Peel & Stick Support

Help with Peel & Stick for Mac: getting started, peeling and pinning notes, the free limit, papers, locking, screen sharing, shortcuts, your notes folder and backups, and Peel & Stick Pro purchases. Can’t find your answer? Email peelandstick@mahtca.com.

Getting Started

Peel & Stick needs macOS 13 Ventura or later, and there is no account to create. The first time you open it, a four-step welcome shows you around and lets you peel your first sheet yourself. Peel & Stick lives in the menu bar, and in the Dock unless you turn off “Show in the Dock” in Settings.

Your pad appears at the bottom right of your main display. You start on the “Board”, a tray with three pads: the “Tall pad”, the “Vellum pad” and the “Cloud pad” (Peel & Stick Pro). Click a pad, or press ⌘1, ⌘2 or ⌘3, to write on it. Prefer one pad? Press ⌥⌘B for the “Classic pad”; your notes stay where they are.

Type on the top sheet. The first line becomes the note’s title, set in bold in the glued band at the top. Edits save on their own as you type, so there is no save button. New to sticky notes on a Mac? Read sticky notes on your Mac desktop.

• The tools fold into a small pill of three dots, “Tools”, until you point at it: “Bold”, “Italic”, “Type & Paper”, the lists, “Draw” and the pens, “Choose Ink”, the padlock and the “This Note” menu. On the Board, the pens lie on its tray instead.
• “Bulleted List”, “Numbered List” and “Checklist” apply to the selection, or to the line you are on and every line below it. They never change the title.
• Return starts a new line. It doesn’t pin the note.
• Drag text from any app onto a pad and it becomes a new sheet. A picture can’t become a note.
• Escape hides the pad. Your pinned notes stay on screen, and “Show Stack” in the menu bar or a click on the Dock icon brings the pad back.
• Turn on “Open Peel & Stick when I log in” in Settings, and your pinned notes come back where you left them each time you log in.

Peeling and Pinning Notes

To pin a note, drag the top sheet off the pad by its bottom band: the glue holds, gives, and the paper curls. Let go and the note sticks to your desktop where you dropped it, the same size and shape as the sheet. Drag the glued top of the pad to move the pad instead.

A sheet with nothing on it is thrown away rather than pinned. To pin without dragging, choose “Pin” in the tools’ “This Note” menu; the note lands in the middle of your main display.

Pinned notes float above your other windows, follow you to every Space and never take focus, so ticking a checkbox doesn’t pull you out of what you’re doing. You can’t type on a pinned note: double-click it, or choose “Edit on the Pad”, to send it back to its pad, then peel it off again when you’re done.

• Drag a pinned note anywhere. It remembers its display; unplug that display and the note moves to your main display, in the same relative spot.
• Floating above other windows isn’t guaranteed: some full-screen apps, the screen saver and the lock screen can cover pinned notes.
• “Fade notes during full-screen video and presentations” (on unless you turn it off) fades pinned notes to 40% while a full-screen app is in front.
• “Corkboard Overview” (⌥⌘Space) shows your notes, pinned and resting on the pads, across your displays. Press Escape to go back.
• The × beside a pinned note is “Unstick and Throw Away”, and its right-click menu has “Delete”. Both delete the note at once, without asking, and can’t be undone. To take a note off your desktop and keep it, choose “Return to Stack”.

The Free Limit

Without a purchase, Peel & Stick keeps up to three notes pinned to your desktop at once. Peel a fourth and the sheet flies back onto the pad with a notice: “You have three notes pinned, which is everything the free version holds.” Your three pinned notes stay exactly where they are. Choose “Not Now”, or send a note back to its pad to make room.

The limit counts every pinned note, whether you pinned it by hand or with the Shortcuts action “Pin Note”. Peel & Stick Pro lets you pin as many notes as you like. See what Peel & Stick does without Pro.

• Included without Pro: writing and formatting, lists and checklists, nine named inks, the “Pen” and “Eraser”, locking, keeping notes out of screen shares, the notes folder, search, the Corkboard and the keyboard shortcuts.
• Papers without Pro: “Canary”, “Soft Pink”, “Mint” and “Vellum Blue”.
• Pads without Pro: the “Tall pad” and the “Vellum pad” on the Board, and the “Classic pad”.
• Peel & Stick Pro adds every paper, the “Cloud pad”, and the “Marker”, “Highlighter” and “Fountain Pen”.

Papers and Inks

Peel & Stick has 16 papers: 12 papers and 4 cloud styles. Four come without Pro: “Canary”, “Soft Pink”, “Mint” and “Vellum Blue”. Peel & Stick Pro adds “Kraft”, “Graph”, “Legal Pad”, “Midnight”, “Linen”, “Neon Tokyo”, “Washi” and “Chalkboard”, and the clouds “Cumulus”, “Cirrus”, “Nimbus” and “Stratus”.

To change a note’s paper, open “Type & Paper” (Aa) in the tools and choose “Paper”. Pro papers show a small padlock; choosing one opens the “Peel & Stick Pro” screen, where the “Every paper” row draws each one live. Browse all 16 papers.

• On the Board, each pad hands out its own run of colors, one step further with each sheet you peel.
• “Vellum Blue” is see-through once a note is pinned; on the pad it is drawn solid.
• The “Cloud pad” is a pad of clouds you write on in raised letters. It isn’t cloud storage, and nothing syncs.
• Ink: nine named inks, or any color you mix in “Choose Ink”. A readout warns “Hard to read on this paper”, but never stops you.
• If Pro ends, every note keeps its paper and still opens; only choosing a Pro paper locks again.

Locking a Note

To lock a note, click the padlock in its tools, or beside a pinned note, and choose “Lock This Note”. Its words and drawing stay hidden in Peel & Stick until Touch ID, your Apple Watch or your login password opens it, whichever your Mac supports. Locking is free on every plan. More in lock sticky notes on your Mac.

In “Lock this note” you can turn on “Add a PIN as well”: at least 4 characters, of any kind. A PIN is another way in, not a second lock, so Touch ID and your login password still open the note. Peel & Stick never stores your PIN, so nobody can recover it, and it can’t be changed later: choose “Remove the Lock”, then lock the note again.

A locked note is encoded, not encrypted. The lock guards reading in Peel & Stick. Someone with access to your Mac’s files who knows how can still read a locked note, and anyone who knows your login password can open it in Peel & Stick. Don’t keep passwords or other secrets in notes.

• A pinned locked note closes again when you switch to another app or leave it untouched for 15 minutes. Every open locked note closes when your screen sleeps, when you switch users and when Peel & Stick quits.
• Locked notes are left out of search, and appear only as “Locked note” in notifications and the Shortcuts app.
• A locked note leaves your notes folder and stays in Peel & Stick’s own storage, which Time Machine backs up in encoded form. Remove the lock and the note goes back into your folder.
• A Mac that can’t check it’s you, with Touch ID, an Apple Watch or a password, can’t lock notes.

Screen Sharing

The first time you peel a sheet off, Peel & Stick asks “Show your stickies when you share your screen?” Choose “Show Them” or “Keep Them Private”. Change one note with “Show When Sharing Screen” in its right-click menu, or all of them in “Settings…” ▸ “When you share your screen”.

A private note stays on your screen, and macOS leaves it out of screen shares, recordings and screenshots that respect its window privacy. Apps that capture your whole display in their own way may still show it, so try a test share before a call that matters. See hide sticky notes when screen sharing.

• Not covered: the pad and its top sheet, the Corkboard, the idle screen and the Vault window. Put the pad away with Escape and close the others before you share.
• Private in a share isn’t locked: anyone at your Mac can still read the note.
• Fading during full-screen video and presentations doesn’t keep a note out of a share.

Shortcuts

Two keyboard shortcuts work from any app, with no Accessibility permission: ⌥⌘N, “Quick Stick”, hands you a fresh sheet on your pad and brings the pad forward, and ⌥⌘Space opens and closes “Corkboard Overview”. They can’t be changed. If macOS already uses ⌥⌘Space on your Mac, for example for a Finder search window, choose “Corkboard Overview” in the menu bar instead.

Peel & Stick also adds three actions to the Shortcuts app: “Create Note”, “Pin Note” and “Set Reminder”. A reminder set this way fires only while Peel & Stick is running. More in create a sticky note with Shortcuts.

• ⌥⌘N: “Quick Stick”, a fresh sheet on your pad, from any app
• ⌥⌘Space: “Corkboard Overview”, from any app
• ⌥⌘B: “Show the Classic Pad” or “Show the Board”, while Peel & Stick is in front
• ⌘1, ⌘2, ⌘3: write on the “Tall pad”, “Vellum pad” or “Cloud pad”
• ⌘F in the Vault: search; Escape clears the search, then closes the Vault
• Escape: hide the pad
• ⌘, opens Settings, and ⌘Q is “Quit Peel & Stick”

Your Notes Folder and Backups

Peel & Stick always keeps your notes in its own storage on your Mac. Choose a notes folder as well, and every unlocked note is also kept there as a readable “.pstick” file. When Peel & Stick asks “Where should your notes live?”, choose “Create a “Peel & Stick Notes” folder” or “Use a folder I already have”. Chose “Not Now”? Choose “Open Vault” in the menu bar and pick a folder there.

Peel & Stick has no export command, no Trash and no undo for deleted notes, and it doesn’t sync notes between Macs. Back up your Mac regularly, for example with Time Machine: it covers Peel & Stick’s own storage, including locked notes in encoded form, and your notes folder if it is on a disk you back up. See back up sticky notes on your Mac.

• Each file is named after the note’s first line, and the manifest.json inside it holds the whole note as readable text.
• Locked notes aren’t in the folder; they stay in Peel & Stick’s own storage.
• Deleting a note also deletes its file from the folder.
• To move notes to a new Mac, copy the folder across, choose “Use a folder I already have” and pick it, then quit Peel & Stick and open it again. Or drop a “.pstick” file onto a pad.
• Use a folder from one Mac at a time, and don’t edit the files by hand: the folder isn’t a sync service.
• If you see “Peel & Stick can't reach your notes folder”, the folder was moved, renamed or is on a drive that isn’t connected. Click “Find My Folder…” and choose it again.
• Search lives in the Vault: choose “Open Vault”, press ⌘F and type. Capitals and accents don’t matter; locked notes and drawings aren’t searched.

Peel & Stick Pro Purchases

Peel & Stick Pro comes as a monthly or yearly subscription, or as a one-time purchase that never renews. The “Peel & Stick Pro” screen opens when you click something locked, such as a Pro paper, a Pro pen or the “Cloud pad”, or the “Peel & Stick Pro” button on the fourth-pin notice. It shows the App Store’s price before you confirm, and any introductory offer is shown in the App Store before you buy. The yearly plan and the one-time purchase also work with Family Sharing, so up to five family members can use Pro.

Purchases go through your Apple Account, and Peel & Stick never sees your payment details. To get Pro back on another Mac or after reinstalling, open the “Peel & Stick Pro” screen and click “Restore Purchases”, signed in to the App Store with the Apple Account you bought Pro with. Peel & Stick says “Your purchases are back.” or “No previous purchases found on this Apple Account.”

Peel & Stick has no button for managing subscriptions. To change or cancel one, open System Settings, click your name, then Media & Purchases, and manage your subscriptions there, or use your account in the App Store app. Cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date to avoid the next charge. Deleting Peel & Stick doesn’t cancel a subscription. Refunds are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.

• Purchases are checked on your Mac, so once your purchase is on this Mac, Pro normally keeps working offline.
• If a purchase needs approval, for example through Ask to Buy, Peel & Stick says “This purchase is waiting for approval. Peel & Stick unlocks the moment it goes through, and you won't be asked to buy it again.”
• If a renewal payment fails, Pro stays on while the App Store retries.
• If Pro ends, nothing you wrote changes: every note opens and can be edited, nothing unpins, and notes keep their paper. Pro papers and pens lock again, and the three-note limit returns for new pins.
• Bought the one-time purchase while subscribed? Cancel the subscription through Apple, or it keeps renewing.
• If the “Peel & Stick Pro” screen says “The App Store isn't answering right now. Nothing has been charged - try again in a moment.”, check your connection, then quit Peel & Stick and open it again.

Contact

Email peelandstick@mahtca.com for help with Peel & Stick. Tell us your Mac model, your macOS version, what you did and what happened. Please don’t send the contents of your notes unless we ask for them.

Legal notices, claims and reports of misuse go to office@mahtca.com. Peel & Stick is made by MAHTCA GLOBAL in Romania.

• Help with Peel & Stick: peelandstick@mahtca.com
• Legal notices, claims and misuse reports: office@mahtca.com
• Billing, refunds and Ask to Buy: Apple, through your Apple Account
• Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy: linked at the bottom of every page

Questions

The Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy apply to Peel & Stick.