A macOS sticky note app — freely place notes on your desktop, auto-synced to Markdown.
DeskNote is a native macOS sticky note app. Create multiple notes, position them anywhere on your desktop, and their content is automatically saved as Markdown files to a folder of your choice — Obsidian vault, iCloud, or any local directory.
Still a work in progress. Feedback and suggestions are welcome!
- Multiple sticky notes freely placed on desktop, positions auto-saved
- Three colors: Yellow / Blue / Green
- Auto-syncs content as Markdown files to any folder
- Supports Obsidian vault, iCloud, or any local directory
- Desktop pin mode (notes stay visible during "Show Desktop")
- Adjustable opacity and font size
- Auto-adapts to Chinese/English system language
- LLM-friendly — stores notes as plain Markdown files, easily readable and writable by Claude, OpenClaw, and other tools
- macOS 14.0 or later
- Apple Silicon or Intel processor
git clone https://github.com/jmwang028/desknot.git
cd desknot
open DeskNote.xcodeprojThen in Xcode: Product → Run (or Cmd + R).
Download the latest DeskNote.app from the Releases page and move it to your Applications folder.
If you see "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified", right-click the app in Finder and select "Open".
- Launch the app — a welcome window will appear
- Click "Select Folder" and choose a directory (iCloud, Obsidian vault, or any folder)
- Once connected, create notes via the menu bar:
Note → New Note - Close a note to save its content as Markdown automatically
- Xcode 15+
- Swift 5
- SwiftUI + AppKit
- No third-party dependencies
- Notifications not yet implemented
- Rich text editing not supported, plain text only
- Code quality has plenty of room for improvement — contributions are welcome!
Ideas or suggestions? Feel free to open an Issue or PR!
Copyright © 2025 jmwang028