Your notes are just files.

Fast, file-based notes for people who want to own their words. Plain text, Markdown, and code — saved as real files on your device. No accounts. No lock-in.

One codebase, native everywhere — Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

QuackNotes on iPhone showing the notes library with pinned notes and folders
Why QuackNotes

Small app. Mighty quack.

Your notes, your files

Every note is a plain text file in a folder you choose — .txt, .md, Swift, JSON, whatever you work with. No database, no account, no save button: autosave writes as you type.

Markdown, your way

Write in the editor, read in the rendered preview, or do both side by side with live rendering.

Built for code too

Syntax highlighting for 20+ languages, inferred from the file extension, and 90+ themes with separate light and dark choices that follow the system.

Organized, not organized-at-you

Folders are real directories you can drag notes between. Pin favorites, search titles and content, give folders custom icons, and keep browser-style tabs that restore on launch.

Made for meetings

On Mac, make the window translucent and keep it on top while you take notes over a call — full opacity while you type — and summon QuackNotes from any app with Ctrl+Option+Q.

Make it yours

Any installed font, adjustable size and line spacing, and keyboard shortcuts for everything important.

See it in action

Native on every screen.

QuackNotes on Mac showing a Swift snippet with syntax highlighting, line numbers, browser-style tabs, and the folder sidebar
Mac — syntax-highlighted snippets, tabs, and folders that are real directories
QuackNotes on iPad with the Markdown editor and rendered preview side by side
iPad — write and preview, side by side
QuackNotes on iPhone showing Markdown source with syntax coloring
iPhone — Markdown with live syntax coloring
QuackNotes on iPhone showing the rendered Markdown reading view
iPhone — the same note, rendered

Private by architecture.

QuackNotes makes no network connections — no analytics, no tracking, no accounts. It couldn't collect your data even if it wanted to: there's nowhere to send it. Sync is your choice, too — pair your notes folder with iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or git if you like.

Read the privacy policy