Get started with Sticky Notes

Welcome to Sticky Notes! We’re still the best way to write quick notes on your Windows desktop, but now you can also take your sticky notes with you, allowing you to capture, find, and use your notes across apps and your favorite devices.

Note: New and updated features in Sticky Notes may be released on a gradual roll-out basis, which means that they may not have made their way to your computer or device right away after being announced.

Welcome to Sticky Notes for Windows 10!

Open the Sticky Notes App

On Windows 10, click or tap the Start button, and type «Sticky Notes». Sticky Notes will open where you left them.

In the list of notes, tap or double-click a note to open it.

Or from the keyboard, press Ctrl+N to start a new note.

To close a note, tap or double-click the close icon ( X ).

If you do not see Sticky Notes in your list of apps, open the Microsoft Store app and install «Microsoft Sticky Notes».

Note: You cannot currently have Sticky Notes stay on top of other applications. But you can pin Sticky Notes to the Windows taskbar to see your list of notes instantly or to create a new note quickly. Right-click the Sticky Notes icon in the taskbar, and then click Pin to taskbar.

Sign in and sync your sticky notes

In Sticky Notes version 3.0 and later, using the same Microsoft account, you can sign in to sync your notes across apps and your favorite devices.

Open the Sticky Notes app and view your list of notes. If only a single note is displayed, click or tap the ellipsis icon ( … ) in the upper-right of the note and then click or tap Notes list.

Click or tap the settings icon in the upper right of the notes list.

Tap or click Sign in and enter your Microsoft Account credentials. If you do not have an account, you will be asked to create one to sign in.

Tap or click Continue.

Create a new note

Open Sticky Notes. Sticky Notes will open where you left them.

From the list of notes or from an existing note, click or tap the plus icon ( + ) in the upper left.

Or from the keyboard, press Ctrl+N to start a new note.

You can pin Sticky Notes to the Windows taskbar to create a new note quickly. Right-click the Sticky Notes icon in the taskbar, and then click Pin to taskbar.

Next, if you right click or tap and hold on the Sticky Notes icon in the Windows taskbar, you can select New note.

Add content to your note any way you want. You can use the keyboard, write with your finger or stylus on a touch-enabled device, or add a picture.

Note: You cannot currently change the font or size of note text.

Tip: Try using Cortana. If you type notes that contain a date, time, phone number, or address, the Cortana digital search agent will offer ways to interact with the note, such as by adding a reminder to your Outlook calendar if you type a time.

Search your notes

At the top of your list of notes, type a search term into the search box. Or from the keyboard, press Ctrl+F to search.

The list of notes will become filtered for only those notes that contain the search term.

To clear the search, click to tap ( X ), or delete the search term.

Change the appearance of your notes

You can customize your notes.

Grab the top of a note and drag the note around your desktop. We will remember where you put it!

Grab the edges of the note and increase its width and height.

Change the note background color. From any note, click or tap the ellipsis icon ( … ) located in the upper right corner, and then select a color for the note.

Change the light or dark color mode for easier reading. The color mode changes the background and font colors of the note and the note list to either light or dark, but not the note header. From the list of notes, click or tap Settings, and then under Color, change the color mode to either light, dark, or set to match your current Windows mode.

Note: If you’re signed in to Microsoft account, the color change will sync across your devices and on the web.

Learn more ways to Format notes.

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you like about the new Sticky Notes experience — and what suggestions you have for making it even better. We’ll send your product feedback directly to the Sticky Notes team!

From the Notes List, click or tap Settings, and then under Help & feedback, click or tap Share feedback.

Give us a content suggestion or report a problem on the Sticky Notes suggestion portal.

Welcome to Sticky Notes for iPhone and iPad!

See your sticky notes in OneNote for iPhone

Your sticky notes appear along with OneNote for iPhone. Open OneNote for iPhone, and then on the bottom right, tap Sticky Notes.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

In the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

To close a note that you’ve modified, tap Done and then the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

To close a note that you haven’t modified, just tap the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

See your sticky notes in OneNote for iPad

Your sticky notes appear along with OneNote for iPad. Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

In the list of notes, tap a note to open it. To edit a note, tap inside it.

To stop editing a note, tap Done.

To close a note, tap the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

Create a new sticky note in OneNote for iPhone

Open OneNote for iPhone, and then on the bottom right, tap Sticky Notes.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

From the list of notes, tap plus icon ( + ) to start a new note.

Add content to your note any way you want. You can use the keyboard or add a picture.

To close a note that you’ve modified, tap Done and then the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

To close a note that you haven’t modified, just tap the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

Create a new sticky note in OneNote for iPad

Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

From the list of notes, tap plus icon ( + ) to start a new note.

Add content to your note any way you want. You can use the keyboard or add a picture.

To close a note that you’ve modified, tap Done, and then tap the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

To close a note that you haven’t modified, just tap the downward-facing arrow in the upper left.

Copy note contents to a page to OneNote for iPad

Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon on the far right.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

Press and hold a note to select it, and then while still pressing the note, do one of the following:

To copy the note contents to the current page, drag the note onto the page.

To copy the note contents onto a different page within the same section, drag the note over the destination page in the page list on the left. Keep pressing while the page opens, and then drag the note onto the page.

To copy the note onto a different page within a different section, drag the note over a different section in the section list on the left. If you don’t see the section list, make sure it is open first. Keep pressing while the section opens, and then drag the note over the destination page until the page opens. While still pressing on the note, drag the note onto the page.

Tip: You can also copy text or images on a OneNote page to a new sticky note. Select some text or an image, then press and hold the selection until the selection menu appears. Tap Copy to Sticky Notes. A new sticky note will be created with the selected text.

Change the color of a sticky note in OneNote for iPhone

From the list of notes, slide a note from the right to reveal note options, and then tap the middle format icon.

From a note, tap the ellipsis icon ( . ) located in the upper right, and then select a color for the note.

Change the color of a sticky note in OneNote for iPad

Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

From the list of notes, drag a note to the left to reveal note options, and then tap the format icon to show the color menu.

Or, from an open note, tap the ellipsis icon ( . ) located in the upper right to show the color menu.

Share your notes in OneNote for iPhone

You can share your sticky notes with anyone, even people who don’t have a Microsoft account. Sticky notes can be shared using most popular apps or services available on your iPhone phone, including text messaging, email, or social media.

From the list of notes, slide a note from the right to reveal note options, and then tap the left share icon.

You can also share the note by opening it first, and then tap the ellipsis icon ( . ) located in the upper right. Tap Share Note.

Share your sticky notes in OneNote for iPad

You can share your sticky notes with anyone, even people who don’t have a Microsoft account. Sticky notes can be shared using most popular apps or services available on your iPad, including text messaging, email, or social media.

Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon.

You need to sign in with the same account on multiple devices to see your notes across your devices.

From the list of notes, drag a note to the left to reveal note options, and then tap the share icon.

You can also share the note by opening it first, and then tap the ellipsis icon ( . ) located in the upper right. Tap Share Note.

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you like about the new Sticky Notes experience — and what suggestions you have for making it even better. We’ll send your product feedback directly to the Sticky Notes team!

From the Notes List, tap your account profile picture and then under Feedback, tap Send Feedback.

Give us a content suggestion or report a problem on the Sticky Notes suggestion portal.

Welcome to Sticky Notes for Android phone!

See Your sticky notes

There are two ways to get your Sticky Notes on Android:

Within OneNote Open OneNote, and then on the bottom right, tap Sticky Notes.

In the list of notes, tap a note to open it. To close a note and return to the list of notes, tap the left-facing arrow in the upper left.

On the Microsoft Launcher You can also quickly access your sticky notes without OneNote if you’re using Microsoft Launcher as a custom Home screen for your Android phone. From the Launcher Home screen, slide from the left edge to see your feed, then flick down and tap Customize feed to add cards. Flick down again and turn on Sticky Notes to add to your feed.

Create a new note

Open OneNote for Android phone, and then on the bottom right, tap Sticky Notes.

From the notes list tap the plus icon ( + ) to start a new note.

Add content to your note any way you want. You can use the keyboard, write with your finger or stylus on a touch-enabled device, or add a picture.

To save and close the note, tap the left-facing arrow in the upper left.

Note: You cannot currently change the font or size of note text.

Change the color of your notes

From the list of notes, tap a note to open it. Tap the more options icon located in the upper right.

Select a color for the note.

Tip: If you’re signed in to your Microsoft account, the color change will sync across your devices and on the web.

Share your notes

You can share your sticky notes with anyone, even people who don’t have a Microsoft account. Sticky notes can be shared using most popular apps or services available on your Android phone, including text messaging, email, or social media.

From the notes list, open the note you want to share. Tap the ellipsis icon ( . ) located in the upper right.

Select how you want to share the note.

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you like about the new Sticky Notes experience — and what suggestions you have for making it even better. We’ll send your product feedback directly to the Sticky Notes team!

From the Notes List, tap your account profile picture and then under Feedback, tap Send Feedback.

Give us a content suggestion or report a problem on the Sticky Notes suggestion portal.

No more hunting around for a piece of paper and pencil to capture a quick but important thought you don’t want to lose track of.

3 ways to make Sticky Notes open automatically at the Windows startup

Sticky Notes is one of the most straightforward and most useful tools in Windows. It is the electronic equivalent of the paper sticky notes we know intimately. If you use them frequently, you also know that sticky notes are useful only if they stick and remain visible at all times. 🙂 Unfortunately, Sticky Notes in Windows may not be sticky enough for you as they do not start automatically each time you log into Windows. If you want to learn how to make Sticky Notes stay on your desktop, here are three solutions for you:

NOTE: We assume that you are already familiar with how to open Sticky Notes and how to work with them. If not, read:

Keep in mind that our instructions work for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. If you do not know the version of Windows that you have, read this tutorial: What version of Windows do I have installed?.

1. Leave the Sticky Notes app open (all Windows versions)

It might sound a bit awkward, but it is as simple as that: if you want your Sticky Notes to launch during the Windows startup automatically, all you have to do is leave them open on your Desktop when you shut down the computer. When you log into Windows again, all the Sticky Notes that you had previously opened load automatically.

2. Create a Sticky Notes shortcut in your Windows Startup folder (all Windows versions)

If for any reason, the first method does not work for you, you can also “force” Sticky Notes to start automatically every time you log in to Windows. To do that, you have to create a shortcut to the Sticky Notes executable file and place it in your user account’s Startup folder. Open File Explorer (in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1) or Windows Explorer (in Windows 7). Type in the address bar “shell:startup” and press ENTER.

With the Startup folder open, open the Start Menu (or the Start screen) and find the shortcut for Sticky Notes. Drag the Sticky Notes shortcut to the Startup folder opened in File Explorer (or Windows Explorer). The Sticky Notes icon follows the mouse cursor together with the label Link or “Create Link.”

Sticky Notes will now “stay” when you shut down Windows.

3. Create a task for Sticky Notes in Task Scheduler (Windows 8.1 and Windows 7)

Another method that works only in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, involves creating a scheduled task that starts Sticky Notes when you log on. Open Task Scheduler, and then create a basic task.

In the Create Basic Task wizard, name the task and go to the Task Trigger screen. Here, select “When I log on” as the time when the task is run, and press Next.

For the action of the task, select “Start a program” and press Next.

In the Program/script field, type (or copy and paste) the path to the Sticky Notes executable: “C:WindowsSystem32StikyNot.exe“. Press Next and finalize the Create Basic Task Wizard.

Now Sticky Notes is set to start every time you log into Windows.

How important is for you to have Sticky Notes open automatically in Windows?

As you have seen, setting your Sticky Notes to open each time you log into your Windows computer or device is easy. If the first method we shared does not work for you, the second absolutely will. How much difference does it make for you to have Sticky Notes open automatically in Windows? Let us know with a comment below.