This article gets you signed in and oriented so the rest of CoolFocus makes sense.
Signing in
1. You'll receive an email invitation from your administrator. Open it and follow the link to set up your account.
2. After the first time, sign in with your email address at your organization's CoolFocus address.
3. If you can't sign in, ask the person who set up CoolFocus for your organization to check your invitation, see Inviting Your Team.
If your organization moved over from CoolFocus 3, you were set up with a CoolFocus 5 account directly and never received an invitation email. Sign in with the same email address you used in CoolFocus 3, and use Forgot password below if your old password no longer works.
Changing your password
If you don't remember your current password, select Forgot password on the sign-in page and follow the instructions sent to your email to set a new one.
To change your password while you're signed in:
Select your initials in the account menu.
Choose Manage account.
Open Security.
Enter and save your new password.
Fixing an "invalid login" error
If you enter your email and see an "invalid login" error instead of getting in, your browser is usually holding on to an old, cached version of the sign-in page.
Clear your browser's cache and cookies.
Close the browser completely and reopen it.
Go to CoolFocus.app and sign in again.
If the error still shows up after that, contact CoolFocus Support. Have your user ID and your organization's name ready so support can look up your account.
Finding your way around
Main navigation - switch between modules like Clients, Giving, and Reports in the far left menu panel. The modules you have access to depends on what your organization uses and your individual permissions, so your menu may look different from another coworker's.
Search - use search to jump straight to a person, organization, or record instead of scrolling long lists. When you want to narrow a whole list, use the filters option (see Finding Records with Filters).
Records - open any record to see its details plus related history: notes, tasks, attachments, conversations, donations, visits, and more, all in one place.
Command menu and keyboard shortcuts
Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) anywhere in CoolFocus to open the command menu — search for actions, jump to modules, or create records without leaving what you're doing. Press Cmd+/ or Ctrl+/ to see the shortcuts for your current screen, or open it from your account menu under Keyboard shortcuts.
In the Inbox, shortcuts include N for a secure message, R to focus the reply box, and J / K to move between conversations.
See Keyboard Shortcuts and the Command Menu for the full list.
Collapsing the module sidebar
On list views inside a module, a small panel icon next to the breadcrumb lets you hide or show that module's entity navigation sidebar. This gives you more room to work with a list without losing your place.
Click the icon to toggle the sidebar, or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+B (Mac) or Ctrl+B (Windows).
Your choice is remembered the next time you visit a list view.
If you're editing the sidebar's layout, it stays visible so you can keep working with it.
Light, dark, or system theme
Use the theme toggle (sun/moon/monitor icon, usually near your account menu) to switch CoolFocus between Light, Dark, and System appearance.
Your choice is saved to your account, so it follows you when you sign in on another device or browser.
The theme is remembered per organization. If you belong to more than one CoolFocus organization, each one can have its own saved theme, and switching between them applies the theme you last set for that organization.
System keeps CoolFocus in sync with your device's own light/dark setting instead of a fixed choice.
Brief Home Screen Overview
View this brief video that introduces the CoolFocus home screen and provides an overview of each module:
Getting help anytime
A Support launcher appears on every page in the bottom right corner. Click it to connect with our team to ask a question, search the help articles, report an issue, or share feedback without leaving what you're working on.
Where to go next
Getting Started with CoolFocus - the map of all the areas.
Getting Started in the Inbox - where most teams work day to day.
Keyboard Shortcuts and the Command Menu - speed up navigation without a mouse.
CoolFocus Glossary - plain-language definitions.