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Reorganise a sprawling map

Pull scattered ideas under a parent branch in two clicks. No deleting, no copy-paste.

3 min read 6 steps
Maps grow fast. After a research session you'll often end up with eight or ten loose branches that obviously belong together — but moving them one-by-one is tedious. This walk-through shows the fastest path: shift-click to multi-select, right-click to group, rename. Same trick works for joining ideas with arrows or lines.
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    Step 1 — Spot the loose ideas

    Open any map that's gotten unwieldy. Look for two-or-more map elements that share a theme but live on different branches — symptoms, side-effects, sources, you name it. These are your join candidates.

  2. 02

    Step 2 — Hold Shift and click each one

    Press and hold Shift, then click each candidate map element. Every map element you click stays in the pool — you'll see a fuchsia dashed outline around it. Release Shift when you're done. Plain click on any map element clears the pool, so keep Shift held until the last one.

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    Step 3 — Right-click anywhere on the canvas

    With your pool selected, right-click on any empty canvas area (or on one of the highlighted map elements). The first three options are 'Join N with line', 'Join N with arrow', and 'Group N as branch' — pick whichever matches your intent.

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    Step 4 — Group as branch

    'Group N as branch' detaches each selected sub-tree (with its descendants intact) and re-attaches them under a brand-new parent map element called 'New group' — anchored to your map root. You're dropped straight into rename mode so you can give the branch a meaningful name and press Enter.

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    Step 5 — Or join with a line/arrow instead

    If the ideas should connect without changing the tree, pick 'Join with line' (or arrow). A free-floating connector appears between consecutive selections — drag the endpoints later, recolour from the right-click menu, or delete if you change your mind. Lines work between map elements, stickies, clipart, anything.

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    Step 6 — Compile it into a written brief (bonus)

    Once the branch is clean, click the scroll icon in the top toolbar (or right-click the new parent → Compile to document). The AI weaves every map element title and summary into a 1-page brief, 3-page report, or 8-page deep-dive — your pick. Save it as PDF straight from the preview, or Copy MD into Notion. The fastest way to turn a brainstorm into a deliverable.

Pro tip: select 4+ items and 'Group as branch' will pull them all under one parent in a single click — perfect for mid-PDF pivots when you realise three sections are really one super-topic. Pair it with Compile-to-document and you've got a full first draft in under 60 seconds.
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