Quick Notes on Mac: Fastest Ways to Jot Things Down

The fastest way to take a quick note on a Mac is Apple's Quick Note. Press Fn-Q (Globe-Q on keyboards with a Globe key) from any app, and a small note window opens ready for typing. You can also move the pointer into the bottom-right corner of the screen and click the note that slides in. Quick Notes save automatically into Apple Notes.

If you'd rather have a note that's already on screen than one you summon, use Stickies with Float on Top, or a scratchpad app you can pin above your other windows. The sections below cover each method, how many actions it takes before you can type, and what each one can't do.

Apple Quick Note: the shortcut and the hot corner

Quick Note is part of Apple Notes and has been on the Mac since macOS Monterey. It opens over whatever app you're using, so you don't lose your place.

Use the keyboard shortcut

1. Press Fn-Q. On keyboards with a Globe key, the Globe key is the Fn key.
2. Type your note.
3. Close the Quick Note window when you're done. The note is already saved.

That's one keystroke, which makes it the quickest built-in option. If your keyboard has no Fn or Globe key that macOS recognizes, use the hot corner instead.

Use the hot corner

1. Move the pointer into the bottom-right corner of the screen.
2. Click the small note that appears.
3. Type.

The bottom-right hot corner is normally set to Quick Note. To check it or move Quick Note to another corner:

1. Open System Settings and search for "Hot Corners".
2. Open the hot corners setting (it's under Desktop & Dock on current macOS).
3. Choose Quick Note from the menu for the corner you want.

Where Quick Notes end up

Every Quick Note is a regular note in Apple Notes, kept in a Quick Notes folder in the sidebar. If your notes are stored in iCloud, they also show up in Notes on your iPhone and iPad.

If Quick Note keeps reopening your last Quick Note when you want a blank one, open Notes, choose Notes ▸ Settings and turn off Always resume to last Quick Note.

What Quick Note can't do: it only exists on Apple devices, so if you also work on a Windows PC, your Quick Notes won't be there. And every Quick Note lands in Apple Notes alongside everything else, so it's easy for scratch notes to pile up there.

Stickies for one-off notes

Stickies is the sticky-note app that comes with every Mac. It suits notes you want to keep looking at, like a phone number during a call or a short list for the afternoon.

1. Open Stickies: press ⌘Space (Command-Space), type "Stickies" and press Return.
2. Press ⌘N for a new note.
3. Type. Stickies saves as you go.
4. To keep the note in front of other windows, choose Window ▸ Float on Top.

You can change a note's color, collapse it so only its first line shows in the title bar, and drag a picture or PDF into it.

What Stickies can't do: notes only show while the Stickies app is open, so quitting it hides them. It's Mac-only and doesn't sync to your iPhone. For more apps in this style, see our roundup of sticky notes apps for Mac.

Scratchpad apps for quick notes

A scratchpad app is a small notes app built for capturing first and organizing later. Two well-known Mac options are Tot and Drafts. Prices and requirements below are as of November 2026.

Tot

Tot from The Iconfactory gives you exactly seven pages for short bits of text. The limit is deliberate, which suits notes you don't plan to keep for long.

• Syncs between Mac and iPhone/iPad through iCloud.
• Handles rich or plain text and can convert text to Markdown. Shows word and character counts as you type.
• Free to download and try. Premium features on the Mac are a $19.99 in-app purchase, and iPhone/iPad is a separate $19.99.
• Needs macOS 14 or later.

Pick Tot if seven pages is enough and you want your scratch text on your phone too. If seven pages sounds too tight, our Tot alternatives page covers other options.

Drafts

Drafts is a quick-capture text app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. New drafts go into an Inbox, and once you've dealt with one you move it to the Archive or the Trash, much like email.

• Actions send your text elsewhere after you capture it.
• The free version includes unlimited drafts and sync.
• Drafts Pro is a subscription at $2.99 a month. Drafts' own pages give the yearly price as both $19.99 and $24.99, and both pages are several years old, so check the current price before you buy.
• Apple platforms only.

Pick Drafts if you capture on your phone as much as on your Mac and want to send text on to other apps.

Use Gubb as a pinned scratchpad

We make Gubb, a single small window for notes, checklists and a few utilities. It works best as a scratchpad pinned above your other windows, so capturing a thought means clicking into the window and typing. It does not open with a keyboard shortcut.

Set it up once

1. Download Gubb from gubb.net, drag it to Applications and open it. It opens on an empty note.
2. Move the pointer to the right edge of the note. A column of buttons appears.
3. Click Pin window on top. The window now stays above other windows, and Gubb remembers this between launches.
4. Resize the window and drag it where you want it, for example a narrow strip at the side of the screen. Gubb restores its size and position next time.

Capture a note

• Window visible: click into it and type. Gubb saves half a second after you stop typing, so there's no save step.
• Window hidden: left-click Gubb's icon in the menu bar to show it, then click into the note. Clicking the same icon hides it again, which is a safer way to get it out of the way than the red close button (closing the window may quit Gubb). Clicking the Dock icon also brings the window back.
• New note: hover over the title bar and click + (Create New Note). Each note is titled from the first 30 characters of its first line, so you never have to name it.

What it adds over Quick Note and Stickies

• Checklists as you type: type [ ] then Space at the start of a line for a checkbox. - then Space starts a bulleted list, and # then Space starts a heading.
• Quick sums in the note: type gubb@math, then any line ending in = gets its answer, so 12*3 = becomes 12*3 = 36. It handles basic arithmetic (+ - * / ^ and brackets).
• Things you copied earlier: the Clipboard History panel keeps the text you copy once you've opened it in a session, and Paste to note drops an item into the current note. It stores everything you copy as plain text, passwords included, so clear it with Clear History if that matters to you.
• Dictation into the note: Speech to Text records from your mic and inserts the text into the Gubb note (not into other apps). With a downloaded local model it runs on your Mac. Local mode is English only and transcribes the first 30 seconds of each recording.

What Gubb can't do

• No global hotkey. The menu bar menu shows ⌘⇧G next to Show Gubb, but that shortcut doesn't work from other apps. You show Gubb with the menu bar icon or the Dock.
• No sync and no iPhone app. Notes stay on your Mac in a local database. If you need your notes on your phone, Quick Note, Tot or Drafts fits better.
• No images or attachments in notes.
• No trash. Deleting a note in Notes History happens straight away, without a confirmation.

Gubb is $59 one-time as of November 2026 (pricing), and the direct download has a 7-day free trial.

How many steps each quick-note method takes

Counted from "I want to write something down" to the cursor sitting in an empty note.

Quick Note wins if you want to summon a note from the keyboard and have it on your phone later. A pinned window wins if you jot things down all day and don't want to summon anything.

How to take quick notes on Mac faster

• Pick one inbox. Notes split between Quick Notes, Stickies and a scratchpad get lost. Choose one place for raw capture and stick with it.
• Don't title or file while capturing. Quick Note and Gubb both save without asking for a name. Sort things out later.
• Start each line with the action. "Call dentist re: Tuesday" is easier to act on later than "dentist".
• Use checkboxes for anything you need to do. In Gubb, type [ ] and Space. Our Markdown checklist syntax page shows the same pattern for other apps.
• Clear the inbox once a day. Move what matters into your task app or notes system and delete the rest. Our guide to doing a brain dump covers the sorting step, and brain dump apps compares tools for it.
• Dictate when your hands are busy. See how to dictate notes on Mac.

If it doesn't work

Fn-Q does nothing. Your keyboard may not have an Fn or Globe key that macOS recognizes, which happens with some third-party keyboards. Use the hot corner instead.

The hot corner doesn't open a note. The corner may be set to another action. Open System Settings, search for "Hot Corners", and set a corner to Quick Note.

Quick Note keeps opening the same old note. In Notes, choose Notes ▸ Settings and turn off Always resume to last Quick Note.

Your sticky notes disappeared. Stickies probably quit. Open the Stickies app again and the notes come back.

A pinned Gubb window drops behind other windows. Check the pin button on the right edge of the note. If you use Gubb's break reminders, a break turns "always on top" off afterwards, so pin the window again. For other apps, see how to keep a window on top on Mac.

⌘⇧G doesn't bring Gubb back. Gubb has no global shortcut. Left-click its menu bar icon or click its Dock icon. If neither is there, Gubb has quit; open it again from Applications.

FAQ

Where are my Quick Notes stored?
In Apple Notes, in the Quick Notes folder in the sidebar. You can move a Quick Note to another folder like any other note.

Can I take quick notes on a Mac without Apple Notes?
Yes. Stickies is built in and doesn't use Notes. Tot, Drafts and Gubb are separate apps with their own storage.

Which option works offline?
Quick Note and Stickies let you write without a connection, and so does Gubb, whose notes are stored on your Mac. Syncing to other devices needs a connection, and Gubb doesn't sync at all. The direct-download version of Gubb does need to check its license online at least once every 30 days.