Opening the Sticky Notes app and creating your first note

Sticky Notes is built into macOS and opens in seconds. Press Command + Space to open Spotlight Search, type "Sticky Notes", and press Enter. The app launches when ready. You can also find it in your Applications folder under Utilities.

Once the app opens, you'll see a blank yellow note on your screen. Start typing right away — there's no save button. Your text saves automatically as you type. To create another note, press Command + N or go to File > New Note in the menu bar.

Each note appears as a separate window on your desktop. You can move them around by dragging the title bar, resize them by dragging the bottom-right corner, and close individual notes by clicking the red button in the top-left corner of each window.

Key Takeaways

  • Open Sticky Notes by pressing Command + Space, typing "Sticky Notes", and pressing Enter.
  • Text saves automatically as you type — you do not need to manually save your notes.
  • Create multiple notes by pressing Command + N, and each note appears as its own window on your desktop.
  • Change note colors by right-clicking a note and selecting a color from the menu, or use the Color menu in the menu bar.
  • Notes sync across your devices if you are signed into the same iCloud account on your Mac.

Changing note colors and organizing by topic

By default, all notes are yellow. To change a note's color, right-click anywhere on the note and select from the color options: yellow, blue, green, pink, or purple. You can also go to the Color menu in the menu bar while a note is active and pick a color there.

Using different colors helps you organize at a glance. You might use blue for work tasks, green for personal reminders, and pink for shopping lists. There's no limit to how many notes you can create, so you can have one note per task or topic.

Copying text from other apps into a sticky note

You can paste text, links, or images directly into a sticky note from anywhere on your Mac. Copy something from an email, a web page, or a document, then click into a sticky note and press Command + V to paste it.

This is useful for saving a phone number from an email, keeping a link to a website without bookmarking it, or jotting down a quote from a document. The note keeps the text exactly as you copied it, including line breaks and formatting.

Finding old notes and using the notes list

All your notes appear in the Notes menu at the top of the screen. Click Notes in the menu bar, then select a note from the list to bring it to the front of your screen. This is helpful if you have many notes open and one is hidden behind others.

Notes do not have a search function built in, so if you need to find a specific note, you'll need to click through the Notes menu or look at the notes on your desktop. If you have dozens of notes, keeping them organized by color and closing ones you no longer need makes finding things easier.

Syncing notes across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad

If you are signed into iCloud on your Mac, your sticky notes sync automatically to your iPhone and iPad. Open the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad, and you'll see a "Notes" folder that contains all your sticky notes from your Mac.

This sync works one way from Sticky Notes on your Mac — notes you create in the Sticky Notes app appear in the Notes app on your phone, but notes you create in the Notes app on your phone do not appear back in Sticky Notes on your Mac. Check that you are signed into the same iCloud account on all devices for syncing to work.

Printing or exporting sticky notes

To print a sticky note, click the note to make it active, then press Command + P or go to File > Print. Your Mac will show a print preview. You can print to a physical printer or save the note as a PDF file by selecting "Save as PDF" from the PDF menu in the print dialog.

Sticky Notes does not have a built-in export feature for other formats like text files. If you need to save a note as a .txt file, copy all the text from the note, open TextEdit (in Applications > Utilities), paste the text, and save it as a plain text file.

Keeping sticky notes visible or hiding them when you don't need them

Sticky notes stay on your desktop by default, even when you switch to other apps. If you want to hide all your notes at once, click the Sticky Notes icon in the Dock and select "Hide Sticky Notes" from the menu. Your notes are still there — they're just not visible.

To bring them back, click the Sticky Notes icon in the Dock again or press Command + Space and open Sticky Notes. Individual notes can be closed by clicking the red button in the top-left corner of each note, but closing a note does not delete it — it just removes it from your screen. To see closed notes again, use the Notes menu in the menu bar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a sticky note permanently?

Closing a note by clicking the red button hides it but does not delete it. To permanently delete a note, right-click on it and select "Delete Note" if that option appears, or straightforward close the note and ignore it. There is no trash or recovery option for sticky notes, so be careful when closing notes you want to keep.

What happens to my sticky notes if I restart my Mac?

Your notes remain on your desktop after you restart. Sticky Notes saves your notes automatically, so they will be there when you turn your Mac back on. If you closed a note before restarting, it will not reappear unless you open it from the Notes menu.

Can I password-protect a sticky note?

Sticky Notes does not have a built-in password or lock feature. If you need to protect sensitive information, consider using the Notes app instead, which offers password protection, or store sensitive text in a password manager rather than a sticky note on your desktop.

Why did my sticky notes disappear?

Notes may be hidden behind other windows or minimized. Click the Sticky Notes icon in the Dock to bring notes back to the front. If you closed a note, open the Notes menu in the menu bar and select the note you want to see again. Restarting your Mac will not erase notes — they save automatically.

Can I change the font or text size in a sticky note?

Sticky Notes does not offer font or size options. All text appears in the same default font and size. If you need more formatting control, use the Notes app or a text editor like TextEdit instead.