Offline Note Taking Apps for Windows: What Really Stays Local

The best offline note taking app for Windows depends on how strict "offline" has to be. For notes that live on your PC and work with no connection, Obsidian (Markdown in a local vault) and the built-in Notepad (plain text files) are the safest picks. Gubb suits you if you want one quick window with checklists, a Kanban board, math and clipboard history. OneNote fits better when syncing between devices matters more than staying offline.

• Obsidian: best for a large, long-term collection of Markdown notes kept on your own disk.
• Notepad: best free option. It's already on your PC, with nothing to set up.
• Gubb: best for a quick-capture scratchpad with to-dos, boards, math and clipboard history in one window.
• OneNote: best if you need the same notes on your phone, tablet and PC and accept sync.
• Microsoft Sticky Notes: best for short reminders on the desktop, with sync to other Microsoft apps.

We make Gubb, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be fair to every app here, and we list every time Gubb itself goes online.

What "offline" really means for a note taking app

Apps use "offline" to mean three different things:

Sync-first apps can still work offline to some degree. Notion, for example, keeps a page offline only when you mark it Available offline in its ··· menu. That works, but it's a different promise from "nothing leaves this PC."

Even local apps often go online for small things. Before you trust an app with notes you don't want on a server, ask four questions:

1. Where are the notes stored? In plain files (.txt, .md) you can open in any editor, or in a database only that app can read.
2. Does it need an account? An account usually means a server knows about you, even if the notes stay local.
3. What goes online, and can you avoid it? License checks, update checks, web fonts, AI tools, plug-ins and live data such as currency rates are the usual ones.
4. How do you get a copy out? With no cloud copy, a dead disk takes your notes with it. Check backup and export on day one.

Test any app yourself

1. On Windows 11, press Windows key + A (Win+A) to open Quick Settings and turn on Airplane mode. You can also open Settings and search for "Airplane mode".
2. Open the app, create a note, close the app and reopen it.
3. Search for the note and edit it.
4. Keep in mind that apps with a license may check online on a schedule, so a short test won't show what happens after weeks without a connection.

How we chose

These are the things that matter when "offline" is the reason you're searching:

• Where notes are stored and whether you can read them without the app.
• What works with no connection, and which features still reach the internet.
• Whether sync is optional, built in or absent.
• How you back up and export, since there's no cloud copy to fall back on.
• Price model: free, one-time or subscription (as of November 2026).

We didn't run benchmarks or surveys. The details come from each app's published information and reviews (we mark third-party prices), and for Gubb, from our own code.

Summary table

Obsidian

Obsidian is a Markdown note-taking app that stores notes in local vaults. Markdown is plain text, so your notes stay readable outside Obsidian. Of the full note apps here, this is the strongest form of "offline."

What it's good at:

• Notes stay on your disk in Markdown, so you don't depend on an export feature to get them out.
• The core app is free. The sources we have disagree on whether a commercial license costs anything, but they agree you don't need one to use the app for work.
• Version 1.14 added opening individual Markdown files, a Kanban view for Bases and highlight colors.
• It's updated often (desktop 1.14.4 shipped on October 5, 2026).

What goes online: the optional paid services. Obsidian Sync ($4 per user per month billed yearly, $5 monthly) syncs vaults across devices with end-to-end encryption, version history and shared vaults. Publish ($8 per site per month billed yearly, $10 monthly) turns notes into a website. Both prices come from third-party sources, as of November 2026. We couldn't confirm a full list of Obsidian's other connections, so if you need zero network traffic, check its settings and run the test above.

What it lacks: Obsidian's own sync is a paid subscription. It's also a complete note system with vaults and settings, which is more structure than you need for a phone number you'll delete tomorrow.

Pick Obsidian if you're building a notes collection you'll keep for years and want it in Markdown on your own disk. Download the desktop app from obsidian.md.

Notepad (built into Windows)

Notepad is the most offline option on Windows because it isn't really a notes app. It edits text files and saves them wherever you choose. There's no sync and no database.

What it's good at:

• It's already installed and free.
• Every note is a file you save (.txt, or another extension such as .md if you type it), so any editor on any system can read it.
• Backup means copying a folder. Search and organization happen in File Explorer.

What goes online: for writing and saving files, nothing. Some Windows 11 versions of Notepad add AI writing tools that work through a Microsoft account. You don't need them to write or save notes, so leave them alone if you want everything local.

What it lacks: checklists you can tick, a list of your notes, tags, and anything beyond text. Any plain-text editor gives you the same offline benefit, because the notes are just files.

Pick Notepad if your notes are mostly text, you want nothing to install, and you're happy organizing with folders.

Gubb (ours), and every time it goes online

Gubb is a small, single-window scratchpad. You type notes with Markdown-style shortcuts, and short commands turn a note into something more. gubb@todo makes a checklist, gubb@board makes a Kanban board, and gubb@math and gubb@conversions do sums and unit conversions inline. The same window has clipboard history, voice-to-text into the note, a timer and break reminders.

What stays on your PC:

• Notes save automatically, 500 ms after you stop typing, into a local SQLite database. To-do lists and boards are saved inside their notes.
• Clipboard history (text only) is stored in the same local database.
• There's no account, no sync and no cloud copy.
• Gubb has no analytics or crash-reporting code.
• Math mode and unit conversions work offline.
• Voice-to-text with a local Whisper model runs on your computer once the model is downloaded.

Every network connection Gubb makes:

The Polar and update rows describe the Mac version downloaded from gubb.net. The Windows version comes from the Microsoft Store. We're not describing how licensing and updates work there.

The "no model active" case matters if you're strict about privacy. If you choose Local Models but haven't selected a downloaded model, Gubb can try to send the recording to OpenAI with an empty key, and the request fails. To avoid this, select the model under Active Model right after downloading it.
What it lacks:

• Notes are stored in a database, not as .md or .txt files you can open elsewhere.
• The Markdown and Plain Text exports currently write the editor's raw data instead of readable text. For a full copy, use the JSON export or Backup Now in Settings ▸ Export/Import. Backup Now copies the whole database.
• Notes and clipboard history aren't encrypted, and there's no app lock. If you use the OpenAI option, your API key is stored in plain text too.
• After you first open the Clipboard History panel in a session, Gubb saves anything you copy as text, including passwords from a password manager.
• No folders, tags, images, attachments or tables.
• Deleting a note has no confirmation and no trash.
• Local voice-to-text is English-only and transcribes only the first 30 seconds of each recording.

Price: $59 one-time (lifetime) at gubb.net as of November 2026, with no subscription and no free tier. On Windows, get Gubb from the Microsoft Store listing and check the price there.

Pick Gubb if you want a fast scratchpad for brain dumps, daily checklists, small boards and quick math, in one window instead of separate notes, clipboard and timer apps. Skip it if you need notes as plain files, encryption, or a long-term archive with folders and attachments. Obsidian or Notepad fit that better.

OneNote

OneNote is Microsoft's notebook app. It runs on Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android and the web, and it's designed to sync your notebooks across all of them. It handles mixed content well: typing, handwriting and clipped media in the same notebook.

What it's good at: free core note-taking, every major platform, and built-in sync.

What goes online: sync is central to the design, so your notebooks go to Microsoft's service. Some features need a paid Microsoft 365 subscription. We couldn't confirm how OneNote behaves offline in detail, so run the test above before you rely on it without a connection. More at onenote.com.

What it lacks: it's a notebook, not a quick scratchpad. It's also the wrong pick if "offline" means "nothing leaves my PC."

Pick OneNote if you need the same notes on your phone and PC and you're fine with them syncing through Microsoft.

Microsoft Sticky Notes

Sticky Notes is Microsoft's free app for quick notes on the Windows desktop. You can type, ink, add a picture and format text. Notes sync to OneNote Mobile, Microsoft Launcher for Android and Outlook for Windows.

What to know: there are currently two versions. A newer Sticky Notes opens from the Sticky Notes button in OneNote for Windows, alongside the older desktop app, and some people can't find notes they made in the old one. Like OneNote, it's built around sync, and we couldn't confirm its offline behavior.

Pick it if you want a few reminders on screen and you already use Outlook or OneNote. For other options, see our Windows Sticky Notes alternatives.

Offline note taking apps for Windows compared

How to choose

• If you want notes you can open without the app that made them, use Obsidian, or Notepad for plain text.
• If you want nothing installed and nothing to learn, use Notepad.
• If you mostly capture quick thoughts, to-dos and numbers during the day, try Gubb, and run a JSON export or Backup Now regularly.
• If you need notes on your phone too, use OneNote and accept that it syncs.
• If your PC never connects to the internet, stick to plain-file editors. Apps that check a license online, including the Mac version of Gubb from gubb.net, need to connect from time to time.

FAQ

Is an offline note app also private?

Not automatically. Offline means notes aren't sent anywhere. It doesn't mean they're encrypted: anyone using your unlocked PC can read plain files, and Gubb's database isn't encrypted either.

What happens to offline notes if my drive fails?

They're gone unless you have a copy. Back up your notes folder (Obsidian, Notepad) or Gubb's database to an external drive on a schedule.

Can I use Gubb with no internet at all?

Yes for notes, to-dos, boards, math, unit conversions, clipboard history, timers, and local voice-to-text once a model is downloaded. Currency conversion needs a connection. The Mac version from gubb.net must also check its license online at least once every 30 days.

If offline is only one of your criteria, our guide to the best note taking apps for Windows covers the wider field, and quick notes apps for Windows focuses on fast capture.