Note Storage and Safety

Where your notes are stored and how they stay safe

Your notes are plain files that you can read, back up, and sync however you want. OpenNote is built to keep them safe, even when the unexpected happens. Everything except start-up is untested by hand in beta 4, so check the test checklist before you rely on backup and recovery features.

Plain files you can access

Your notes live in a folder on your computer that you choose, usually Documents\OpenNote\. Inside, each notebook is a folder. Within each notebook, each section is a subfolder, and each page is a folder. Every page has a readable Markdown copy, so you can open it in any text editor or sync it to the cloud.

Because your notes are plain files, you can back them up with any tool you trust, sync them with services like OneDrive or Dropbox, or copy them to a USB drive. You're never locked in.

Autosave and recovery

Every change is saved automatically, one second after you stop typing or drawing. If you close the app before that happens, your recent work is still kept in a journal and plays back the next time you open the page. If the app crashes or the power cuts off unexpectedly, the journal replays what was happening, and you lose at most a second of work.

Your work is always safe

The app saves in a way that can't leave your page half-written. It writes to a temporary file, checks that everything is there, then renames the file into place. If a crash happens during that process, your old page stays untouched until the next save finishes. Tests have crashed the core 1,000 times during saves, and every page came through unharmed.

Trash and history

Deleted pages and notebooks go to Trash. They stay there for 30 days, then are removed. If you need an old version of a page, the app keeps a history you can restore from.

Backups

The app makes periodic backups of each notebook, separate from your main notes. They're kept locally and automatically cleaned up after a time. If something goes wrong, you can restore from a backup.

What stays on your computer

Your notes are your own. OpenNote doesn't sync them to a server or send them elsewhere unless you ask. The app works offline. When it checks for updates, it just reads a small file from GitHub—your notes aren't sent. See Privacy and your data for the full story.

Editing from other apps

If you open a note file in another program, or sync it with another device, the app notices and brings those changes in safely without overwriting your own edits.

Where to read more

• Privacy and your data for how the app uses the network.
• Installing and updating for backup and recovery options during app updates.
• The development plan for the technical details.