Pad

The simplest note taking app: one sticky note on your desktop, saved as you type. GTK 4 and Vala. Formerly elementary-notes.

• Your default note, or any file with pad README.md. Markdown reads like a note, other files get highlighting for their language, all with smart indentation.
• Saved half a second after you stop typing, at least every five seconds while you keep going, and when you switch away or close it.
• Opens as a floating note on GNOME, elementary and niri, each file at the size you last left it. On X11 sessions it also returns to where you left it; Wayland desktops place windows themselves.
• Offline, no accounts, no tracking.

Using it

pad               open the default note
pad README.md     open README.md, saved as you type
pad a.md b.md     one window per file

Relative paths work from any folder, and a file that is already open comes to the front instead of opening twice. A file that doesn't exist yet is created when you start typing.

Ctrl+ and Ctrl− change the font size of every note. To set it directly: gsettings set io.github.mariocesar.Pad font-size 14.

The default note lives in ~/.local/share/pad/Notes.md. To keep it somewhere else, like a synced folder:

gsettings set io.github.mariocesar.Pad note-file '~/Dropbox/Notes/Notes.md'

It takes effect the next time Pad opens. gsettings reset io.github.mariocesar.Pad note-file goes back to the default.

Install

You need Meson, Vala, GTK 4.20 or newer and GtkSourceView 5.

meson setup build
meson compile -C build
sudo meson install -C build

Or just install to install into ~/.local.

As a Flatpak, with the GNOME 49 runtime from Flathub:

flatpak-builder --user --install --force-clean build-flatpak io.github.mariocesar.Pad.yml

The Flatpak keeps its default note in ~/.var/app/io.github.mariocesar.Pad/data/pad/Notes.md.

Develop

just run
just test

License

GPL-3.0-or-later, see LICENSE.