QOwnNotes – A Simple Note-Taking Tool

Productivity Software
July 15, 2025
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4 minutes read

QOwnNotes is a free, open-source application for creating and organizing notes. It’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Key Features of QOwnNotes

QOwnNotes offers an intuitive, clean user interface focused on productivity without distractions. The left panel displays a hierarchy of folders and notes, while the main area hosts an editor with live-preview functionality.

The most important feature is that all notes are stored as plain text files in Markdown or plain-text format. Data resides locally on the user’s computer but can be synchronized via ownCloud/Nextcloud or any other service that supports the WebDAV protocol.

Notes are organized hierarchically. You can embed to-do lists and a calendar within them, and there’s support for mathematical expressions (LaTeX). The application uses tagging and subfolders. It also includes a built-in search with sorting and filtering options by tags.
QOwnNotes supports a WYSIWYG (“What You See Is What You Get”) editing mode. Markdown syntax allows you to create richly formatted documents. Notes can be exported to PDF.

QOwnNotes offers extensive appearance customization, including theme selection, configurable shortcuts, panel layouts, and more. You can develop add-ons using JavaScript and Python.

The application supports multiple user profiles. Notes can be encrypted if needed. QOwnNotes does not collect personal data and thus does not share any user information with third parties.

Who Is QOwnNotes For?

Alternatives to this note-taking app include Obsidian, Joplin, Standard Notes, and Notion. QOwnNotes stands out for its simplicity, speed, and full data control.

Users with programming skills can extend the app’s functionality through custom scripts. Because notes are stored in widely adopted TXT and Markdown formats, they can be accessed by other text editors and Markdown viewers as needed.

Backed by an active open-source community, the code is well-optimized and light on CPU usage, making it suitable even for older computers. All major desktop platforms are supported, though there is no official mobile version. QOwnNotes is not aimed at dazzling with aesthetics.

Primarily designed for advanced users who need a flexible, customizable, and reliable note-organization system, QOwnNotes gives you full control over your data, no cloud subscriptions required. It’s especially useful for those working across multiple computers. QOwnNotes is an ideal choice for developers, researchers, academics, journalists, and anyone who takes their notes seriously.

Platform:
Windows, Linux, macOS