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.
This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Fast and Convenient: My New Favorite Note-taking App!
Cspain11
To be honest, I didn't expect this app to become my preferred choice for note-taking, but I use it constantly throughout the day to quickly jot down anything I need to remember by simply tapping the sidebar. Whether it's adding links, phone numbers, making quick edits or just storing something temporarily, I find myself using this app more often than Notes on my Mac, Pages, Notability or even Craft. The speed and ease with which I can access it, without having to search for a pen and paper or a particular button, make it my top note-taking app.What's more, I recently discovered that they also have an IOS app for the iPhone, which has been a game-changer for me. As someone who works from home, I can easily jot down notes on my Mac and then access them on my phone while lying in bed. I can't express enough how much I adore and appreciate this app.The developers of this app are exceptional; they're constantly adding new features and fixing bugs. They also have excellent customer support and promptly respond to queries, which is a rarity among app companies.I love that I can choose from different designs to match my mood whenever I want. Overall, this app is amazing and definitely worth the price. If you have any doubts, give it a try. And don't forget to download the app for your phone as well; you won't be disappointed, I promise.Additionally, I forgot to mention that the syncing speed between my Mac and phone is incredibly fast. It's much faster than IOS Notes, and I can add something on one device, and it's already on the other device before I even hit send. It's lightning-fast, and I'm always surprised at how quick it is.
Developer Response
Thank you!
Exactly What I Needed Except...
verotheelf
This app is amazing! As a scatterbrain if I don't immediately write down important thoughts/reminders…goodbye forever. I relied on the notes app for years, curating an assortment of snippets with no context, organization, or urgency, often left to be rediscovered and decrypted months later during spring cleaning attempts. Even pinned notes became quickly outdated, just not convenient enough to view or quickly organize in the moment. Sidenotes finally offered what I was missing, quick access with an easily organizable format. On the the formatting, I mainly like the limited options as it frees the mind from spending too much time playing around with the settings. But my big annoyance is the lack of a keyboard trigger only option. I don't like clutter so the choice between a visible bar that can also open up accidentally and another icon on my menu bar is a big pet peeve. I prefer to trigger it from a hotkey, but find there's no option to do so as I have with some of my other apps. Otherwise nothing but praise here!
Beautiful and extremely handy
Connoisseur95
I've wanted for years to have a quick way to jot things down. I've tried a dozen menu-bar apps and always returned to launching TextEdit and typing notes there. Textedit is very unsatisfying, hard to organize, and takes a long time.SideNotes is the opposite: it's pretty, quick to open, and lets me organize my notes. Highly recommend it!The only improvement I can imagine is to have it sync my notes via iCloud so I can use smoothly between my desktop and laptop (or maybe designate certain folders as shared and some not). Kudos!
Excellent concept but missing a couple things
Stubear
I love the concept behind this app and I'm getting used to having it aroudn. However, there are a couple things I'd like to see added that would make it more useful.First, and foremost, would be syncing across devices. iCloud sync is built into macOS so why not use it? I don't want to have to copy/pasta my notes from one device to another using Apple Notes. If I did thia, why use SideNotes at all?I get it. Everyone loves markdown. Or do they? I know it's trendy, or was for a while, but RTF has been aroudn for a hell of a lot longer and will still be around for a hell of a lot longer. I'd love to see an option that lets me use RTF for writing and formatting my notes.Last, but certainly not least, the color coding is helpful, but honestly colorful stickynotes are only helpful because the paper is the color, not just a small stripe along the edge. Let's see an option where the note itself is color color coded. We shouldn't have to parse a tiny 2-3px stripe to determine how we might have possibly meant to organize the note.
Developer Response
We've just updated the app and it doesn't show Markdown syntax anymore.
- 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
Version 1.6.2
The developer, Apptorium, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
