Your Talking Points, Right Beside the Call

How to Keep Notes on Top During a Video Call on Mac

1. Write Your Points Before the Call

   Click the top sheet of a pad and type the meeting’s name; the first line becomes the bold title. Press Return and type one point per line. Click in the first point, open the tools (hover over the three dots on the pad’s edge) and click “Checklist”: every line from there down gets a box. On the Classic pad, it’s under ☰ “Lists & More Tools”.

2. Peel It Off Beside the Call

   Drag the sheet from its bottom edge until the glue lets go, and drop it next to the call window.

3. Keep It Out of Your Share

   The first time you peel a sheet, Peel & Stick asks whether your notes should show when you share your screen; “Keep Them Private” keeps this note and all the others out. To set one note on its own, right-click it: “Show When Sharing Screen” is checked when that note shows in a share, so uncheck it to keep the note out.

4. Put the Pad Away and Test

   The pad itself isn’t hidden in a share, so press Escape to put it away. Your pinned notes stay where they are. Start a test share or recording and check what others see.

5. Tick Points as You Cover Them

   Click a box on the pinned note. The call stays the app in front.

6. Catch a New Thought With ⌥⌘N

   Press ⌥⌘N (“Quick Stick”) for a fresh sheet on the pad and type. The pad comes forward with it and isn’t hidden in a share, so press Escape when you’re done, then click back into the call.

Notes on Top During a Video Call on Your Mac

Each sheet you write on and peel off a Peel & Stick pad becomes its own small window that floats above your other windows, so your talking points sit right beside the call. Pinned notes join every Space and can appear over a full-screen call. More in our guide to sticky notes on Mac desktop.

Peel & Stick can’t keep meeting notes always on top in every case: some apps use a higher window level, and some full-screen Spaces cover floating notes. Also, when another app is in front with a window that covers a whole display, such as a full-screen call, pinned notes fade to 40%. To keep them at full strength, choose “Settings…” in the Peel & Stick menu bar menu and turn off “Fade notes during full-screen video and presentations”.

On “Vellum Blue”, one of the 4 free papers, a pinned note is see-through: you see a soft blur of whatever is behind it, such as the edge of the call. With the macOS setting Reduce Transparency on, it’s drawn solid.

Read Talking Points During a Call, and Tick Them Off

Ticking a box on a pinned note doesn’t take focus: the call stays the app in front. Boxes tick when you let go, and a press that slides more than 8 screen points doesn’t tick, so a hand crossing the note leaves no stray ticks. Checklists are free on every plan; see our guide to a to do list sticky note on Mac desktop.

Pinned notes are read-only: you can read, tick and drag them, but not type on them. To reword a point, double-click the note and it flies back to the pad; peel it off again when you’re done. The pad comes back on screen with it and isn’t hidden in a share, so do this before the call or while you aren’t sharing.

Jot Action Items During a Call

To take notes during a meeting as tasks come up, press ⌥⌘N in any app. “Quick Stick” puts a fresh sheet on the pad, and your typing goes onto it. Unlike ticking, this brings Peel & Stick and its pad to the front, and the pad isn’t hidden in a share, so press Escape when you’re done and click back into the call. The sheet isn’t pinned until you peel it off. More in sticky note keyboard shortcut Mac.

Without Peel & Stick Pro, you can keep 3 notes pinned at once; a fourth sheet you peel flies back onto the pad. Peel & Stick Pro removes the limit.

Presentation Notes on Screen, Out of Your Screen Share

If you present from your Mac, right-click a note and check that “Show When Sharing Screen” is off. macOS then leaves that note out of screen sharing, recordings and screenshots that respect macOS window privacy. “Settings…” ▸ “When you share your screen” sets the default for all notes; a note’s own choice wins.

Fading isn’t hiding: a note faded to 40% still shows in a share unless you keep it private. Every step is in our guide: hide sticky notes when screen sharing Mac.

Peel & Stick’s own Settings warn that apps that capture your whole display in their own way may still show a private note. These Peel & Stick windows aren’t hidden either, and a private note’s words can show in them, so test before an important call:

• the pad itself (press Escape to put it away)
• the “Corkboard Overview”
• the idle screen (“Show My Notes on a Dark Screen”)
• the Vault window (“Open Vault”)

Questions