NoteSpark

Help

How to use NoteSpark on Android and on a computer. Where they differ, it says so.

Getting started

NoteSpark opens on your notes. The first time, a short welcome appears that you can skip. Your first profile is called Personal.

  • Tap New note to write one. Each note is plain text or Markdown, and you choose which in the editor.
  • Use profiles to keep sets of notes apart, for example Personal and Work. Add one in Settings, under Profiles.
  • Lock a profile with a four-digit PIN (and on Android, fingerprint unlock). A locked profile is encrypted on your device.
  • A PIN can't be recovered. If you forget it, the only way back in is to erase that profile and its notes, so keep a backup.

Writing and tasks

Write in plain text or Markdown. Markdown notes have a preview, and a toolbar for headings, lists and links.

  • Tasks: start a line with - [ ]. Add due:2026-11-01 for a reminder on that day, or every:week to repeat the task. Tick a task right in the note.
  • Tasks screen: every open task from every note, by due date or by note.
  • Links and tags: link notes with [[Note title]]. Write #tag and filter Home by it.
  • History: every save keeps the version before it, so you can go back.
  • Scratchpad: one per profile, for quick lines. File a line as a note when it's ready, or clear it.

Finding things

Search on Home matches words in titles and text. Where your device supports it, a second list, Also related, shows notes about the same idea even when the words differ.

  • Search by meaning runs on your device with a small model that is part of the app. It needs no internet.
  • Ask your notes (the menu on Home) shows the passages from your notes that answer a question. It never writes made-up answers.
  • Rediscover: Home can show one older note a day. You can turn it off in Settings.

Backups, export and the bin

  • Back up: Settings, then Import and export, then Back up. It saves all notes as one JSON file you keep wherever you like. Attachments are not in it.
  • Export as Markdown: every note as a Markdown file in one zip, for other notes apps. You can include attachments.
  • Restore: choose a backup or Markdown files. You can skip duplicates, add everything, or replace all notes.
  • Automatic backups: daily or weekly to a folder you pick, keeping the last five. Profiles with a PIN are left out unless you include them, and backup files can be read without the PIN.
  • The bin: a deleted note stays in the bin for 30 days, then it is erased. Find it in Settings, under Bin. A deleted profile is kept 30 days too.

Sync between your devices (optional)

Sync is off until you turn it on. Your devices talk directly to each other, encrypted, over your own network: home or office Wi-Fi, a hotspot, USB tethering or a VPN. There is no account and no server of ours, and nothing leaves your own network.

Pair a phone with a computer

  1. On the computer, open Settings, then Sync, and turn sync on. It needs your system's keyring to keep its key.
  2. Choose Add a device. A pairing code appears.
  3. On the phone, open Settings, then Sync between your devices. Choose Scan code and point the camera at the code, or paste the code instead.
  4. Check that the device ID on the phone matches the computer, then confirm.
  5. Turn on sync for each profile you want to keep in step.

No Wi-Fi, or no network at all

  • Turn on the phone's hotspot and connect the computer to it, or plug the phone in and turn on USB tethering. Then pair as usual.
  • With no network, use a sync file: export one in Import and export, move it by hand (cable, USB stick, Nearby Share), and import it on the other device. It is locked with a passphrase of at least 8 characters that NoteSpark can't recover.
  • A PIN is never synced. It protects only the device where you set it.

The desktop app

  • Linux today. The app ships as an AppImage; mark it executable with chmod +x, then open it. On Ubuntu 22.04 and newer, an AppImage needs libfuse2 (sudo apt install libfuse2), or start it with --appimage-extract-and-run. On Ubuntu 23.10 and newer, the sandbox may also need an AppArmor profile; if it stops with "No usable sandbox", see the desktop README. The AppImage does not update itself. Windows and macOS are not built yet.
  • Tray: NoteSpark can keep running in the tray when you close the window (Settings has the switch). Quit from the tray icon.
  • PIN profiles and sync use your system's keyring (such as KWallet or GNOME Keyring). Without one, NoteSpark can't create a protected profile or turn sync on.
  • Web view (optional): off until you start it from the header. A browser on another device can then use your notes through a link with a random code, which changes each time. By default only this computer and VPN addresses (Tailscale, WireGuard) are answered. A separate switch, Web view on Wi-Fi, lets your home network in, but that is not encrypted. Anyone with the link can read and edit your notes, so keep it to yourself.

Questions

  • Why no account? Your notes live on your devices. There is nothing to sign in to and no server of ours.
  • Does NoteSpark use the internet? Not on its own. The one exception is Show web images, which is off by default. Sync stays on your own network. The privacy policy has the details.
  • Reminders don't show up. Task reminders need notification permission on Android, and a task with a due date. The default time is 9:00 AM on the day it is due, and you can change it in Settings.
  • How do I add the home-screen widget? On Android, touch and hold the home screen, choose Widgets, and look for NoteSpark. There are two: pinned notes with a New note button, and tasks due.
  • I forgot a profile PIN. It can't be recovered. Erase the profile and restore from a backup.
  • Where is my data on a computer? In NoteSpark's folder (on Linux, ~/.config/NoteSpark). Removing it erases everything, so back up first.

Still stuck?

Write to [email protected], or open an issue on GitHub. Please don't send note contents or PINs.