Text Tools
Online Notepad
A clean, distraction-free online notepad that automatically saves what you type in your browser, so your notes are still here when you come back. Count words and characters, download as a .txt file or copy your text — all private, with no sign-up.
Notes are stored only in this browser on this device — clearing your browser data removes them. Nothing is uploaded.
How to use the online notepad
- Start typing in the large box. About half a second after you pause, a green Saved ✓ appears for a moment to confirm the note was written to this browser.
- Watch the word, character and line counts under the box as you write.
- Click Download .txt to save the note as notepad.txt, or Copy to put all of it on the clipboard.
- Click Clear to empty the notepad; a confirmation dialog appears first, because clearing cannot be undone.
- Come back later in the same browser on the same device and the note is reloaded automatically.
How autosave works
Every change restarts a 400 millisecond timer; when the timer runs out, the whole text is written to the browser's localStorage under a single key belonging to this site. That is why the Saved ✓ indicator only appears after you pause rather than on every keystroke, and why closing the tab within half a second of your last edit can lose those final characters. When the page loads, the stored note is read back into the box before you can type.
There is exactly one note per browser. Opening the notepad in a second tab shows the same note as it was when that tab loaded, but the two tabs do not sync while open: whichever tab saves last overwrites the other.
What happens to your note
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Refresh the page or close and reopen the tab | Note is still there |
| Restart the browser or the computer | Note is still there |
| Private or incognito window closed | Note is gone; private storage is discarded |
| Clear cookies and site data for this site | Note is gone |
| Different browser or profile on the same device | Empty notepad; storage is per browser |
| Phone, tablet or another computer | Empty notepad; nothing is synced |
| Safari, seven days without visiting the site | Safari may delete script-written storage, so the note can disappear |
| Storage quota exceeded | Save silently fails; the Saved ✓ indicator stops appearing |
How much you can store
Browsers give each site roughly 5 MB of localStorage, and the note is stored as UTF-16, so the practical ceiling is a few million characters, several times the length of a novel. If the limit is reached the write is rejected and the tool does not display an error; download the note as a text file rather than relying on autosave for anything that large.
Formatting is not stored because none exists: this is a plain-text box in a monospace font, with no bold, headings, images or multiple notes. Tabs and line breaks are kept exactly as typed.
The counts under the box
- Words: pieces between runs of whitespace after trimming the ends, so 'to-do' is one word and a lone dash between spaces is also one.
- Characters: the full length including spaces and line breaks.
- Lines: the number of line breaks plus one, which means a note ending with Enter counts the empty final line.
Downloading and copying
Download .txt produces a file named notepad.txt encoded as UTF-8 with Unix line endings. Windows Notepad has opened those correctly since 2018; older editors may show the text on one line. The file name is fixed, so rename it after saving if you keep several. Copy places the entire note on the clipboard and the button reads Copied for about a second.
Good and bad fits for a browser notepad
- Good: a scratchpad for drafting a message, pasting text to clean up, or keeping a running to-do list on a computer you use daily.
- Good: writing on a shared or public machine where you will download the file and clear the note before leaving.
- Bad: the only copy of anything important. Browser storage is cleared by privacy tools, updates and the browser's own housekeeping.
- Bad: notes you need on your phone as well, since nothing leaves the device.
Frequently asked questions
Are my notes saved automatically?
Yes. Everything you type is saved in your browser as you go, so your notes are still here if you refresh or close and reopen the page on the same device and browser.
Where are my notes stored?
They're stored locally in your browser (localStorage) on your device — they're never uploaded to a server. Clearing your browser data or using a different device/browser means they won't appear there.
Can I download or copy my notes?
Yes. Download them as a .txt file or copy all the text with one click to paste elsewhere.
Is the online notepad free?
Yes — it's completely free with no account or sign-up required.
Can I keep more than one note?
No. The notepad holds a single note per browser. Download the current note as a text file before starting a new one, or keep sections separated with headings inside the same note.
What happens if I type in two tabs at once?
Each tab saves its own copy of the text, and the last tab to save wins. Use one tab at a time to avoid losing changes.
Can anyone else see my notes?
Not through this site, because the note never leaves your browser. Anyone who uses the same browser profile on your device can open the page and read it, so clear the note on shared computers.
Why did my note disappear?
The most common reasons are clearing browsing data, using a private window, a browser privacy setting that purges site storage, or opening the page in a different browser. The tool cannot recover a note once storage is cleared.
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