Online Notepad

Online Notepad is a fast, distraction-free notepad that lives in your browser tab. Start typing and it saves automatically — close the tab, come back tomorrow, and your notes are still there. No sign-up. Your notes stay private on your device until you choose to share one — and when you do, anyone with the link can open and edit it, with changes syncing live across devices (optionally end-to-end encrypted with a passphrase).

How to use it

1. Press New note and start writing. The first line becomes the note's title in the list.
2. Everything you type is saved automatically to this browser — there's no Save button to remember.
3. Keep as many separate notes as you like and switch between them in the sidebar.
4. A live word and character count sits under the editor.
5. Delete removes a note you no longer need.

Sharing a note

Press Share on any note to turn it into a live, collaborative note:

1. Pick how long the link should last (1, 7 or 30 days) and, optionally, a link name so the URL is easier to recognise (e.g. team-standup).
2. Optionally set a passphrase to end-to-end encrypt the note (see below).
3. Press Create link — this costs 1 credit — and copy the shareable URL.
4. Anyone who opens that link sees the note and can edit it — no account needed. Edits appear on everyone's screen within a second, pushed live (not polled), so it works as a shared scratchpad for a meeting, a support handoff, or quick collaboration.

While a note is open you'll see small avatars for everyone else viewing it right now, next to the save indicator — so you know when someone else is in the note with you.

Passphrase protection (end-to-end encryption)

Set a passphrase when you create the link and the note is encrypted in your browser before it's sent. We only ever store scrambled ciphertext — we can't read a protected note, and neither can anyone who only has the link. Opening it prompts for the passphrase, which is used to decrypt the note locally; edits are re-encrypted before they sync.

• Share the passphrase separately from the link (a different channel), and remember it — we can't recover or reset it, and without it the note can't be read.
• Choose a strong passphrase. Anyone who has the link can attempt to guess it offline, so a weak or common passphrase can be cracked. A long, unusual one cannot.

Every link always carries a random, unguessable code; a link name is only ever a readable label added to it, so two people who both pick standup still get different, private links. Sharing again reuses the one link rather than making another copy.

From inside a shared note you can, on the device that created it:

• Stop sharing — deletes the link everywhere and keeps the note privately on your device (nothing is lost).
• Regenerate — replaces the link with a fresh one (also 1 credit) if the old URL leaked; the old link stops working.

Because managing a link needs a secret kept only in the browser that created it, Stop sharing and Regenerate are available only from that device — open the link elsewhere and you're a normal editor.

Opened someone else's shared note? Press Save to my notes to keep it in this browser's list so you can find it again later. You'll still be able to view and edit it, but not manage the link (only its creator can stop or regenerate it).

Shared notes are stored on our server only for their chosen lifetime, then deleted automatically. If two people edit at the exact same moment, the most recent save wins; if someone else changes the note while you're typing, you'll get a prompt to load their version rather than having your text overwritten.

Where are my notes stored?

Unshared notes live in your browser's local storage, on this device only:

• Private by default — they never travel over the network and aren't readable by us or anyone else. Good for quick, sensitive jottings.
• Tied to this browser — they won't appear on your phone or another computer, and clearing your browser data (or using private/incognito mode) will remove them. For anything you can't afford to lose, copy it somewhere permanent.

Shared notes (ones you've created a link for) are stored on our server so others can open them, and are automatically deleted when the link expires or when you stop sharing. For a plain (no-passphrase) shared note, anyone with the link can read and edit it, so don't put passwords or sensitive personal data in one — keep those in an unshared note, or add a passphrase so it's stored only as ciphertext we can't read.

Is this a replacement for a real notes app?

It's built for speed and privacy on quick notes — a scratchpad you can open in a new tab in seconds. For long-term, cross-device, backed-up notes, use a dedicated notes service. For a throwaway list, a meeting scratchpad, or drafting a message, this is faster and more private.

Will my notes survive a browser restart?

Yes. They persist across restarts and reboots because they're written to local storage, not just held in memory. They only disappear if you delete them here or clear your browser's site data.