Best Sticky Notes Apps for Linux (2026): GNOME, KDE and Cinnamon

The best sticky notes app for Linux in 2026 depends on your desktop. On Cinnamon, Linux Mint's own Sticky is the best free pick. On KDE Plasma, the built-in Sticky Note widget covers light use. BetterStickies is the pick when notes need to hold screenshots, files and code on any desktop. KNotes is discontinued, so skip it.

Most Linux sticky notes roundups still recommend KNotes, which KDE stopped releasing in 2024, and few of them say which apps are still maintained or how they behave on Wayland. Every app below was checked against its project page, its latest release and the distribution packages on 25 September 2026.

Quick Picks by Desktop

The Apps

1. BetterStickies

BetterStickies is a modern sticky notes app for the desktop. Notes can hold pasted screenshots, files, and code blocks, sit on image or animated GIF backgrounds, nest inside each other, and set reminders. Everything works offline, notes stay on your computer, and the app needs no account.

On Linux it is tested on the KDE Plasma, GNOME, and Cinnamon desktops, across Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, Mint, and Zorin. On KDE Plasma, the AppImage puts notes on every virtual desktop and Activity automatically (the sandboxed Snap build can't). The same app also runs on Windows and macOS, so notes look and work the same if you switch machines.

• Install: the AppImage from betterstickies.com needs no installation, or install the Snap with sudo snap install betterstickies
• Price: free for 4 notes (each extra tab in a note counts as one); Premium is a one-time unlock, currently $7.99, for unlimited notes
• Weak spots: it is not open source, it has no cloud sync or mobile app, and system-wide shortcuts need a one-time setup in your desktop's settings (they aren't available in the Snap build)

2. Sticky (Linux Mint)

Sticky is made by the Linux Mint team and has been Mint's default notes app since Linux Mint 20.2. It is a well-rounded GTK app: text formatting, checklists, highlighting, note colors, an always-on-top option, groups, search, a tray icon, and both manual and automatic backups. It is actively maintained, with version 1.32 released in August 2026.

• Install: preinstalled on Linux Mint; on Arch, sudo pacman -S sticky. It is not in the Ubuntu LTS repositories, and Debian carries it (as mint-sticky) only in unstable
• Wayland: since version 1.32 it always runs through XWayland rather than as a native Wayland app
• Weak spots: outside Mint and Arch it is awkward to install; images in notes are not a listed feature

3. Sticky Note Widget (KDE Plasma)

KDE Plasma has its own Sticky Note widget: add it to the desktop or a panel from Plasma's widget list by searching for "Sticky Note". Each widget is one note with rich text (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough) and ten background colors, including transparent. Plasma 6.5 made notes on a panel resizable to a much smaller size.

• Install: it comes with Plasma's add-ons package; if the widget isn't in the list, install your distribution's kdeplasma-addons package
• Weak spots: one widget per note gets unwieldy past a handful of notes; checklists, images and search are not listed features

4. Sticky Notes (GNOME)

Sticky Notes by vixalien is a clean GTK4 app that looks at home on GNOME. It has text formatting, note colors, a dark theme, search, and reopens the notes you had open. Development has slowed: the latest release, 0.2.7, came out in April 2025, and checklists are still an open proposal rather than a shipped feature.

• Install: flatpak install flathub com.vixalien.sticky (Flathub is the only supported way to install it)
• Weak spots: no release in over a year; keeping a note above other windows goes through the window menu

5. Xpad

Xpad is the veteran: a small GTK3 app whose notes, called pads, sit on the desktop with text formatting, colors, search, read-only pads, and an option to show notes on every workspace. Version 5.9.0 arrived in August 2026, the first release in four years, adding transparency.

• Install: sudo apt install xpad on Ubuntu, sudo pacman -S xpad on Arch
• Weak spots: Ubuntu describes it as a sticky note application for X, and the project makes no statement about Wayland; images and checklists are not listed features

6. Jorts

Jorts is a friendly sticky notes app built for elementary OS that runs on other desktops through Flathub. It has eleven pastel themes, a random editable title for each new note, and a "scribbles" mode for privacy. It is actively developed (version 4.4.0, September 2026) and also offers Windows installers.

• Install: flatpak install flathub page.codeberg.elly_code.jorts
• Weak spots: images, checklists and reminders are not listed features

7. Microsoft Sticky Notes, in a Browser

There is no Microsoft Sticky Notes app for Linux. If you use it on a Windows PC at work, your notes are reachable on Linux through the Notes folder in Outlook on the web, with colors, formatting, and pictures. They live in a browser tab rather than on the desktop, and they need a Microsoft account.

Apps to Skip in 2026

• KNotes: KDE no longer maintains or releases it. It was dropped from KDE Gear 24.08 and its code repository is archived. KDE recommends Marknote, which is a notes app rather than sticky notes.
• Indicator Stickynotes: the last release was in 2022, and its PPA stops at Ubuntu 22.04.
• GNOME's sticky notes applet: it only works inside the GNOME Flashback panel and receives maintenance updates only.

Comparison Table

"Not listed" means the project's own pages don't mention the feature, which is not proof that it is missing.

When to Choose BetterStickies

• You want notes that hold screenshots, files, or code blocks, not only text
• You use more than one desktop or distribution, or also use Windows or macOS, and want the same app everywhere
• You want reminders, note tabs, and search across every note in one app
• You'd rather pay once than subscribe, and you're happy to start with the free version's 4 notes

When to Choose Something Else

• You're on Linux Mint and want free, unlimited text notes: Sticky is already installed and does checklists and backups well
• You need one or two notes on KDE: the Sticky Note widget costs nothing and is already part of Plasma
• You want open source only: Sticky, Xpad, Jorts, or the Plasma widget
• You live in Microsoft 365: Microsoft Sticky Notes through Outlook on the web keeps your Windows notes in reach

For the wider field, including Windows-only apps, see Best Sticky Notes Apps for Windows and Linux.

FAQ

Is KNotes still available?

No. KDE stopped maintaining and releasing KNotes, removed it from KDE Gear 24.08 in 2024, and archived its code, so it gets no fixes. On Plasma, use the Sticky Note widget for simple notes, or a separate app such as BetterStickies or Xpad.

What is the best sticky notes app for Ubuntu?

Ubuntu uses GNOME, so the Sticky Notes app from Flathub is the simplest free option, and Xpad installs straight from Ubuntu's repositories. Linux Mint's Sticky is not in the Ubuntu LTS repositories. For notes with screenshots, files, or code, BetterStickies runs on Ubuntu as an AppImage or a Snap.

Do sticky notes apps work on Wayland?

It depends on the app. Linux Mint's Sticky runs through XWayland, Xpad was built for X, and several smaller projects don't say. BetterStickies supports Wayland sessions and has shipped Wayland-specific fixes for taskbar icons and input methods.

Can I use Microsoft Sticky Notes on Linux?

Not as a desktop app. You can read and edit the same notes in a browser through the Notes folder in Outlook on the web, signed in with the Microsoft account the notes sync to.

Is there a sticky notes app for both Linux and Windows?

Yes. BetterStickies runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS, and Jorts offers Windows installers alongside its Linux version. Microsoft Sticky Notes reaches Linux only through a web browser.

Is BetterStickies open source?

No. BetterStickies is proprietary. The free version is limited to 4 notes, and a one-time Premium unlock (currently $7.99) removes the limit. If open source matters most, Sticky, Xpad, and Jorts are good choices.