Getting Started

Vast opens with one workspace and one New Tab on a clean profile. The default first-launch experience is intentionally sparse: the sidebar and side panel are closed, startup audio is muted, and New Tab focuses on search with a small set of neutral quick links.

Install

Use an official Vast release artifact. On Windows, Vast is distributed as an installer and a portable build. Because Vast is beta software, a release may display Windows publisher or SmartScreen warnings depending on how that build was signed and distributed.

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;
• tracker blocking and ad blocking enabled;
• third-party cookie blocking enabled;
• Vast Labs disabled;
• password management, network discovery, automation, diagnostics, and spoofing hidden until explicitly enabled.

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.