How to Make a Sticky Note on a Mac or MacBook
Get Peel & Stick
Download Peel & Stick from the Mac App Store and open it. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Start the Welcome
The welcome opens on “Notes that behave like paper”. Click “Continue”.
Peel Your First Sheet
On “Try peeling one off”, drag the top sheet away from the pad. The button stays dimmed until you do; then it reads “Continue”. Click it.
Finish the Welcome
Click “Continue” once more, then “Start Writing” on the last step.
Write on the Top Sheet
Click the “Tall pad” or the “Vellum pad” and type. The first plain line becomes the note’s bold title.
Peel It Off and Stick It
Drag the sheet from its bottom edge until the glue lets go, and drop it on your desktop. A blank sheet is thrown away instead. The first time, Peel & Stick asks “Show your stickies when you share your screen?”: pick “Show Them” or “Keep Them Private”.
Where Are Sticky Notes on My Mac?
Every Mac has sticky notes built in. The sticky-notes app that comes with macOS is in the Applications folder, and Spotlight finds it. If a few plain words on screen are enough, it may be all you need.
Peel & Stick is a separate app for sticky notes that feel like paper. It keeps a pad on your desktop: write on the top sheet, then peel it off and stick it anywhere.
What Peel & Stick Adds to Sticky Notes on a Mac
The “Board” is one frosted tray with three pads. You write on the “Tall pad” or the “Vellum pad”; the “Cloud pad”, a pad of clouds, comes with Peel & Stick Pro and has nothing to do with cloud storage. Prefer one pad? Choose “Show the Classic Pad” in Peel & Stick’s menu in the menu bar. Your notes stay where they are.
- Pinned notes float above your other windows and follow you to every desktop: see sticky notes on your Mac desktop.
- Checklists you tick on a pinned note without leaving your app, for a to-do list sticky note on your desktop.
- A lock for any single note. It opens with Touch ID, your Apple Watch or your login password, depending on your Mac, or with a PIN you can add when you lock it. A locked note is stored encoded, not encrypted. Here’s how to lock sticky notes on your Mac.
- A “Pen” and an “Eraser” for drawing; Peel & Stick Pro adds the “Marker”, “Highlighter” and “Fountain Pen”.
- No account, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking.
The Sticky Notes Shortcut on a Mac: ⌥⌘N
Press ⌥⌘N in any app and “Quick Stick” gives you a fresh sheet on the pad you’re writing on, ready to type. Peel the sheet off when you’re done; ⌥⌘N doesn’t pin it. The shortcut works while Peel & Stick is running, needs no Accessibility permission and can’t be changed. If another app already uses ⌥⌘N, the keys may never reach Peel & Stick: choose “Quick Stick” in Peel & Stick’s menu in the menu bar instead. More on the sticky note keyboard shortcut.
How Peel & Stick Saves Your Notes, and Where They’re Stored
Peel & Stick saves edits 400 milliseconds after you stop typing, and saves pins, ticks and locks right away. “Quit Peel & Stick” (⌘Q) writes everything to disk first, and the next time you open Peel & Stick, pinned notes reopen where you left them.
Your notes are stored on your Mac, in Peel & Stick’s own storage. When the pad asks “Where should your notes live?”, you can also pick a folder, where each unlocked note is kept as a .pstick file; locked notes stay inside the app. Peel & Stick has no server and doesn’t send your notes anywhere. Here’s how to back up your sticky notes.
Hiding the pad doesn’t touch your pinned notes; “Show Stack” in Peel & Stick’s menu in the menu bar brings the pad back. There is no trash: “Unstick and Throw Away” (the × beside a pinned note) and “Delete” remove a note for good.
Sticky Notes for Mac, Like on a PC
Coming from a PC? The idea is the same: small notes that stay in sight while you work. A few things work differently.
- ⌥ is the Option key and ⌘ is the Command key.
- Mac desktops are called Spaces, and pinned notes follow you to each one.
- You type on the pad, not on a pinned note; double-click a pinned note to send it back to the pad for editing.
- Without Peel & Stick Pro, you can keep 3 notes pinned at once; Pro removes the limit. See what you can do without Pro.
Questions
Does a Mac Have Sticky Notes?
Yes. Every Mac comes with a basic sticky-notes app in the Applications folder. Peel & Stick adds a paper pad, checklists, a lock and a shortcut that works in any app.
How do I make a sticky note on a MacBook?
In Peel & Stick, type on a pad’s top sheet, then peel it off from the bottom edge and drop it on your desktop. A MacBook works like any other Mac.
Where are sticky notes stored on a Mac?
Peel & Stick keeps its notes in its own storage on your Mac and, if you choose a folder, as .pstick files there too. Locked notes stay in Peel & Stick’s own storage only.
Why did my sticky notes disappear?
We can’t speak for another app. Peel & Stick saves as you type, saves everything before it quits and reopens pinned notes where you left them. If you hid the pad, choose “Show Stack” in Peel & Stick’s menu in the menu bar. A note you throw away doesn’t come back: there is no trash.
What’s the shortcut for a new sticky note?
⌥⌘N, from any app, while Peel & Stick is running. It gives you a fresh sheet on the pad; peel it off to pin it.
Do the notes sync with my iPhone?
No. Peel & Stick is a Mac app with no iPhone or iPad version and no iCloud sync. Your notes are stored on your Mac.
