SideNotes – Screen Edge Notes
Sticky notes, without the mess
Only for Mac
$24.99
Major SideNotes 1.6 update: note folding, note/folder pinning, redesigned Settings, Quick Formatting Toolbar, and many workflow improvements.
SideNotes is a native notes app that lives on the edge of your Mac screen.
Open it in a second, write what matters, and hide it again — without breaking focus.
Built for real daily work:
- Capture quick notes, tasks, links, and snippets
- Keep project notes organized in folders
- Highlight priorities with note colors, pinning, and folding
- Find notes with built-in search
- Stay productive in full-screen apps
Why people choose SideNotes:
- Instant access: Open Bar, Hot Side, menu bar icon, or keyboard shortcut
- Fast writing with hidden Markdown and Quick Formatting Toolbar
- Checklists with clear completed tasks
- Images, screenshots, and file shortcuts via drag and drop
- Quick copy for code, links, quotes, and highlighted text
- Custom shortcuts, fonts, themes, and behavior
- Apple Shortcuts, AppleScript API, and URL-based API
- iCloud sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad (SideNotes Mobile sold separately)
- Automatic backups for extra safety
One-time purchase for the current major version. No subscription.
If you want to try it first, there is a 30-day free trial on our website.
more At 24$CAD I hesitated a lot to buy the app but I have to say it doesn’t disappoint. It’s pretty much exactly what I was looking for, there’s a ton of customization options, it’s well made. I even never review apps but this one’s worth it.
At 24$CAD I hesitated a lot to buy the app but I have to say it doesn’t disappoint. It’s pretty much exactly what I was looking for, there’s a ton of customization options, it’s well made. I even never review apps but this one’s worth it.
Thank you!
Perfect for making quick notes. Lots of short cuts so it is lightning quickLove the fact you can use markdown.Just noticed there is an iOS version and synching of the date through iCloud so I can take my desktop info with me. Have to look into that app as well.Lots of updates from the devs all the time. Well done!
Perfect for making quick notes. Lots of short cuts so it is lightning quickLove the fact you can use markdown.Just noticed there is an iOS version and synching of the date through iCloud so I can take my desktop info with me. Have to look into that app as well.Lots of updates from the devs all the time. Well done!
Thank you!
- Detects pasted code and inserts it as a code block
- Automatically moves completed tasks to the bottom of the list
- Lets you move lines up and down with a keyboard shortcut
- Improves drag and drop feedback
- Fixes selecting the last line with a double-click
- Fixes folder label readability when app appearance differs from system appearance
- Fixes some Settings pages on older macOS versions
1.6.2 Jun 18
- Added an option to prevent automatic spaces from being added to pasted text.
Fixes
- Fixed an issue where clicking the emoji panel could close SideNotes when "Close when clicking outside SideNotes" is enabled.
- Fixed an issue where Launch on Startup did not work.
- Fixed an issue where Hot Side did not disappear while text was selected.
- Fixed an issue where the bottom bar did not update the note count.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when the selected font was not available.
1.6.1 May 22
SideNotes 1.6 is one of our biggest updates yet, with major new features and lots of refinements.
- Fold notes to reduce clutter.
- Pin notes and folders to keep important items on top.
- Completely redesigned Settings window.
- New Default theme.
- Full font selection support.
- Redesigned Move Note menu, including Move to Recent Folders.
- Quick Formatting Toolbar for faster text editing.
- New text formatting options: Underline and Horizontal Separator.
- Delete completed tasks.
- Redesigned bottom bar in note view.
- New bottom bar in notes list.
- Improved note color picker.
- Better formatting when pasting from ChatGPT.
- Optional single-click folder opening.
- Pinch gestures to fold and unfold notes (Option applies to all notes).
- Right-click menu in the menu bar icon.
- New translations: Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Spanish.
- Improved first-launch introduction.
- Many additional UI improvements across the app.
Fixes
- Fixed disabling drop-to-side not working.
- Fixed note bottom bar disappearing when Share popover is shown.
1.6 May 11
Fixed performance issue in languages with non-latin alphabets.
1.5.4 Mar 31
- Press Return to confirm link editing
- Improved compatibility with Grammarly
- Formatting shortcuts are now disabled in Plain Text and Code mode
- Simplified introduction for new users
- Fixed color list in Note Settings
- Corrected text style colors (italic, bold, bold italic, strikethrough)
- Fixed Share Sheet not appearing in notes other than the first one
- Corrected Shortcuts label in Settings
- Various minor UI improvements and bug fixes
1.5.3 Feb 24
Improvements
- Markdown visibility can now be toggled directly from the Aa menu
- UI refinements: adjusted note bar size and position, rounded search window corners
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the app window disappeared in Hot Side mode when using writing tools
- Fixed inconsistent delay behavior in Hot Side mode
- Fixed a crash when deleting a list item while Markdown was visible
- Fixed broken links in task lists
- Fixed character picker not working inside lists
1.5.2 2025-10-21
- New shortcut to show or hide Markdown (Shift–Cmd–R)
- Updated app icon to match macOS Tahoe
- UI adjustments for macOS Tahoe
- Themes can now define list item formats
- Added option to copy Markdown from the Share menu
- Added support for importing tasks from Apple Notes
- Fixed text formatting issues
- Fixed folder list row height glitch
1.5.1 2025-09-16
Invisible Markdown
A completely new editor under the hood. Markdown markup is now hidden, making notes cleaner while still supporting all formatting
User Interface Improvements
SideNotes and SideNotes Mobile now share the same icon.
Updated App Icon
Refreshed interface icons and new icons in menus.
Updated Shortcut Actions: For compatibility with the upcoming SideNotes Mobile, we've added new actions for creating folders and opening notes. The old actions are now marked as "Legacy" and are not recommended.
Updated Built-in Themes
Themes have been updated for full compatibility with the new text editor.
1.5 2025-07-16
New Features
- Edit Themes in ThemeEdit app
Start editing any theme right from your theme list using the free ThemeEdit app.
- One-Click Theme Installation
You can now install themes from our website with a single click — no need to download and open files manually.
- "What's New" Window
From now on, this window will appear automatically after each update, highlighting the most important changes. (Requires macOS 14 or newer)
Improvements
- Faster long—press button response
- Improved arrow colors in long—press buttons
Bug Fixes
- Shift‐Option‐Letter keyboard shortcuts could not be defined
- Fixed colors in the Default theme search field
1.4.19 2025-06-18
- Setting duration of delay in Hot Side mode
- An option to hide menubar icon completely
- Removed Command-M shortcut
1.4.18 2025-04-08
A few improvements:
- In Settings -> Appearance: a new option "Enable Scrollbar in Notes"
- In Settings -> Shortcuts: a new option "Activate the app when it's in background".
It allows to disable or enable (default) activating the app window when the open / hide shortcut is pressed.
- Prepared theme handling for ThemeEdit app
- New keyboard shortcuts: Command-H and Command-M to hide the notes
1.4.17 2025-03-28
- Pressing Tab key indents text
- New AppleScript command to get current theme path
- New Settings option to disable swipe gesture
- Search window shows all folders by default
- Adjusted Settings images to macOS Sequoia
- Improved pasting text with a checkmark
- Fixed: nested list margins were not indented properly
- Fixed: PDFs have no preview
1.4.16 2024-11-28
- fixed displaying images, checkmarks and colors
1.4.15 2024-07-15
Decreased space between notes
Adjusted wallpaper to macOS Sonoma in Settings
Fixed: sometimes there were visible line-glitches while scrolling
Fixed: add photo open panel was displayed under the app window
Fixed: gradient choosing view wasn't displayed correctly
1.4.14 2024-03-08
* Text indention for checkmarks
* Blocked app appearing (in Hot Side) when cursor is in the corner. It might be disabled in Settings.
* Apple Script API allows now to get note by its ID or get all notes
* Code block allows to enter language name. However, the syntax is not highlighted.
* [Fixed] Folder was not always properly restored on application start
1.4.13 2023-11-15
* Ability to copy identifier of a note or a folder
* Exporting images via Apple Script
* Command-Option-O now opens last folder also in the folder list
* Fixed: code block syntax was being inserted using the formatting menu incorrectly
* Fixed: escape key wasn't working when note list was empty
* Fixed: dragging images from and into the app stopped working
1.4.12 2023-05-10
- App window appearance improved
- Option to set application appearing speed
- Option to set delay for showing the application using "Hot Side" mode
- Option to hide "Open Bar" completely
- New images in Settings
- General settings rearranged
- Fixed: Themes window was displayed under Preferences window
- Fixed: Move to top / bottom did not always work
- Fixed: Sometimes notes changed their order after synchronization
1.4.11 2023-04-03
- In Settings, Shortcuts: Escape key is now configurable, so it may leave folder or hide the app (default behaviour), leave folder only or hide app only.
- In Settings, Shortcuts: Command-Return might now be set to hide the app or show the share menu (default bahaviour)
- App is now displayed over the Dock when the window is active. Otherwise, it's under the Dock
- Improved text dragging
- [Bug] Bottom part of the app wasn't clickable
- [Bug] Disabled suggestion that folder might be dropped on another folder
- [Bug] Narrow images were rendered incorrectly
- [Bug] Application was crashing accidentally
1.4.10 2023-03-16
- New Introduction
- New About window
- Blocked dropping note-exported image on notes
- Added a link to get an iOS app
- Improved colors in Default and Classic themes
- Fixed: Scrolling was lagging when notes had images
- Fixed: "Hide on click in empty space" did not work
- Fixed: Swipe-to-hide sometimes did not work on touchpad
- Fixed: Note could not be exported to image when the first line was a link
- Fixed: macOS 10.15 had transparent background issues
- Fixed: unnecessary spaces were added when pasted inside a bracket
1.4.9 2023-02-20
- image store optimisation
- fixed displaying the app while being over full screen apps
- stability improvements
1.4.8 2022-10-14
Fixed crashing the app on some devices.
1.4.7 2022-06-29
Share menu icons
Markdown link has now highlighted title
Fixed: on computer restart, an empty window appeared for a few seconds
Fixed: when app was open on a few devices simultaneously, newly-added note was reordered
1.4.6 2022-04-04
Quick Fix: pressing { or } was recognised as Command-{ and Command-}
1.4.5 2022-01-14
- Shifting right and left using Command-} and Command-{
- "create note" command in AppleScript returns the newly created note
1.4.4 2022-01-13
- Apple Script command to create a new note doesn't require folder now (it will be determined according to the app Preferences)
- Added shortcut for marking text (Command-M) and strikethrough (Command-Shift-E)
- Fixed: shadow was not rendered correctly in search field
1.4.3 2021-12-13
- Detects pasted code and inserts it as a code block
- Automatically moves completed tasks to the bottom of the list
- Lets you move lines up and down with a keyboard shortcut
- Improves drag and drop feedback
- Fixes selecting the last line with a double-click
- Fixes folder label readability when app appearance differs from system appearance
- Fixes some Settings pages on older macOS versions
more Version 1.6.2 Jun 18
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.
