The Only 5 Compile Settings You Actually Need

You finished your manuscript. You click File > Compile. A window opens with tabs, columns, checkboxes, dropdown menus, and terminology you've never seen before. Section types. Section layouts. Compile formats. Front matter. You spend two hours clicking things, and your output still looks wrong.

This is one of the most common complaints about Scrivener. The writing environment is excellent. The compile feature makes people want to throw their laptops out windows.

The good news: you don't need most of those settings. Five options control nearly everything about your compiled output. Learn those five, and you can produce clean manuscripts for agents, properly formatted ebooks, and print-ready PDFs without ever touching the advanced options.

The Mental Model: Section Types + Section Layouts

Before touching the compile window, you need to understand how Scrivener thinks about formatting. The software separates what something is from how it looks.

Section types describe what something is. A folder in your binder might be a "Chapter" or a "Part." A document might be a "Scene" or a "Heading." Scrivener assigns these automatically based on your project structure, but you can override them.

Section layouts describe how things look in the final output. A section layout might add "Chapter One" as a heading, start on a new page, use a specific font, or suppress the title entirely. Multiple layouts exist for each compile format.

The compile process matches section types to section layouts. When you tell Scrivener "all items with section type 'Chapter' should use the 'Chapter Heading' layout," every chapter folder in your manuscript gets formatted the same way automatically.

This separation is why compile confuses people. In Word, you format directly: select text, make it bold. In Scrivener, you label things by type, then assign appearances to those types. The payoff is that you can change how every chapter heading looks by changing one setting instead of reformatting each one manually.

Setting 1: The Output Format

Open File > Compile. At the top of the window, you'll see "Compile for:" with a dropdown menu. This is your first and most consequential choice.

For submitting to agents or editors: Microsoft Word (.docx). This produces a standard manuscript format that anyone can open and comment on.

For ebooks: ePub Ebook (.epub). Amazon now accepts ePub directly, so you don't need the old .mobi format. One ePub file works for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and other platforms.

For print-on-demand: PDF. This preserves exact formatting, margins, and page breaks.

For sharing with beta readers: PDF again. It looks the same on every device and prevents accidental edits.

Choose your output format before adjusting anything else. The compile formats listed on the left depend on the file type you pick here.

Setting 2: The Compile Format (Your Template)

On the left side of the compile window, you'll see a list of formats. Depending on your output format, it includes Manuscript (Times), Manuscript (Courier), two Paperback formats, Ebook, and others. These are templates that bundle dozens of settings into one choice.

For agent submissions, use Manuscript (Times) or Manuscript (Courier). These produce standard submission formatting: double-spaced text, page numbers, standard page headers, and a hash mark between scenes.

For ebooks, use Ebook. It is built to be used with very little customization, and Scrivener generates the table of contents for you.

For print, use Paperback (5.06" x 7.81") or Paperback (6" x 9"), whichever matches your trim size.

Start with these built-in formats. They work for most projects without modification. You can create custom formats later, but resist the urge until you understand what the defaults do.

Setting 3: Section Type Assignments

In the right column of the compile window, the Contents list shows your manuscript structure. Each folder and document shows its section type to the right of its title.

Scrivener assigns section types automatically based on your binder structure, using rules set in your project template. In the Novel template, folders are chapters and the documents inside them are scenes. This automatic assignment is usually correct for novels.

If a section type is wrong, click on the item and use the dropdown to change it. For example, if you have a prologue that Scrivener would number as a chapter, give it its own section type (add one under Project > Project Settings > Section Types) so it doesn't get a chapter number.

For most novel manuscripts, you need three kinds of section type (the Novel template already includes types such as Chapter Heading and Scene):

• A chapter type for your chapter folders
• A scene type for documents containing story text
• A heading type for front matter, back matter, and titled sections that shouldn't be numbered

Don't overcomplicate this. If your novel has chapters containing scenes, Scrivener's automatic assignments are probably correct already.

Setting 4: Section Layout Assignments

This is where people get lost. Click the "Assign Section Layouts" button at the bottom of the middle column. A new window opens showing your section types on the left and available layouts on the right.

For each section type, you're choosing how it appears in the compiled output. Click your chapter type on the left, then look at the layout options on the right. You'll see previews showing what each layout produces: some add "Chapter One" headings, some use only numbers, some show the folder title, some show nothing.

For standard novel formatting:

• Chapter section type: Choose a layout that shows "Chapter" plus the number (e.g., "Chapter One" or "Chapter 1")
• Scene section type: Choose a layout that shows the document text without any heading
• Heading section type: Choose a layout that shows the document title without a number

Click a layout to select it, then click OK. The preview tiles in the middle column of the main compile window update to show your choices. Scroll through them to check that each section type has the look you want.

Setting 5: Separators

Separators control what appears between documents when they compile into a single output. Double-click your chosen format on the left to open it in the format designer (a built-in format is duplicated first, because the originals can't be edited). Select "Separators" in the sidebar.

For most novels, you want:

• Separator between sections (scenes within a chapter): An empty line or scene break marker (like "* * *" centered)
• Separator before sections (the start of each chapter): A page break

If your scenes run together without breaks, or your chapters don't start on new pages, separator settings are the cause. Check that your scene layout's "Separator between sections" is set to "Empty line" or "Custom" (with your preferred scene break marker), and that your chapter layout's "Separator before sections" is set to "Page break."

Separators are easy to get wrong. If your output looks wrong, check separators before anything else.

The Compile Workflow

Now that you understand the five settings, here's the process from start to finish:

Step 1: Open File > Compile and choose your output format (Word, ePub, or PDF).

Step 2: Select a compile format from the left sidebar that matches your purpose (Manuscript, Ebook, or Paperback).

Step 3: Check the section types in the Contents list on the right. Look for anything Scrivener mislabeled. Fix assignments by clicking and selecting the correct type.

Step 4: Click "Assign Section Layouts" and match each section type to an appropriate layout. Use the preview images to guide your choices.

Step 5: Compile to a test file. Open it and scroll through. If scene breaks or chapter breaks look wrong, return to compile and check your separator settings.

This process is quick once you understand it. Your first compile will take longer as you learn where everything is.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Chapters don't start on new pages. Your chapter section type isn't assigned to a layout with page breaks, or your separator settings don't include page breaks between chapters. Check both.

Chapter headings don't appear. You assigned your chapter folders to a section layout that suppresses titles. Go back to "Assign Section Layouts" and choose one that includes a heading.

Scenes run together without breaks. Your scene layout's "Separator between sections" is set to "Single return" instead of "Empty line" or a custom scene break marker.

Formatting looks different than in the editor. Most section layouts in the built-in formats override your editor formatting. This is intentional. Scrivener keeps your writing environment separate from your output format. If you need specific formatting in the output, modify the section layout, not the editor. If a document should keep its editor formatting, assign it the "As-Is" layout.

Some documents don't appear in the output. Each document has an "Include in Compile" checkbox in the Inspector. Click the document in your binder, open the Inspector (View > Show Inspector on Mac, View > Inspector on Windows), and check the Metadata tab. Make sure "Include in Compile" is checked for every document you want in your output.

Font or spacing is wrong. In most built-in formats the section layout controls this, not your editor formatting. If you're using a built-in compile format like Manuscript (Times), the layout specifies Times New Roman, double-spaced. If you need a different font, use the Font menu at the top of the middle column, which overrides the font for the whole format. For finer control, edit the section layouts in your own copy of the format.

What You Can Safely Ignore

Compile has dozens of options we haven't mentioned. Most of them handle edge cases you'll never encounter. Here's what you can skip:

Styles. Unless you're doing complex formatting with callout boxes or block quotes, the default handling is fine.

Replacements. This lets you find-and-replace text during compile without changing your original. Useful for things like expanding an abbreviation into a full name.

Footnotes & Comments. This controls how footnotes and comments are exported. Only adjust if you have specific requirements from a publisher.

Page Settings. This controls paper size, margins, headers, and footers. Don't touch these unless you're creating a custom print layout for unusual trim sizes.

Transformations. This converts things like curly quotes to straight quotes and italics to underlines. The defaults are sensible.

Learn the five core settings first. Return to advanced options only when you have a specific need they address. Most writers never touch them.

Saving Your Settings

Scrivener doesn't save compile settings if you close the window with the Cancel button. Spend an hour configuring everything, cancel out to check something, and that work is gone.

To save your settings: click the Compile button at the bottom to generate your output. Your settings are now saved to the project. To use a format you created in other projects, double-click it in the left sidebar and set "Save to" to "My Formats."

Built-in formats can't be edited directly. To change one, duplicate it first (double-clicking a built-in format does this for you). This creates a personal copy you can modify without affecting the original.

The Scrivener-to-Publication Path

For submitting to agents: Compile to Word using the Manuscript (Times) format. You'll get a double-spaced manuscript in Times New Roman with page numbers and standard page headers. The format is designed to follow common manuscript submission standards.

For self-publishing ebooks: Compile to ePub using the Ebook format. Upload directly to KDP, Draft2Digital, or other platforms. No additional conversion needed.

For print books: Compile to PDF using the Paperback format that matches your trim size. Upload to KDP or IngramSpark. Check the PDF in a reader before uploading to verify margins and page breaks.

You may not need additional formatting software. Scrivener handles manuscripts, ebooks, and basic print layouts. If you want fancier typography for print (drop caps, elaborate chapter headers, decorative elements), tools like Vellum or Atticus offer more options. For ebooks, Literature & Latte says its built-in formats are intended to produce books suitable for self-publication.

The compile feature rewards understanding over experimentation. Random clicking rarely produces good results because options interact in ways that aren't obvious. Learn the five core settings. Use the built-in formats. Your compiles will go from frustrating to routine.