What is Notula
Notula is a tiny sticky-notes board that lives entirely in your browser. There is no account, no server and no sync: your notes are saved on this device, in this browser, and nowhere else.
How to use it
- New note: type a title (and optionally some text), pick a color, press Add or ⌘ Enter. New notes are dated today, or the day selected in the calendar. If you close it without adding, what you wrote is kept as a draft, even after a reload; Cancel discards it.
- Edit a note with , delete it with .
- Click a note to bring it to the middle of the screen. Click its title or text to edit them right there, or pick a new color: changes are saved automatically as you type. Use ← → to move between notes; press Esc or click outside to close.
- Drag a note to change its place. On a phone or tablet, press and hold it first. New notes always appear at the top.
- When you have more than 24 notes, they are split into pages: use ‹ › below the notes.
- Each note shows the date it was created. Hover the date to see when it was last edited.
- Calendar opens a monthly view. Days with notes are highlighted. Click a day to see only the notes of that day, or click the month name to see the whole month. While a day is selected, new notes are dated that day, so you can add notes to past or future days. Press ✕ next to the date shown above the notes, or Esc, to see all notes again.
- Export downloads all your notes as a JSON file. Use it as a backup. You can protect it with a password, or leave the password empty for a plain, readable file.
- Import loads that file, in this or another browser. If the backup is encrypted you'll be asked for its password. Notes are merged; if the same note exists in both, the most recently edited version wins.
- Hide notes covers the screen, for example when someone walks by or you share your screen. Notes also hide by themselves when you switch to another tab or app, and after 5 minutes without activity. Click or press any key to show them again.
- Theme switches between light and dark mode.
Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? on the notes page to see them at any time. Letter shortcuts work when you're not typing; on Windows and Linux use Ctrl instead of ⌘.
- N
- New note
- C
- Calendar
- D
- Light / dark mode
- H
- Hide notes
- ← →
- Previous / next page, or note when one is open
- ⌘ Enter
- Save the new note
- ⌘ ⌫
- Delete the open note
- Esc
- Close, or show all notes again
Privacy
- No cookies. Notula never sets cookies, and the page blocks scripts from creating them.
- No tracking, no analytics, no external resources. Fonts and code are served from this site only.
- No network access. The page's security policy forbids it from sending data anywhere.
- Notes (with their position on the board), and the draft of a note you haven't added yet, are stored in your browser's IndexedDB. The only other things stored, in local storage, are your light/dark choice and the date of your last backup.
- For offline use, the browser keeps a copy of the site's own files (pages, styles, font, icons). This copy never contains your notes.
Backups
- At the bottom of the page you'll see when you last exported a backup. Click it to export one right away.
- It turns orange if you have new or edited notes and the last backup is more than 7 days old.
Install as an app
Notula can be installed like an app. It then opens in its own window, works offline, and its notes are better protected from being cleared automatically.
- Mac, Safari: File → Add to Dock.
- Chrome or Edge: click the install icon in the address bar.
- iPhone and iPad: Share → Add to Home Screen.
- Android: browser menu → Install app.
On Safari and iPhone, the installed app keeps its own notes, separate from the browser's. To move your notes into it, use Export in the browser and Import in the app.
Encrypted backups
- Encryption happens entirely in your browser, using its built-in Web Crypto API. The password never leaves this page.
- Your password is turned into a key with PBKDF2 (SHA-256, 600,000 iterations), which makes guessing it slow. The notes are then encrypted with AES-256-GCM.
- A wrong password, or a file that has been altered, is rejected.
- There is no way to recover a forgotten password. Without it, the backup cannot be opened by anyone, including you.
- Use a long password: a short sentence works well.
Good to know
- Hiding notes only covers the screen: it guards against glances, not against someone using your computer.
- Clearing this site's data in your browser, or using a private window, deletes your notes. Export regularly.
- Safari may clear data of websites you haven't visited for about a week. Installing Notula as an app avoids this.
- A backup exported without a password is plain, readable text. Keep it somewhere safe.
- Only the exported file is encrypted. Notes inside the browser are stored as they are, like any other site data.