Offnote

Changelog

What changed in each release, written for the people who use Offnote. The same notes are on GitHub Releases.

1.0.0 November 2026

The first release.

Open it, write, close it

  • Press Ctrl+Alt+Space over any app and Offnote appears with the caret ready. Esc hides it. You can pick a different hotkey in Settings, and Offnote tells you if another app already has it.
  • One window, no toolbar. Keep it floating, keep it on top (Ctrl+P), or dock it to the edge of the screen (Ctrl+D).
  • Ctrl+N starts a note, Ctrl+Tab moves between notes, and Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 jump straight to one.
  • Pasting always gives you plain text. Start a line with -, 1. or [ ] for a real list.
  • Ctrl+F searches every note.

Keyword modes

Type a keyword alone on the first line of a note:

  • math works out every line as you type, with the result on the right. It handles variables, ans, percentages, units (length, mass, volume, temperature, time and data) and currencies, once you turn currency rates on.
  • sum, avg and count total, average or count the numbers in a note in a live footer. Lines that start with // are left out.
  • list turns every line into a checkbox. Ticked items fade and move to the bottom.
  • timer 25 counts down 25 minutes, timer alone is a stopwatch, and timer 25/5 runs a pomodoro. You get a Windows notification when it finishes.
  • paste collects everything you copy, in any app, as plain text. Pause it from the tray or with Ctrl+Shift+P.
  • code is monospaced and has no spell-check, Tab inserts two spaces, and pasted indentation is kept.
  • Drop or paste a screenshot into any note to get its text. This uses the OCR engine built into Windows and works offline.

Delete the keyword and the note goes back to plain text, with nothing lost.

Notes that clear themselves

  • Notes expire after a week unless you pin them. You can change this to a day, or never, in Settings.
  • Ctrl+Shift+Backspace deletes a note, and Undo is there for 6 seconds.
  • Expired and deleted notes wait in the Void (Ctrl+Shift+V) for 30 days, and you can bring them back from there.

Getting notes out

  • Ctrl+E copies a note, saves it as .txt or .md, sends it to your Obsidian vault as a Markdown file, or sends it to OneNote if you have it installed. Exporting never deletes the note; Export and delete is a separate button.

Make it yours

  • Six themes, each in light and dark: Paper, Graphite, Linen, Midnight, Sage and Mono. Offnote follows Windows' light or dark setting by default, and you can write your own theme as a JSON file.
  • Mica on Windows 11, and a solid sheet on Windows 10.
  • offnote://new?text=… creates a note from anywhere. A command line (Offnote.exe --new "…", --show, --export last) and plugins for PowerToys Run and Flow Launcher are included.

Privacy

  • Notes stay in Documents\Offnote\notes.db on your PC.
  • Offnote makes three kinds of network request, each with its own switch in Settings › Privacy: currency rates (off by default), a daily update check that sends only the version number (on by default), and licence activation when you enter a key.
  • No analytics, no crash reporting, no accounts.

Trial and licence

  • Every feature is unlocked for 7 days, with no email. After that Offnote is read-only until you buy a licence: your notes stay readable, searchable and exportable, and nothing is deleted.
  • A licence costs $5 once and covers two PCs. It's checked on your PC and works offline.

Known limits

  • Offnote can't appear over games running in exclusive full-screen mode. Borderless and windowed full-screen games are fine.
  • The direct download isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen warns you the first time you run it. Choose More info, then Run anyway, or install from the Microsoft Store instead.
  • The default hotkey is Ctrl+Alt+Space rather than Win+Shift+Space, because Windows keeps Win+Shift+Space for switching keyboard languages.