✋Toss it
Grab it and throw it the way you'd throw a real one. It flies off the way your hand was going.
A paper plane that lives at the bottom of your pages.
Paper Plane is a free browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. It rests out of the way until you want a moment of play. Grab it and toss it, catch it mid-air, loop it, or fly it yourself with the arrow keys. It brings you the notes you leave yourself, too.
Add to Chromecoming soonAdd to Firefoxcoming soon
It's right here on this page, at the bottom. Go on, throw it
Ways to play
All of it works on this page, with the very plane you'll get.
🎯Slingshot
Hold ⌘ or Ctrl as you grab it, pull back and let go. Dots show where it'll fly.
🫴Catch it
Grab it again before it lands. The longer it was up, the better the catch.
➰Loop it
Tap it while it flies and it loops the loop.
🕹️Fly it yourself
Press F here (⌥⇧F with the extension). ← → bank it left and right, ↑ ↓ climb and dive, space tosses it on, esc lands it.
👋Call it over
Double-click empty space and it comes to circle there. With the extension, ⌥⇧C anywhere.
It grows with you
With the extension, your plane gets a name, a page of its own, and a story that unfolds as you play. None of it is all there on day one: things turn up as you fly together, one discovery at a time. Try a little of it here, with the plane at the bottom.
📔It keeps a diary
A line for each day you fly, and how far you've flown together, from your desk to who knows where.
Its diary, on this pagetoday. nothing yet: toss the plane at the bottom.How far, on this page
🗞️It finds papers
Play for a while and new papers turn up to fold it from. What turns up, and why, is for you to find out.
A taste, on this pageThe papers it starts with. Throw the plane five times and see what turns up.
🛩️One day, it wants a friend
After a few days together it starts wondering about other kinds of plane. You fold each one yourself, a crease at a time.
Each kind flies its own wayLearn to fold them all ›
Good manners
- Rests at the bottom of the page and stays there until you fly it.
- Start typing and it lands and keeps still.
- Hides with ⌥⇧P, or snooze it from its right-click menu.
- Off on video calls unless you switch it on.
- The bottom edge is a floor; the sides are soft air. Throw it off a corner and someone sends it back.
- No account. It never tracks where you go, and your notes stay in your browser.
Questions
Is Paper Plane free?
Yes. Paper Plane is a free browser extension, with no ads and no account. Add it to Chrome or Firefox and the plane turns up at the bottom of the page you are on, ready to throw.
Can I try it before installing?
Yes. The plane at the bottom of this page is the one you get. Grab it and throw it, tap it mid-air for a loop, or press F to fly it yourself with the arrow keys.
Which browsers does it work in?
Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, on a computer. On a phone or tablet you can still play on this website: the plane on each page, the Academy and the Daily Flight all work with a finger.
Will it get in the way?
It rests on the bottom edge of the window and never takes off by itself. Start typing or play a big video and it lands and keeps still. Alt+Shift+P (⌥⇧P on a Mac) hides it, and you can snooze it or keep it off a site.
Does it track what I do?
No. The extension has no analytics and sends nothing to any server. It reads only where things are on screen, never what a page says or what you type. Your settings, records and the notes you leave yourself stay in your browser.
Does it slow pages down?
Hardly. Each page gets a 2.5 KB script that only reads your settings. The plane itself loads only in the tab you are looking at, stops redrawing while it rests, and costs nothing in background tabs.
How is it different from Shimeji and other desktop pets?
Shimeji and most browser pets are characters that walk about your pages. Paper Plane is a toy instead: a folded paper plane that rests at the bottom until you throw it, and flies the way a real one does. It never wanders over what you’re reading by itself.
Can I fold other paper planes?
Yes. After a few days of flying, your plane asks for a friend, and you fold new ones yourself, a crease at a time: ten real designs, including the Nakamura lock and Suzanne. The Academy on this site teaches all ten.
Weighing it up? Desktop pets for your browser, side by side.
A new course every day
The Daily Flight: six challenges with the plane, the same for everyone today. Toss it, loop it, fly it through hoops, land it on the X. Earn your medals, then dare a friend to beat your time.
Fly today's course