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Use cases

Everyday file questions, answered.

How to open a file nobody told you about, where to keep things so they don't get lost, and how to get at it all from any browser. Each answer works on its own; then it shows how MyLoft does it, with your files kept in your own Dropbox.

Notes and Markdown

Can I use Obsidian in a web browser?

Not Obsidian itself: it's a desktop and mobile app, and there's no official web version. But an Obsidian vault is just a folder of Markdown files, so a web app that reads the same files and understands Obsidian's [[links]] and tags gives you your notes in any browser.

That's the useful way to think about it: you don't need Obsidian in the browser, you need your vault in the browser. Keep the vault in cloud storage and both can work on the same files, Obsidian on your own computer and a web app everywhere else.

The other routes are narrower. Obsidian Publish puts notes on a website, to read but not edit. Running Obsidian on a server and streaming it to the browser works, but you have to set up and look after that server.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Connect your Dropbox. MyLoft makes a folder of its own there, Apps/MyLoft, with a Notes folder inside.

  2. 2

    Put your vault's notes in Apps/MyLoft/Notes, or open that folder as a vault in Obsidian on your computer.

  3. 3

    Open Notes in MyLoft. [[Links]] between notes, tags in front matter, subfolders and images next to a note all work, and your edits reach Obsidian through Dropbox.

Good to know: Obsidian's plugins don't run in MyLoft, and ![[embeds]] show as links for now. MyLoft only sees its own folder in your Dropbox, so the vault has to live in Apps/MyLoft/Notes; Obsidian's .obsidian settings and .trash folders are left alone.

MyLoft Notes with a trip plan: the Markdown on the left, the formatted note with links and checkboxes on the right
A note written in Markdown on the left and shown formatted on the right, with [[links]] to other notes and tags.

Notes and Markdown

How do I open an .md file?

An .md file is Markdown: plain text with a few symbols for formatting, like # for headings and ** for bold. Any text editor opens it (Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code) and shows the symbols. To see it formatted, open it in a Markdown viewer.

On Windows, right-click the file, choose Open with and pick Notepad. In VS Code, press Ctrl+Shift+V (Cmd+Shift+V on a Mac) to see the formatted preview beside the text. Note apps such as Obsidian and Typora open .md files formatted.

If the file came from a software project (a README.md, say), its page on GitHub or GitLab shows it formatted in the browser.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Upload the file in Files, or save it into the Apps/MyLoft folder in your Dropbox.

  2. 2

    Click it. Files shows it formatted: headings, lists, tables, links and checkboxes. Source shows the plain text.

  3. 3

    Want to keep working on it? Move to Notes makes it a note you can edit.

A Markdown project brief opened in MyLoft Files, formatted with headings, a numbered list and a table
A Markdown file opened in Files: formatted, with a button to turn it into a note.

Notes and Markdown

Is there a notes app that keeps my notes as files I own?

Yes, though not many. Obsidian is the best known: each note is a Markdown file in a folder you choose. Most others, including Notion, Evernote, Google Keep and Apple Notes, keep notes in their own database, and you only get files out by exporting.

Files matter more than they seem. A folder of Markdown files opens in any editor, today and in twenty years. Your usual backup covers it, your computer's search finds it, and moving to another app means pointing it at the folder: nothing to export, nothing to convert.

The trade-off is that file-based apps usually work on one device's folder, and syncing is up to you (Dropbox, iCloud, Obsidian Sync).

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Connect your Dropbox. It does the syncing, on every device where you use it.

  2. 2

    Write in Notes, or capture a quick note from anywhere with Quick capture.

  3. 3

    Open the Notes folder in Files, or in Dropbox: every note is an ordinary .md file named after its title. The rest of MyLoft works the same way: calendars are .ics files, contacts .vcf, boards Markdown, budgets CSV.

The Notes folder in MyLoft Files, listing notes as Markdown files with their dates and sizes
The Notes folder in Files: each note is a Markdown file, and folders work too.

Notes and Markdown

Can I use an Obsidian Kanban board without Obsidian?

Yes, with an app that reads the same file format. The Obsidian Kanban plugin saves each board as a Markdown file: lanes are ## headings and cards are - [ ] tasks. Any text editor shows it as a list; an app that understands the format shows it as columns.

That plain format is the plugin's best feature: even with no Kanban app at hand, you can read and edit a board in any text editor, and nothing is lost.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Put the board's .md file in Apps/MyLoft/Boards, or start a new board in MyLoft.

  2. 2

    Open Boards. Lanes, cards, dates like @{2026-11-12}, #tags and completed cards show as they do in Obsidian.

  3. 3

    Drag cards between lanes and edit them. The file stays in the plugin's format, settings included, so Obsidian opens it unchanged.

A kitchen renovation board in MyLoft Boards with lanes for ideas, to do, doing and done
An Obsidian Kanban board in MyLoft Boards: same file, same format.

Calendars and contacts

How do I open an .ics file?

An .ics file is a calendar in the iCalendar format, usually an invitation or a list of events. Double-click it and your calendar app (Outlook, Apple Calendar) opens it and offers to add the events. For Google Calendar, use Settings, then Import & export, on the web.

Opening an .ics usually adds its events to your main calendar straight away, and some files hold hundreds of them (a school year, a conference). If you want to see what's inside first, open it in a viewer instead.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Upload the .ics in Files, or save the email attachment into Apps/MyLoft in your Dropbox.

  2. 2

    Click it. Files lists its events by day, with times and places, without adding anything.

  3. 3

    To keep it, click Add to Calendar: it becomes a calendar of its own in MyLoft's Calendar, saved as an .ics in Apps/MyLoft/Calendar.

Good to know: MyLoft reads calendar files; subscribing to a calendar link (a webcal URL) isn't possible yet.

A conference's .ics file opened in MyLoft Files, listing seven events by day with times and rooms
An .ics file opened in Files: the events by day, and one button to add them as a calendar.

Calendars and contacts

Can I keep my calendar in Dropbox?

Yes, as .ics files, the standard calendar format that Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar all import and export. What you need is a calendar app that reads and writes those files where they are.

A calendar saved as a file is yours in the same way a document is: it's in your backups, it opens in other apps, and moving to another calendar service means importing one file.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Open Calendar in MyLoft and make a calendar, or import an .ics exported from Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.

  2. 2

    Add events, all-day events and repeats in the month, week or agenda view. Reminders with a due date and your contacts' birthdays show up too.

  3. 3

    Each calendar is one .ics file in Apps/MyLoft/Calendar, and Export .ics gives you a copy at any time.

Good to know: MyLoft's Calendar works on its own files; it doesn't sync live with a Google or Outlook calendar.

MyLoft Calendar showing November with personal and work events, reminders and a birthday
Two calendars, each an .ics file, with reminders and birthdays on the same month.

Calendars and contacts

How do I open a .vcf file?

A .vcf file (a vCard) holds one or more contacts. On a phone, opening it offers to add them to your contacts. On a computer, your contacts or mail app opens it (Contacts on a Mac, Outlook on Windows), and Google Contacts can import it on the web.

One .vcf can hold hundreds of people (that's what most apps export), and importing often creates duplicates of people you already have. It's worth looking inside before you import.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Upload the .vcf in Files.

  2. 2

    Click it to see who's in it: names, jobs, emails and phone numbers.

  3. 3

    Click Import to Contacts. MyLoft spots people you already have, then saves each new person as their own .vcf in Apps/MyLoft/Contacts, a format phones and mail apps read.

A .vcf file with five people opened in MyLoft Files, showing their names, jobs, emails and phone numbers
A shared contacts file opened in Files, ready to import.

Drawings and music

How do I keep Excalidraw drawings so they don't get lost?

On excalidraw.com, a drawing lives in your browser's storage until you save it as a file. Clear your browser data, switch computers or use a private window and it's gone. To keep it, save it as an .excalidraw file from the menu, and open that file again later.

The .excalidraw file is Excalidraw's own format (JSON, images included), so it reopens exactly as you left it. Excalidraw+, the paid version, keeps drawings in its cloud instead.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Open Whiteboard in MyLoft and start drawing, or upload an .excalidraw file.

  2. 2

    It saves as you draw, as an .excalidraw file in Apps/MyLoft/Whiteboards, so it's in your Dropbox on every device.

  3. 3

    Need it on excalidraw.com? Open the same file there. It's Excalidraw's own format.

A hand-drawn kitchen layout sketch in MyLoft Whiteboard, made with Excalidraw
A sketch in Whiteboard, saved to Dropbox as an .excalidraw file as you draw.

Drawings and music

How can I play the music I keep in Dropbox?

Dropbox's own apps can play an audio file from its preview, which is fine for a quick listen, but there are no albums, queue or shuffle. For that you either download the files into a music player, or use a player that plays straight from your Dropbox.

Downloading works but means keeping two copies in step. Playing from Dropbox keeps one copy, at the cost of needing a connection.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Put your music in Apps/MyLoft/Music. Folders by artist and album work well, and MyLoft finds songs anywhere in its folder.

  2. 2

    Open Music. Albums come from the songs' tags, with a songs list, search, shuffle and repeat.

  3. 3

    Press play. It keeps playing while you work in other windows, even with Music minimised, and your keyboard's media keys work.

Good to know: Music plays what your browser plays: MP3, M4A, WAV and FLAC in every current browser, OGG in most.

MyLoft Music showing four albums with their artists and song counts, and a player bar
Music: albums from the files' tags, played from your Dropbox.

The desktop

What is a web desktop, and is it the same as a cloud desktop?

A web desktop (also called a web OS or browser OS) is a website that works like a computer's desktop: windows, icons and apps, all running in a browser tab. A cloud desktop is different: a real Windows or Linux computer in a data centre, streamed to your screen.

A cloud desktop runs any software, but it needs a fast, steady connection, usually costs by the hour or by the seat, and your files live on that remote machine. Self-hosted "webtop" containers belong here too: they stream a whole Linux desktop into a browser tab.

A web desktop only runs its own web apps, but it opens instantly on any computer with a browser, a Chromebook included, and works fine on an ordinary connection.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Sign in to MyLoft from any browser.

  2. 2

    Open apps in windows you can move, resize and stack. The Today panel shows what's due, and Ctrl+K (⌘K on a Mac) searches everything.

  3. 3

    Everything you make is saved to your Dropbox as ordinary files, so nothing is stuck inside the desktop.

The MyLoft desktop with Notes and Calendar open in windows and the Today panel showing what's due
MyLoft: Notes and Calendar in windows, the Today panel on the right.

The desktop

What's a good notes app for a Chromebook, or a computer I can't install apps on?

Anything that runs in the browser. On a Chromebook, Google Keep and Google Docs are built in, and the web versions of Notion, Evernote and OneNote work too. They all keep your notes in their own systems, though; if you'd rather have your notes as files in storage you control, pick an app that saves there.

Work and school computers often don't let you install anything, so a browser app plus your own storage means your notes follow you between computers and stay yours when you leave.

How to do it in MyLoft

  1. 1

    Open MyLoft in the browser. There's nothing to install.

  2. 2

    Press C for Quick capture: a note, a reminder, an event or a bookmark in two seconds, from anywhere on the desktop.

  3. 3

    Your notes are Markdown files in your Dropbox, so they're on your phone and your own computer too.

MyLoft's Quick capture box over the desktop, with tabs for a note, reminder, bookmark and event
Quick capture: press C anywhere on the desktop.

About MyLoft

What is MyLoft?
A desktop in your browser: Files, Notes, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Boards, Whiteboard, Music, Photos, Videos and more, in windows you can move around. Everything you make is saved to your own Dropbox as ordinary files.
Can MyLoft see everything in my Dropbox?
No. MyLoft asks Dropbox for access to one folder of its own, Apps/MyLoft, and can't see or change anything else in your Dropbox.
What happens to my files if I stop using MyLoft?
Nothing. They stay in your Dropbox, in formats other apps read: Markdown, .ics, .vcf, CSV, JSON and .excalidraw. Deleting your MyLoft account removes what MyLoft keeps about you, never your files.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes, in your phone's browser: one app at a time, full screen, with a home screen of your apps. There's nothing to install.
Which storage does MyLoft work with?
Dropbox, for now. More places to keep your files are planned, including S3, Google Drive, WebDAV and SFTP.
Does MyLoft work offline?
No. MyLoft reads and saves your files over the internet, so it needs a connection. Your files themselves are on every device where the Dropbox app syncs them.
What does MyLoft keep about me?
Your account, your settings and an index of file names and details, so lists load fast. Your files stay in your Dropbox. The privacy page has the details.
How do I get access?
MyLoft is opening to a few people at a time. Request access and we'll be in touch.

Your desktop, on your own storage.

MyLoft is opening to a few people at a time. Tell us a little about yourself and we'll be in touch.

Request accessSee what MyLoft is