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Zeal offers various customization options to tailor the documentation browsing experience to your preferences.

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Accessing Preferences

All customization options are available in the Preferences dialog:
1

Open the Edit menu

Click Edit in the menu bar
2

Select Preferences

Click Preferences or press Ctrl+, (or ⌘+, on macOS)
3

Navigate between tabs

Use the tabs to access different categories of settings

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Appearance Settings

Customize how documentation is displayed in Zeal.

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Content Appearance (Dark Mode)

Zeal supports automatic, light, and dark modes for documentation content:
1

Open Preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → Content
2

Select appearance mode

Choose from:
  • Automatic: Matches your system theme
  • Light: Always use light mode
  • Dark: Always use dark mode
3

Apply settings

Click Apply or OK
On some Qt versions, changing the appearance mode may require restarting Zeal to take full effect.

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Custom CSS Styling

For advanced customization, you can apply your own CSS stylesheet to all documentation pages:
1

Create a CSS file

Create a .css file with your custom styles. For example:
body {
  font-family: 'San Francisco', system-ui, sans-serif;
  line-height: 1.6;
}

code {
  background-color: #f5f5f5;
  padding: 2px 6px;
  border-radius: 3px;
}

pre {
  background-color: #282c34;
  color: #abb2bf;
  padding: 16px;
  border-radius: 6px;
}
2

Open Preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → Content
3

Set custom CSS file

In the Custom CSS File field, click the browse button and select your CSS file
4

Apply and reload

Click Apply or OK, then reload the current page to see your changes
Custom CSS is applied on top of the docset’s default styles. Use !important if you need to override specific rules.
pre, code {
  font-size: 14px !important;
}

pre {
  line-height: 1.5 !important;
}

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Font Settings

Customize the fonts used for displaying documentation.

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Font Families

Zeal allows you to configure different font families for different content types:
1

Open Content preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → Content
2

Configure fonts

Set fonts for:
  • Default Font: Serif, Sans-serif, or Monospace
  • Serif Font: Choose a specific serif typeface
  • Sans-serif Font: Choose a specific sans-serif typeface
  • Fixed-width Font: Choose a specific monospace typeface for code
3

Apply settings

Click Apply to see changes immediately

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Font Sizes

Adjust the base font sizes:
SettingPurpose
Default Font SizeBase size for regular text (typically 13-16px)
Fixed Font SizeSize for monospace/code text
Minimum Font SizePrevents text from being too small (0 = no minimum)
If documentation text appears too small, increase the Default Font Size to 14 or 15px.

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Smooth Scrolling

Enable smooth scrolling for a more polished browsing experience:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Content
  2. Check Use smooth scrolling
  3. Click Apply
Control what happens when you click external links in documentation:
1

Open Content preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → Content
2

Choose policy

Select your preferred behavior:
  • Ask: Prompt before opening external links (default)
  • Open in Zeal: Open external links within Zeal’s browser
  • Open in System Browser: Always open in your default web browser

Ask

Most secure option. You’ll confirm before any external connection.

Open in Zeal

Keeps you in the app but may not render complex web pages correctly.

System Browser

Best for full web functionality but takes you out of Zeal.

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Highlight on Navigate

When enabled, Zeal briefly highlights the target section when navigating:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Content
  2. Check Highlight on navigate
  3. Click Apply
This helps you quickly locate where the page scrolled to.

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Startup and System Tray

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Start Minimized

Configure Zeal to start minimized:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → General
  2. Check Start minimized
  3. Click Apply

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System Tray Integration

Configure system tray behavior:
1

Open General preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → General
2

Enable system tray icon

Check Show system tray icon
3

Configure behavior

Optionally enable:
  • Minimize to system tray: Minimizing hides to tray instead of taskbar
  • Hide on close: Closing the window hides to tray instead of quitting
Using Hide on close with a global hotkey gives you instant access to Zeal without cluttering your taskbar.

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Tab Behavior

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New Tab Position

Control where new tabs appear:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Tabs
  2. Check Open new tabs after the current tab to insert new tabs next to the active one
  3. Uncheck to always add new tabs at the end

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Search Settings

Enable fuzzy search to find results even with typos:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Search
  2. Check Fuzzy search
  3. Click Apply
See the Searching guide for more details on fuzzy search.

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Docset Storage Location

Change where Zeal stores downloaded docsets:
1

Open General preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → General
2

Browse for location

Click the browse button next to Docset storage path
3

Select directory

Choose a directory with sufficient disk space
4

Restart Zeal

Restart Zeal to use the new location
Changing the storage location does not move existing docsets. You’ll need to manually move the .docset folders or re-download them.

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Network Settings

Configure proxy settings for downloading docsets:
1

Open Network preferences

Go to Edit → Preferences → Network
2

Select proxy type

Choose from:
  • No proxy: Direct connection
  • System proxy: Use system proxy settings
  • Manual proxy: Configure HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy
3

Enter proxy details

For manual proxy, enter host, port, and authentication if required

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Ignore SSL Errors

Security Warning: Only enable this option if you understand the risks. This disables SSL certificate verification.
If you’re behind a corporate proxy with SSL inspection:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Network
  2. Check Ignore SSL errors
  3. Click Apply

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Updates

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Automatic Update Check

Enable automatic update checking:
  1. Go to Edit → Preferences → General
  2. Check Check for updates on start
  3. Click Apply
Zeal will check for new versions when it starts and notify you if an update is available.

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Resetting Settings

If you want to reset Zeal to default settings:
Delete the configuration file:
rm ~/.config/Zeal/Zeal.conf
Delete the preferences:
defaults delete org.zealdocs.zeal
Delete the registry key or configuration file (location varies by installation type).
Restart Zeal after resetting settings to generate a fresh configuration with defaults.

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