Syntax highlighting
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and JSON are colored as you type. Huge files stay fast: past 300,000 characters only the visible band is highlighted, updated as you scroll.
.md.txt.json.csv.tsv.html.css.js.jsx.php.log
Free notes app for macOS
Notes that are just files.
NotaBene is a scratchpad for the things you copy and paste all day. It opens from any app with one hotkey,
switches notes with zero wait, and saves on its own. Every note is a plain file in a folder you pick:
.md, .json, .csv, .js, .php… nothing locked in a database.
Signed download coming soon. Apple notarization is in progress.
StandupMarkdown
0 words
Saved
Click a note to switch
01
Summon, write, forget about it. The file is already there.
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1
Summon it from anywhere
Press ⌃⌥N in any app and NotaBene comes to the front. ⇧⌘N makes a new note straight from the clipboard.
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2
Write, paste, move on
Autosave kicks in half a second after your last keystroke, and again when you switch note, switch app or quit. There is no save dialog to think about.
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3
It's a file. Use it anywhere
Notes live in
~/Documents/NotaBeneor any folder you choose. Open them in VS Code, sync them with iCloud, grep them, commit them. Edits made elsewhere show up on their own.
02
A plain-text editor that knows what you pasted.
Formatted preview
Press ⇧⌘P to see Markdown rendered with the same code colors, JSON as a collapsible tree with key order preserved, and CSV as a real table with the separator detected.
Paste detection
Paste JSON or CSV into an empty note and the format is recognized and the file renamed with the right extension.
Search and jump
⌘K finds a note by title. Return opens it, or creates one with that name if nothing matches.
Real folders
Sidebar folders are actual subfolders on disk. Select notes and press ⌘G to group them. Drag to reorder.
Compare two notes
Select two notes and press ⇧⌘D for a side-by-side or unified diff, with a change map you can click to jump around.
Find and replace
Match case, whole word or regular expressions, with every replacement undoable. ⌥⇧⌘F pretty-prints JSON in place.
Light, dark, yours
Follows the system or pick a theme. Monospaced or proportional font, with pinch and ⌘+ to zoom.
Native and private
Swift and AppKit, one NSTextView that swaps text storage so switching is instant. No accounts, no telemetry, no network.
Send to Solo
Using Solo to run coding agents? ⇧⌘↩ sends the note to a new or running session.
03
Two versions of a note, one diff.
Select two notes and press ⇧⌘D. Changed words are highlighted, identical runs fold away, and the ruler on the right shows where every change sits. Click it to jump there.
release-notes (old)
release-notes
+1−1~3
04
Built for hands that never leave the keyboard.
- Show NotaBene from any app
- ⌃⌥N
- Next / previous note
- ⌘↓⌘↑
- Search notes, or create one by name
- ⌘K
- Go to note 1 to 9
- ⌘1…⌘9
- New note / new note from clipboard
- ⌘N⇧⌘N
- Formatted preview
- ⇧⌘P
- Copy the whole note
- ⌥⌘C
- Save as… (a copy anywhere)
- ⇧⌘S
- Find / find and replace
- ⌘F⌥⌘F
- Format JSON
- ⌥⇧⌘F
- Compare two notes
- ⇧⌘D
- New folder with selected notes
- ⌘G
- Rename note
- ⌘R
- Show in Finder
- ⇧⌘R
- Text size
- ⌘+⌘−⌘0
- Move to Trash
- ⇧⌘⌫
Navigation, search, preview and the global hotkey are configurable in Settings. The interface is in English and Italian.
Get NotaBene for macOS.NotaBene is almost ready.
Open the DMG, drag NotaBene into Applications, and press ⌃⌥N.
The notarized download is coming soon. Check back in a few days.
NotaBene is free and made by one developer. If it saves you a few round trips to a scratch file:
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