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Best Free Sticky Notes Utility

Updated 20. April 2013 - 6:43 by Aderu

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  Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide
 
Introduction
Some people hate these programs while others swear they can't work effectively without them. I am one of those people whose monitor, desk, and surrounding walls would be buried in paper memo sheets were it not for my favourite sticky notes program. There is a range of options, from simple no-frills utilities to those that are feature-rich. While some will prefer the clean simplicity of a no-frills option, the top-rated utilities in this review are feature-rich because those features offered seem particularly useful.
 
Discussion

Stickies Screen ShotStickies from Zhorn Software is my first choice. It is feature-rich, while including all the basic functions we expect in a sticky notes utility. The notes take the form of resizable windows with a control bar. Basic colour changes and text formatting are easily done, notes can be made transparent, pinned on top, rolled up, or hidden. There is also a note manager for searching and organising your notes.

Stickies' advanced features  really make it shine. Some of these features include recurring reminders, multiple monitor support,user definable styles, network sharing, and you can email your note. A particularly nice feature allows a note to be attached to any window so when you reopen that window the note will pop up. This means you can add notes to text files, web pages, or whatever you're working on. Next time you open the text file or visit the same web page the sticky note will pop up. Just make sure you set your sticky note to sit on top of the window, otherwise you will have to move your window to find it. You can also create your own skins or download one ready-made. The right skin can provide you with convenient tool bars to speed and gussy up your memo-writing.

Stickies also allows you to use images and draw (or doodle) in your memo. You cannot, however, add an image to, or draw in a  text memo. You must first set your memo to "image", add your image or drawing, and then you may add text to your memo. It's a little fiddly but at least image-based memos with a comment or two are possible.

Unfortunately, while there is a portable version of Stickies, and there are versions for vintage PDA operating systems (PPC and Palm OS), there are no versions of Stickies available for current mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones. The ability to update and synchronise your notes on the run would bring this application fully up to date.

7 Sticky Notes comes second in this category with all the basics, and an advanced feature set that is comparable to Stickies.

I found four main points of difference between Stickies and 7 Sticky Notes:

  1. Methods to link your sticky note to another file
    Unlike Stickies, you cannot attach a note to any window you choose. But 7 Sticky Notes offers two other useful options for linking your note to a file. You can hyperlink to the original file or embed a copy of the file.
     
  2. Handling images
    Unlike Stickies, in 7 Sticky Notes you cannot draw directly in your note. This is compensated for by the ease with which you can paste and embed images directly into the note of your choice. As you might expect of a sticky note program, when pasting images it is best to stay small. I dropped small jpgs and gifs into notes with no problem. A 2 MB bit map caused a significant slow-down. It  also pays to be cautious about how many images you drop in, too. A 50 KB jpg dropped in nicely, until I added a further 316 KB jpg into the same note. The program froze for an extended period, and froze again when I tried to delete the offending note. By contrast, Stickies, although it will permit you to drop only one image into a single note, seems to handle large bit maps and jpgs very well.
     
  3. Sharing and accessing notes from other computers
    If you wish to network or access your notes from other computers, 7 Sticky Notes has an online synchronisation feature allowing you to make use of cloud computing services like Dropbox and Google Drive.
     
  4. Creating new notes
    7 Sticky Notes only lets you create one new unused note at a time, while Stickies allows you to make as many as you want. I find the ability to generate multiple new notes far more convenient.

Overall, 7 Sticky Notes is a promisingly useful utility, but I still rate Stickies higher for ease of use.

For all you 3M loyalists there is always Post-it Software Notes Lite, it is no longer officially provided at the 3M web site but I have provided an alternative download link to this classic.

If you want an application with a portable version that can easily be installed, I recommend StickyPad. Some people actually prefer one of these to "Stickies".  The interfaces are very slick but some advanced features are missing.  Missing features include the ability to search your notes, and reminders for recurring events such as birthdays.

If you want to access your notes from multiple computers, there is an extension for Firefox called Internote.  The latest version (3.0.0) was issued in January 2011 but I found that it works with no problems with Firefox 16.0.2. It does not, however, work with Firefox 20.  Diigo is a supported alternative with social networking features.  Unfortunately, it saves all highlights locally in PREFS.JS. Depending on how many highlights you have, you may find that Firefox experiences a significant performance slowdown.
 
Related Products and Links
 
Quick Selection Guide

Stickies
9
 
Gizmo's Freeware award as the best product in its class!

Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Stickies provides a range of advanced features that really make it shine.
You cannot add images to a text memo although you may add text to an image memo.
http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/
http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/download.html
7.1e
1.052 MB
Unrestricted freeware
Windows 98, 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, Vista and 7.

To make this product portable, see instructions at http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=264

7 Sticky Notes
8
 
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Good range of useful advanced features, including online synchronisation with cloud services
Inserting large and/or multiple images into notes results in significant slow-down,and other problems.You can only create one new note at a time.
http://www.7stickynotes.com/
http://www.7stickynotes.com/download.php
1.9
5.86 MB
32 bit but 64 bit compatible
Unrestricted freeware
A portable version of this product is available from the developer.
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
StickyPad
6
 
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Elegant interface. No special installation instructions for portable install.
Simple function set, limited alarm and reminder functions.
http://www.greeneclipse.com/stickypad.html
http://www.greeneclipse.com/stickypad.html
2.3.53
47 KB
Unrestricted freeware
Windows Vista/XP/2000/Server 2003/ 95/98/ME /NT 4.0 SP6
Post-it Software Notes Lite
5
 
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Classic Post-it look, Simple interface.
No longer supported by the developer, limited functionality.
http://www.post-it.com/
http://www.tucows.com/preview/337614
3.0
2.39 MB
Feature limited freeware
There is no portable version of this product available.
Windows 98 / NT / 2k / Me / XP

 
Editor

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Aderu. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here. 
 
Tags
best, top, free, sticky, notes, note, software, digital, computer, utility, tools

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Comments

by pcl0ve (not verified) on 21. October 2012 - 0:56  (101123)

I'm recommedning 7 Sticky Notes

It's so much more customizable than all the rest and looks great.

http://www.7stickynotes.com
by Aderu on 18. January 2013 - 4:19  (104604)

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm checking it out.
by Sam O'neal (not verified) on 15. October 2012 - 14:42  (100789)

http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/tools.html
by J.M (not verified) on 27. September 2012 - 19:08  (99867)

Absolutely Simple Sticky Notes. It's free.

http://www.simplestickynotes.com
by alexxx46 on 28. September 2012 - 11:00  (99905)

And virusfree too: Virustotal 0/43 :)
by David Gill (not verified) on 16. June 2012 - 8:56  (94940)

I don't understand the enthusiasm for Zhorn's Stickies!

I've been using them for a few years but I've had too many mishaps with them....most of those mishaps revolve around loosing them....like can't figure out how to back them up, save them, create new ones or recover lost ones. Right now I'v e lost my task line link icon which was the way to get to the stickies manager....now I can't find either.

Honestly, I think this program was developed by some basically contrary person who psychologically can't simply use the well know functions typical of Windows programs. I don't see why it can't work more like Word with the exception of the post-it-note like qualities.
by irwanwr on 28. January 2012 - 23:59  (87960)

I wonder why PNotes still not reviewed here. It's been a while since people mention it.
As far as I know, PNotes has many things quite similar to Stickies rather than other mentioned on the review.

Anyway, good job.
by Mike C on 30. January 2012 - 2:56  (88003)

Wondering same thing here. One of the things I really prefer in PNotes is that it seems to hold its database intact better than Stickies. PNotes is very reliable.
by irwanwr on 28. December 2012 - 18:44  (104058)

Yes, I see that too. One can backup or even synchronize between intalled PNotes or the portable version.
But it was lack of the ability to stick onto window. Like webpages or application.
I see that PNotes has "pin" ability now. I've tried it once. But still didn't work well that time. It wont appear right after the window of application or webpage came up.
by Aderu on 18. January 2013 - 4:21  (104605)

Thanks for the info on PNotes. I'm checking it out.
by irwanwr on 25. January 2013 - 15:50  (104816)

You're welcome, Aderu.
I didn't notice that you are the subject editor now. Congratulation and thank you very much for your time and effort.
by Erik Impudicus (not verified) on 19. January 2012 - 6:29  (87386)

You list vers. 3.0 of 3M's Post-It Notes, hosted at Tucows.com ... fyi there is a version 4.3.6. at cnet.

[Mod: link to the commercial trial version removed]
We no longer recommend downloads from cnet. Details here:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/cnet-downloadcom-wrapped-installer.htm
by KAI (not verified) on 2. November 2011 - 10:12  (82571)

http://pnotes.sourceforge.net/
by schondie (not verified) on 16. August 2011 - 13:35  (77737)

I've got to agree with the fans of ATNotes. I was using it with XP but somehow forgot about its sheer usefulness after I installed a note widget with Rainmeter.

I've just reinstalled it on Win7 without any problems, the notes look good as ever. Changing the font, colours and setting alarms etc are a piece of cake.

I'd like to add that in the three or four years of using ATNotes I never lost a note or had any problems on the XP computer. I hope for the same with Win 7.

Thanks Thomas Asher (and the posters who reminded me of this great program). Low RAM usage and simplicity make this a winner.
by Mike C on 8. February 2011 - 2:20  (66011)

I've been using Stickies since last fall. I just went through a repeat occurrence where I lost all my notes. Even when I went to change the bak files to ini, the info was missing. As this was the third time. I've decided to go back to Kana Reminder. It's disappointing, particularly as I had created neat little graphics to pop up for med reminders, etc. But it's just too much trouble to reconstitute all sticky notes again. The forums say it may have something to do with an AV prog in use. Just a FYI note.
by vinieux (not verified) on 28. January 2011 - 9:06  (65354)

Nobody seems to talk about the most attractive feature of Stickies (to me at least).

I can set a note anywhere, not just on my desktop - inside a particular folder, inside a subfolder of the inbox in Outlook, on a specific tab in my browser, a specific worksheet in my Excel file, and it will pop into view only when I am in these said places.

All the others allow you only to clutter up your desktop with notes.

Is there any other Sticky utility that has this unique feature which only Stickies has?
by richoi (not verified) on 19. May 2011 - 20:35  (72359)

maybe gumnotes

http://www.gumnotes.com/
by Kang (not verified) on 13. January 2011 - 7:27  (64423)

zhorn's Stickies can't group notes together. Otherwise it is so intuitive I can use it immediately.
pnotes being open source makes it actually more attractive. I like that way they allow grouping of notes as well. Then a whole group can be hidden or shown. Organizing on the desktop itself is convenient, when we use a standalone note as title for that area. Usability wise, it is quite intuitive as well, although the added functionalities do take some exploring to understand.
by jkfsan on 5. April 2011 - 7:13  (69491)

The "Scoop" accessory program for Stickies - at the author's site, allows notes to be tagged and handled as a group (show, hide, ontop, rollup, etc), or to create "smart tags" which selects notes for action by characteristics such as status, color, or content.
http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/tools.html
by Clair Culliford (not verified) on 25. October 2010 - 13:46  (60140)

Andrew Seward:

Thanks for your helpful suggestions.

Do you know if any Sticky Notes Utility (or something else) can be made to leave a note "permanently" on the desktop?

I use Stickies, which works well, except that every time I click the "Show Desktop" button, the note is minimized. I want the note to always be on the desktop, as an icon is.

Thanks very much.

Clair Culliford
by Anonymous12345 (not verified) on 8. February 2011 - 2:30  (66012)

Try http://www.tk8.com/stickynotes/

TK8 StickyNotes allows you to do just that. It's not as full featured as the other programs mentioned here (it is a "lite" version of a commercial application, after all), but it does the job. It's pretty sleek too.
by Rob (not verified) on 8. January 2011 - 9:32  (64128)

I believe I want the same thing as you.
I would like a free portable (No install) that allows me to compose Notes.
Then I hit a button and it composes them into a image (could be a plain background color), and makes it my desktop wallpaper.
Being 'no install' I would create the folder that it runs from, so I can backup that folder anytime, knowing that the folder is self contained.

My second preference would be similar to the above, but no blending into the wallpaper.
Instead the Notes would be pinned to the desktop.
AKA 'bottom most'
Meaning they are only visible if I minimize all running programs.
by Internoter (not verified) on 21. July 2010 - 8:52  (54622)

Hi, good news! There's a new update on the internote firefox plugin, currently just an alpha but works great with FF 3.6, doesn't seem to be buggy at all.
by Anonymous on 27. February 2010 - 19:12  (44672)

The recent versions of Stickies now handle images.
by rikmayell (not verified) on 31. December 2009 - 15:58  (39913)

Stickies is one of my must have apps under Windows 7. It will work under Ubuntu 9.10 using Wine :)

Great article, thanks.

Rik Mayell - Category Editor, Best Free Windows 7 / Vista 64 bit Software
by Anonymous on 30. December 2009 - 12:33  (39813)

I don't like (generic) 'sticky' programs, because it is easier to back-up a wordpad document then a sticky document. However, I have Stickies (http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/) installed on both my desktop and my laptop! I want Stickies on any computer I use. Go figure.

by Rob (not verified) on 8. January 2011 - 9:35  (64129)

It is possible to get Stickies to run from a single self contained folder.
Thus allowing you to backup the whole folder.
Yell out if you wish guidance, on how to do that.
by Anonymous on 23. December 2009 - 9:20  (39193)

I'd say StickySorter is worth including in Related Products and Links. See comment on 07/06/2009 below.
by Anonymous on 7. November 2009 - 21:59  (36184)

lol i'm using stickies for years... and you can use it portable too (that0s what i do).
by Drongo on 7. November 2009 - 3:42  (36124)

One item no longer mentioned anywhere which is fairly simple, unique, and takes the place of a tiny sticky note utility, rpn calculator, and mini tree notes, and a reminder/alarm feature is XDesk95. It is a 32 bit program and works great, has the perfect combination of frequently used features for most people, and uses zilch for resources when running. I've used it since 1996 or so.

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page8.html