Getting started
Scrib opens Word documents (.docx) from the Files app — On My iPhone, iCloud Drive, and other locations — or directly from OneDrive via the cloud button in the file browser. There is no Save button: Scrib saves automatically a few seconds after you stop typing, when you close the document, and when you leave the app.
Themes, text size, and brightness live in Settings. They change how the document looks on your device — never the document itself.
Editing and navigating
- Formatting bar — above the keyboard: Heading, Heading 2, Heading 3, Superscript, Block Quote, plus bold, italic, underline and strikethrough. These are real Word styles.
- Find & Replace — search the whole manuscript, step through matches, replace one or all.
- Outline — a collapsible table of contents built from your headings. Tap to jump anywhere, instantly, even in very long documents.
- Bookmarks — genuine Word bookmarks saved in the file. Word's Go Back position is kept current too, so Word resumes where Scrib left off.
- Comments — tap a commented passage to read it; add comments from the edit menu. They appear in Word's review pane like any other comment.
- Thesaurus — select a word for synonyms, fully offline.
Parallel text and chevrons
Some manuscripts carry a second text alongside the main one — for example a reference rendering of every verse. Scrib stores it invisibly inside the document and marks each verse with a small chevron ⌄. Tap to unfold the parallel text beneath the verse; tap again to fold it away.
In Word the same text is ordinary hidden text: show or hide it with Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows, ⌘+8 on Mac. It never prints unless you ask Word to print hidden text.
OneDrive sync
Scrib syncs with OneDrive the way Word does — directly with Microsoft's servers, using your own Microsoft account. A save only counts once OneDrive confirms it arrived. The status cloud beside Done reports honestly:
- Spinning arrows — changes on this device haven't reached OneDrive yet. They start at your first keystroke and stop only when the upload containing your latest words is confirmed.
- Green tick — everything you see is on OneDrive.
- Orange — upload queued but blocked; tap for the exact reason. Most often the file is open in Word on another computer, which locks it — close it there and tap Retry.
- Red — the OneDrive copy changed while you edited here. Scrib shows who changed it and when, a See What Changed view highlighting only the differing passages (yours in red, OneDrive's in green), and asks which version wins: Keep Mine or Use OneDrive. Nothing is ever overwritten silently.
Open documents stay current
While a OneDrive document is open, Scrib checks the cloud — on opening, on returning to the app, and regularly in between. If the document changed elsewhere and you have no unsaved words, Scrib refreshes it in place and shows a brief blue notice with who changed it and when. With unsaved words, nothing is touched — the red-cloud decision takes over at your next save.
Documents from the Files app
Files opened outside Scrib's OneDrive browser — iCloud Drive, On My iPhone, or a OneDrive folder synced by the desktop app on a Mac — show spinning arrows while unsaved and a grey tick once saved on the device; the folder's own service uploads from there.
Working alongside Word
Word and Scrib share one file happily — just not the same moment. While Word has the document open, OneDrive locks it and Scrib waits with an orange cloud; close it in Word and the upload sails through. Finish in Scrib (green tick) before opening in Word, and the harmony is complete.
If something goes wrong
- Orange won't turn green — tap the cloud and read the reason; close Word wherever it holds the file; abandoned locks expire within about ten minutes.
- Word shows an older version — check Scrib's cloud is green first, then let OneDrive on that computer catch up and reopen the file.
- Scrib quit mid-edit — on reopen it offers to restore unsaved changes, and it keeps automatic backups of recently opened versions.
- A document opened read-only — it contains tables, images, or drawings, which Scrib can't yet edit without losing them. Read and search freely; edit that document in Word.
Still stuck? Visit Support — and note what the status cloud's message says; it usually names the problem exactly.