Libby Brooks of The Guardian noted that its international coverage was strong but that its news was "central belt-centric – and Holyrood-filtered", while the Labour peer George Foulkes branded it "McPravda".

However, the Scottish journalist and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch – who went on to write for the title – was more positive, claiming its launch could be a "sound business move" by its publishers.

[6][7] Details of the newspaper were revealed on 21 November 2014 after The Guardian obtained a copy of a letter being circulated to retailers by Newsquest announcing its forthcoming publication.

[12] The paper was launched with an initial print-run of 60,000,[13] and was edited by a skeleton staff during the trial run, with plans to employ more journalists if it became a permanent publication.

[14] Initial contributors included Sunday Herald journalists Jamie Maxwell and Peter Geoghegan, as well as freelance reporter Sarah Cooper.

[14] During the initial week of publication, Walker spoke of his belief that The National would continue beyond the trial period, but said the decision was in the hands of its publishers.

[15] Following healthy sales in the first few days, Newsquest executives decided on 27 November to continue printing the newspaper, and to allocate it additional resources.

[18] On 27 November 2014, Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland, publicly endorsed The National when he took a copy of it on stage to accept The Spectator's award for Politician of the Year.

[19] On 27 January 2015, Newsquest area manager Tim Blott announced that the newspaper's website would be relaunched in February, while Callum Baird would be appointed as assistant editor.

[26] Launched as a 32-page newspaper, and printed in tabloid format, The National was first published on Monday 24 November 2014, and according to its editor received an "amazing response" from readers, with its print-run for the following day's edition increased to 100,000.

[28][33] The National's launch and success came at a time of general decline in the print media industry, where news providers were cutting staff and resources due to a downturn in newspaper sales.

[34][35] The Financial Times reported that pro-independence campaigners used social media to help potential readers locate available copies of the paper when the first edition had sold out in many areas.

[14] There was also sport and business coverage, but the BBC's Jamie McIvor wrote of the first edition that "stories related to independence, Scottish politics and issues which featured in the referendum campaign characterise the news pages".

[11] The newspaper's opening edition also set out its mission statement: The status quo is no longer an option and there is an unquenchable desire for greater devolution.

[42] Writing in The Guardian, the journalist and author Peter Preston said there were "many good things to say about the National" including its editor, who was leading a newspaper that "helps to reflect public opinion better".