Trash & Recovery

When you delete a note, it goes to the trash — not gone forever. You can restore it anytime.

Deleting a Note

Click the Delete button (X) in a note's header. A confirmation dialog asks if you're sure, with the option to cancel.

  • Empty notes skip the confirmation and go straight to trash
  • Notes with reminders always ask for confirmation and warn you that the reminder will be deleted too
  • You can turn off the confirmation dialog in Menu > Settings — but it always appears for notes with reminders, just to be safe

Opening the Trash

Open the hub's Menu and click View Trash. The dialog title shows how many notes are in the trash.

The Trash dialog with deleted notes

Each deleted note shows:

  • A preview of its content
  • How long ago it was deleted (e.g., "3 hours ago", "2 days ago")
  • Hover over a note to see a longer preview in a tooltip

Notes are sorted newest first — the note you just deleted appears at the top.

Restoring a Note

Select a note in the trash and click Restore. The note reappears on your desktop with all its content, colors, and settings intact.

You can select multiple notes at once (hold Ctrl and click, or Shift+Click for a range) and restore them all together. The button shows how many you've selected: "Restore (3)".

Reminders

When you delete a note, its reminder is removed permanently. Restoring the note brings back the content but not the reminder — you'll need to set a new one.

Permanently Deleting a Note

Select a note in the trash and click Delete Forever. This is permanent and can't be undone.

Any images or screenshots attached to the note are also deleted from your computer at this point.

Emptying the Trash

Click Empty Trash at the top of the dialog to permanently delete everything in the trash at once. A confirmation dialog shows the count before proceeding.

How Long Are Deleted Notes Kept?

BetterStickies keeps up to 300 deleted notes. If you go over that, the oldest ones are automatically removed to make room. For most people, this is more than enough.

Free Version

The trash works the same in the free version. The only difference: you can't restore a note if you're already at the 5-note limit. Delete or trash an active note first to make room.

See Also

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