running them. An existing 0.4.2 direct install needs one manual upgrade to 0.5.0. See Installation & Updates.

Do not treat a locally built development package as an official Vast release.

First launch

A new profile starts with:

• one workspace named Workspace;
• one vast://newtab tab;
• no seeded bookmarks, folders, notes, macros, tab groups, todos, or session timeline entries;
• search-focused New Tab behavior;
• built-in common-tracker blocking and tracking-parameter cleaning enabled;
• optional filter-list ad blocking available by installing Adblocker for Vast;
• third-party cookie blocking enabled;
• individual Labs selected by fresh-onboarding defaults; review each switch in Settings.

The generic Labs fallback remains fail closed, and global labs.enabled does not gate individual features. The built-in Password Manager is retired in 0.5.0; see external alternatives.

Set Vast as your default browser

On supported Windows builds, use Settings → Search → Set browser as default. Windows may open the system default-apps UI for confirmation.

Search from the address bar

Type either a URL or a search query. Vast resolves normal web addresses directly and otherwise uses your selected search engine.

Built-in search shortcuts include:

• g — Google
• d — DuckDuckGo
• b — Brave Search
• p — Perplexity
• yt — YouTube
• w — Wikipedia

Important default shortcuts

• Ctrl/Cmd+K — Command Palette
• Ctrl/Cmd+L — Focus address bar
• Ctrl/Cmd+T — New tab
• Ctrl/Cmd+W — Close tab
• Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+T — Reopen closed tab
• Ctrl/Cmd+R — Reload
• Ctrl/Cmd+B — Toggle sidebar
• Ctrl/Cmd+F — Find in page
• Alt+Left / Alt+Right — Back / forward
• Ctrl/Cmd+0 — Reset zoom
• Ctrl/Cmd+P — Print

Shortcuts can be edited in Settings.