Backing Up Your Notes

BetterStickies saves your notes automatically and keeps recovery copies in case anything goes wrong. You can also make your own manual backup.

Where Your Notes Are Stored

Your notes live in a data folder inside the BetterStickies configuration directory:

PlatformData folder
Linux~/.config/BetterStickies/data/
Windows%APPDATA%\BetterStickies\data\
macOS (planned)~/Library/Application Support/BetterStickies/data/

This folder contains your notes, reminders, deleted notes (trash), and any screenshots you've pasted.

You can also find this path in Menu > Settings under the Data Storage section. There's an Open Folder button that takes you right there.

Automatic Backups

Every time BetterStickies saves, it keeps a backup copy of your notes, your reminders, and your trash. If a main file ever gets corrupted (for example by a power outage, crash, or external file change), BetterStickies automatically recovers from the backup the next time you open it.

It also keeps a couple of daily snapshots as an extra safety net (a copy of how each file looked at the start of the last day or two) in case a problem isn't noticed until later.

There's one deliberate exception. If a file is ever completely empty (you deleted every note, you emptied the Trash, or something outside BetterStickies wiped the file), that empty version is never kept as a backup or a snapshot. The older copy stays instead, so an accidental wipe is still recoverable.

Two things are worth knowing about that exception:

  • This one isn't recovered automatically. An empty file isn't a damaged file. It looks perfectly normal to BetterStickies, which has no way to tell "someone wiped this" apart from "you deleted everything on purpose". So the app opens empty and simply leaves the older copy alone for you. If that wasn't what you wanted, restore it yourself using Restoring from a Backup below.
  • The old contents linger for a while. After you delete everything, the matching backup copy still contains what you deleted. Adding something new doesn't clear it straight away. The copy is refreshed on the following save, so it hangs around one step longer than you'd expect. And if you empty the Trash and never delete another note, that copy keeps the emptied items indefinitely.

You don't need to do anything. This all happens in the background.

Files you might see in the data folder

Alongside your notes, you'll notice some extra files. These are all part of the safety system and are safe to leave alone:

FileWhat it is
notes.json, reminders.json, deleted_notes.jsonYour actual data
*.backup.jsonThe automatic backup copy of each file
*.snapshot-YYYYMMDDA daily snapshot (a couple of days are kept)
*.corrupt-… / *.pre-shrink-…Rare rescue copies saved if BetterStickies detects a file was damaged or unexpectedly emptied, kept so nothing is lost

If you're ever unsure, the safest recovery copy is the matching *.backup.json, or the most recent *.snapshot-… file.

Manual Backups

Close BetterStickies, then copy the complete data folder somewhere safe. That copy contains the JSON stores and BetterStickies-managed screenshots. It does not copy external files referenced by file shortcuts or a background image selected from elsewhere on your computer.

This folder copy is the recovery format for restoring the same installation and data path. Keep it alongside any external files your notes depend on.

You can also use Export Notes to create a readable text or Markdown archive, or a structured JSON copy. Exports do not bundle image files and BetterStickies does not currently have an Import command.

Syncing Across Computers

You can use a cloud service like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or Syncthing to keep your notes on more than one computer: set it up to sync the data folder, and your notes, reminders, and screenshots travel with it.

One important rule until an upcoming update: use BetterStickies on one computer at a time. All your notes are stored together in one file, so if two computers edit notes at the same time, your sync service may settle the clash by replacing the whole file, and one computer's changes can overwrite the other's. Close BetterStickies on one computer and let the sync finish before opening it on the next, and you'll be fine. A future update will rework note storage so that syncing between computers is safe even when they're used at the same time.

Two smaller things to know:

  • Inline screenshots and backgrounds are saved with file paths from the computer they were made on. If the data folder lands at a different path on the other computer (a different username, for example), some images may not appear there.
  • Automatic backups soften sync mishaps, but they aren't a conflict-resolution system. The one-computer-at-a-time rule is what keeps you safe.

Restoring from a Backup

If you need to restore your notes from a backup:

  1. Close BetterStickies
  2. Copy your backed-up data folder to the location shown in the table above
  3. Reopen BetterStickies

When restored to the same data path, your notes and BetterStickies-managed screenshots will appear as they did when the backup was made. External file shortcuts and backgrounds still depend on their original files.

See Also

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