User guide

How to use Scratchpad.

Everything the app can do, in one page. Scratchpad is a local-only notes app — every feature below works entirely in your browser, and nothing you write ever leaves it.

First five minutes

Press New note (or ⌘/CtrlN), type a title and some text, and save with ⌘/CtrlS. That's the whole loop. Notes have two modes: view, which shows your Markdown rendered, and edit, which shows the raw text. The Edit button (or saving) switches between them.

While you type, Scratchpad autosaves a draft. If the tab closes before you save, the next visit offers to restore your unsaved edits. Everything is stored in this browser only — see the privacy policy for exactly what that means.

Writing in Markdown

Notes are plain Markdown. The basics:

• # Heading, ## Subheading — up to six levels.
• **bold**, *italic*, `inline code`.
• - item or 1. item for lists; indent two spaces to nest.
• > quote for blockquotes — short ones render as pull-quotes.
• [text](https://example.com) for links — they open in a new tab.
• Three backticks on their own line open and close a code block.
• Tables, in GitHub style: | col | col | with a |---|---| divider row.

While editing, the toolbar buttons (B, I, code, link) wrap the selected text for you. Images from the web are not loaded — that's part of the privacy promise, not a bug.

Task lists

Any list item can be a task:

- [ ] pick up groceries
- [x] renew domain

In view mode those render as real checkboxes — click one (or focus it and press Space) to tick or untick it. The change is written straight back into your Markdown and saved, so you never enter edit mode just to check something off. Task lists work nested, in numbered lists, and inside quotes.

If a note mixes real tasks with text that only looks like one (say, a - [ ] inside a code block), and Scratchpad can't confidently match every checkbox to its exact line, the checkboxes go gray and stop responding rather than risk ticking the wrong line. Edit the note normally to make changes.

Daily notes & quick capture

The calendar button in the sidebar — or ⌘/CtrlShiftD, or Open today's note in the command palette — jumps to today's note, creating it the first time. Renaming a daily note is fine; Scratchpad tracks the date, not the title.

Want your own structure for each day? Create a note titled exactly Daily template — its body becomes the starting point for every new daily note. No settings required.

Quick capture (in the command palette) takes one line of text and appends it to today's note with a timestamp — even creating the note if needed — without leaving what you're doing. If you install Scratchpad as an app, your OS's icon menu gets shortcuts for New note, Today's note, and Quick capture.

Linking notes

Type [[ while editing and Scratchpad suggests your note titles — arrow keys to choose, Enter to insert. A link like [[Project Plan]] renders as a working link to that note; [[Project Plan|the plan]] shows custom text.

• Phantom links. A link to a note that doesn't exist yet renders dashed. Click it and Scratchpad creates the note and opens it — write the idea first, fill it in later.
• Backlinks. Below each note, Linked from N notes lists every note that links here. It's computed live, so restoring from Trash or importing never leaves it stale.
• Renames stay safe. When you rename a note that others link to, Scratchpad offers to update those links. Each updated note keeps a revision, so the change is reversible.

Folders

Folders group notes the way tags can't: each note lives in exactly one folder. Notes you haven't filed sit in the built-in Notes folder, which is always there and can't be renamed or deleted.

• Create — the + New folder row at the bottom of the list, or "New folder" in the command palette. Each folder can take an optional accent color.
• File notes — drag a note onto a folder's header, or use Move to folder… in the note's ⋯ menu, in bulk-select mode, or from the command palette. Moving a note never changes its edited date.
• Collapse & expand — click a folder's header. Scratchpad remembers which folders you keep closed.
• Reorder — drag a folder header up or down, or use Move up / Move down in the folder's ⋯ menu.
• Folders / Recent — the toggle above the list switches between the folder view and the classic most-recent-first view. Search always looks across every folder.
• Delete — deleting a folder asks what to do with its notes: keep them (they return to Notes) or move them to Trash.

Trash now empties itself: a deleted note stays recoverable for 30 days, then it's removed for good. "Delete forever" and "Empty Trash" remain the immediate, no-recovery options.

Finding & organizing

• Search (⌘/CtrlK or /) matches titles, bodies, and tags, with typo tolerance.
• Tags — add them under a note's title; click a tag to filter by it. The Tags view renames, merges, or deletes tags everywhere at once.
• Pins keep important notes at the top of the list.
• Select enters bulk mode: tag, pin, or trash several notes in one go.
• Trash holds deleted notes for 30 days, then removes them for good. Restore, delete forever, or empty it any time before that.
• The command palette (⌘/CtrlShiftP) runs every action and jumps to recent notes from the keyboard.

Backups & portability

Because notes live only in this browser, backups matter. Everything is under About (the ⓘ button in the sidebar):

• Export backup (JSON) — the full-fidelity format: notes, Trash, and revision history. Use this one for restores.
• Export encrypted backup — the same data, protected by a passphrase. Encryption happens in the browser; a forgotten passphrase cannot be recovered.
• Export Markdown ZIP — readable .md copies of active notes, for use anywhere.
• Import — accepts a JSON backup, an encrypted backup, or one or more Markdown files. Every import shows a preview first, and you choose how conflicts are handled: keep both, replace, or skip.

Scratchpad reminds you gently when it's been a while since your last backup.

Your data & privacy controls

• Protect local data asks the browser to mark this site's storage persistent, reducing the chance of automatic cleanup. The browser decides; backups are still the real safety net.
• Multi-tab safety. If the same note changes in another tab, Scratchpad stops before overwriting and lets you choose: keep this tab's version, use the saved one, or keep both as separate notes.
• Erase local data removes every note, draft, revision, and preference from this browser. You must type ERASE to confirm — there is no undo.
• Nothing is ever sent anywhere: no accounts, no sync, no analytics, no third-party scripts. The privacy policy has the full picture.

Offline & installing

Scratchpad works offline after your first visit — the app shell is cached, and your notes were always local. Install it from your browser's install prompt (or menu) to get a standalone window and app-icon shortcuts.

Updates are under your control: when a new version is available, Scratchpad shows a notice and you choose when to reload. About → Check for updates looks for one on demand, and Refresh offline copy re-downloads the cached app files.

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