Windows Sticky Notes Alternatives for Checklists and Markdown

The best Windows Sticky Notes alternative depends on what Sticky Notes is missing for you. Use Notepad for plain text files you control, OneNote for synced notebooks, Microsoft To Do for synced checklists, and Obsidian for Markdown notes in local vaults. If you want tickable checklists and a small Kanban board stored on your PC, with no account in the app, Gubb (our app) does that.

People usually leave Sticky Notes for one of three reasons. They want checklists or a board, which the Store listing doesn't describe. They want notes that stay on their PC instead of syncing through OneNote and Outlook. Or they lost track of notes after Microsoft added a second, OneNote-based version.

• Notepad: best for plain text saved as files, with nothing to install.
• OneNote: best for notebooks that mix typing, handwriting and clipped content across Windows, Mac and phones.
• Microsoft To Do: best for simple to-do lists that sync with Outlook and your phone.
• Obsidian: best for Markdown notes stored in local vaults.
• Gubb: best for one quick-capture window with checklists, Kanban boards and in-note math, stored locally.

We make Gubb, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to be fair to every app here.

Windows Sticky Notes alternatives compared

Prices are as of November 2026.

What Microsoft Sticky Notes does well, and where it stops

Sticky Notes is free from Microsoft. Its Store listing says you can type, ink or add a picture, add text formatting, stick notes to the desktop, move them freely, and close them to a Notes list. Notes sync to OneNote Mobile, Microsoft Launcher for Android and Outlook for Windows.

The limits that send people looking:

• No checklists or boards in the description. The listing covers text, ink, pictures and formatting. It doesn't mention to-do lists you can tick, Kanban boards, timers or voice input.
• Two versions at once. A newer Sticky Notes opens from the Sticky Notes button inside OneNote for Windows, alongside the older desktop app. A Microsoft support blog from October 2026 says some users can't find notes they made in the old one. If notes seem to be missing, check both versions before assuming they're gone.
• Built around Microsoft's apps. Sync is the point: notes travel to OneNote, Outlook and Android. That helps if you live in Microsoft 365, and less so if you want notes that never leave your PC.
• Windows only. There's no Mac app, so it doesn't help if you switch between a Windows PC and a Mac.

Notepad: the built-in option for plain text

Notepad comes with Windows. Search for "Notepad" in the Start menu, type, and press Ctrl+S to save the note as a file wherever you like. Your notes are ordinary files: you can back them up, search them, or keep them in any folder you already sync.

Good at: zero setup, no sign-in to write and save, and files you fully control.

Lacks: structure. A to-do list is lines of text you mark done yourself, there are no boards or due dates, and nothing sticks a note to the desktop the way Sticky Notes does.

Price: free.

Pick it if your notes are short reminders and you care more about owning the files than about checkboxes.

OneNote: more room and sync everywhere

OneNote is Microsoft's digital notebook. It runs on Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android and the web, and syncs your notes across devices. It handles mixed content: typing, handwriting and clipped media in the same notebook. The newer Sticky Notes already lives inside OneNote for Windows, so moving up to OneNote keeps you in the same family.

Good at: cross-platform access (including Mac), sync, and pages that hold more than a few lines.

Lacks: speed for tiny notes. It's a notebook with sections and pages, not a scratchpad. Some features need a paid Microsoft 365 subscription.

Price: free; some features require Microsoft 365.

Pick it if you need your notes on your phone and a Mac as well as on Windows, and you're fine keeping them in Microsoft's cloud.

Microsoft To Do: when your sticky notes are really to-do lists

If most of your sticky notes are task lists, a list app fits better than a notes app. Microsoft To Do is free and cloud-based. It runs on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and the web, syncs tasks with Outlook, and pulls in tasks from other Microsoft 365 apps.

Good at: real tickable tasks, reminders, and sync across devices.

Lacks: anything beyond lists, which Cloudwards' review names as a drawback. It's also the opposite of local-only: your tasks live in the cloud.

Price: free, with no paid plans found.

Pick it if you want reminders on your phone and don't mind your lists syncing through Microsoft.

Obsidian: Markdown notes stored locally

Obsidian is a Markdown note-taking app that keeps notes in local "vaults". It has desktop and mobile apps; check obsidian.md for the supported systems. Version 1.14 added support for opening individual Markdown files and a Kanban view for Bases, and the app is updated often.

Good at: Markdown and local storage. If writing in Markdown and keeping notes on your own machine are your top two wishes, this is the strongest pick here.

Lacks: the instant, single-purpose feel of a sticky note. It's a full note system you set up and learn. Syncing between devices with Obsidian Sync is a paid subscription, and publishing notes as a website is another.

Price: the core app is free. Third-party sources list Sync at $4 per user per month billed annually or $5 monthly.

Pick it if you want Markdown and local storage first, and you're willing to set up a vault.

Gubb: a local scratchpad with checklists and Kanban

Gubb is our app. It's one window for quick capture with no account and no sync. Notes are stored on your computer in a local database, and the main extras live inside the note itself:

• Markdown-style typing. At the start of a line, type # and Space for a heading, - and Space for a bullet, or [ ] and Space for a checklist item you click to tick (checked items are struck through). Our Markdown checklist syntax guide explains the general idea.
• To-do lists. A line containing only gubb@todo becomes a to-do block grouped into Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Upcoming and No Date, with priorities, notes and subtasks.
• Kanban boards. A line containing only gubb@board creates a board with "To Do", "In Progress" and "Done" columns. You drag cards between columns, and cards can carry labels, checklists, due dates and descriptions. If boards are new to you, read what a Kanban board is.
• Other tools in the same window: clipboard history (text only), a countdown and stopwatch timer, break reminders, basic arithmetic, currency and unit conversion inside a note, and voice-to-text into the note with a downloaded local Whisper model (English only, and only the first 30 seconds of each recording are transcribed).
  Good at: checklists and boards without a separate task app, and notes that stay on your computer with no sign-in inside the app. A few things do go online: currency conversion fetches exchange rates, downloading a voice model needs a connection, and the app loads one font from Google Fonts at launch. Your notes themselves aren't uploaded anywhere.

Lacks:

• Separate stickies on the desktop. Gubb is one window with many notes inside it.
• Sync and a phone app. Notes stay on one computer, and there's no iPhone, iPad or Android app.
• Images, attachments, tables, folders and tags. Notes can't hold any of these.
• A safety net for deletes. Deleting a note happens without confirmation and there's no trash.
• Reminders. To-do due dates don't trigger notifications.
• Plain files. Notes are kept in a database, not .md files, and the Markdown export currently writes the app's internal note data rather than clean text. If you want plain files you can open anywhere, Notepad or Obsidian fits better.

Price: on Windows, Gubb is sold through the Microsoft Store; check the listing for the current price. Buying there goes through your Microsoft account, but the app itself never asks you to sign in. The Mac version is $59 one-time on gubb.net, as of November 2026.

Pick it if you want checklists and a small Kanban board in the same quick window, stored locally, and you don't need your notes on your phone.

Moving your notes out of Sticky Notes

Whichever app you choose, copy and paste is the dependable way to move a handful of notes:

1. Open a note in Sticky Notes.
2. Press Ctrl+A to select all of its text.
3. Press Ctrl+C to copy it.
4. Click into the new app and press Ctrl+V to paste.

If you used old Sticky Notes and the newer one in OneNote, check both so nothing gets left behind. In Gubb, to rebuild a list as tickable items, type [ ] and Space on a new empty line, then paste or type the item. For longer lists, start a gubb@todo block and add each item in the "Add a task..." field, pressing Enter after each.

Should you switch at all?

Often not. Sticky Notes is free, already installed, sits right on your desktop, accepts ink and pictures, and puts your notes on your phone through OneNote Mobile and Microsoft Launcher. For a few short reminders, nothing on this list is more convenient.

Switch when a specific gap bothers you:

• You want checkboxes or due dates: Microsoft To Do (synced) or Gubb (local).
• You want a Kanban board for personal projects: Gubb, or Obsidian's Kanban view for Bases if you already use Obsidian.
• You want Markdown notes stored locally: Obsidian.
• You want notes on a Mac and a phone too: OneNote or Microsoft To Do.
• You want notes kept on your PC: Notepad, Obsidian without Sync, or Gubb.

FAQ

Is there a sticky-notes style app that works on both Windows and Mac?

OneNote and Microsoft To Do run on both and sync between them. Gubb also runs on Windows and Mac, but it has no sync, so each computer keeps its own notes.

Which of these work without an internet connection?

Notepad saves local files, and Obsidian keeps notes in local vaults. In Gubb, notes, checklists, boards, math and unit conversions work offline, and so does voice-to-text once a model is downloaded. Currency conversion needs a connection.

For more options, see our guides to quick notes apps for Windows, offline note-taking apps for Windows and the best note-taking app for Windows.