Help & setup · NotePebble

Install NotePebble

NotePebble is available on the Microsoft Store. It's a free download that includes a 7-day trial with every feature.

Open the NotePebble page on the Microsoft Store.
Click Get (or Install). Windows downloads and installs it.
Click Open. NotePebble starts with a short welcome tour.

Requirements

Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11, 64-bit
About 400 MB of disk space for the app. Your notes take about half a kilobyte each.
An internet connection to download the app and to activate your licence

Updates

The Microsoft Store installs new versions automatically. Your notes, settings and licence are kept. See What's new for every release.

Get started

Follow the welcome tour: your name, an avatar, an accent colour, and which screen edge the dock lives on.
Move your mouse to that edge of the screen. The thin pills grow into labelled tabs.
Hover a tab to peek at the note. Click it to write. Press Esc or click anywhere else to tuck it back.
Press Ctrl + Alt + N in any app for a new note.

NotePebble lives in the system tray (next to the clock). Click the tray icon, or press Ctrl + Alt + A, to open the main window with all your notes and Settings.

The dock

The dock is the strip of note tabs on the edge of your screen. It stays above your other apps, including full-screen ones, but only takes a few pixels until you need it.

Pills: when you're not using it, each note is a thin coloured pill on the edge.
Tabs: rest the mouse on the edge and the pills grow into tabs with the note titles.
Peek: hover a tab and the note slides out so you can read it. Move away and it slides back.
Open: click a tab and the note opens in the middle of the screen for writing. You can drag it anywhere.
Close: press Esc, click Close or click outside the note. It flies back to its tab.
Add: the + button under the tabs creates a new note.

Change the edge (left or right) and the size (Small, Medium or Large) in Settings → Desktop tabs. You can also turn off hover peeking there, so notes only open when you click.

Writing notes

Formatting: bold, italic, underline and strikethrough from the toolbar or with the usual shortcuts.
Lists as you type: start a line with - then Space for bullets, 1. then Space for numbers, or [] then Space for a checklist.
Checklists: tick an item to cross it out. Turn on Sink ticked items in Settings → Writing to move finished items to the bottom.
Links: select text and press Ctrl + K. Links open in your browser.
Colours: eight note colours. Press Ctrl + . to cycle through them.
Fonts: four fonts, including a handwriting style. Pick the font for new notes in Settings → Writing.
Saving: everything saves as you type. There is no Save button.

The All notes window

All notes shows every note. On your desk shows the notes that appear in the dock.
Search with Ctrl + F, sort with the arrows button, and filter by colour with the dots in the sidebar.
Drag notes to put them in the order you want. The dock uses the same order.
Done: mark a finished note as complete. It leaves the dock and moves to Done, where you can bring it back.
Delete: deleted notes can be restored with Undo for 10 seconds.
Export: the download button saves the notes you see as Markdown files.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	What it does
`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `N`	New note, from any app
`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `A`	Open NotePebble
`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `L`	Show done notes
`Ctrl` + `N`	New note (in the main window)
`Ctrl` + `F`	Search notes (in the main window)
`Esc`	Close the open note
`Ctrl` + `.`	Change the note's colour
`Ctrl` + `K`	Add a link
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Backspace`	Delete the note, with 10 seconds to undo
`-` / `1.` / `[]` then Space	Start a bullet list, numbered list or checklist

The free trial

Every feature is unlocked for 7 days from the day you first open NotePebble. The sidebar shows how many days are left.

When the trial ends, nothing is deleted. You can still open, read, search and export your notes. Writing, editing, restoring backups and the dock are paused until you activate a licence key. Each PC gets one free trial.

Your licence

Activate your key

Buy a licence on the buy page. Your key arrives by email within a minute or two. Check spam if you can't see it.
In NotePebble, click Get key in the sidebar, or open Settings → Licence → Enter a key. If your trial has ended, use the box on the unlock screen.
Paste the whole key and click Activate. You need to be online for this step.

Move your licence to a new PC

A key is active on one PC at a time. To move it:

On the old PC, open Settings → Licence → Deactivate on this PC (you need to be online).
Install NotePebble on the new PC and enter the same key.

If the old PC is lost, broken or already wiped, email support@notepebble.com with the email address you paid with, and we'll free your key.

Lost your key?

Search your email for "NotePebble" or "Lemon Squeezy". You can also see every order and key at app.lemonsqueezy.com/my-orders by signing in with the email you paid with. Still nothing? Email us.

What the activation messages mean

"That key doesn't exist": part of the key is missing. Copy it again from the email, all of it.
"This key has already been used on another PC": deactivate it on the other PC first, or email us.
"This key has been turned off": the order was refunded or the key was disabled. Email us if that's a mistake.
"Couldn't reach the licence server": connect to the internet and try again. A VPN or firewall can also block it.

Refunds

Not happy? Email support@notepebble.com within 14 days of buying for a full refund. See Terms & refunds.

Your notes, backups and export

Notes are saved on your PC as you type. There is no cloud copy, so keep an export somewhere safe if your notes matter to you.

Where: Settings → Your data shows the exact file. On most PCs it's in %APPDATA%\NotePebble.
Daily backups: once a day NotePebble copies your notes to a backups folder and keeps the last 10 days.
Export: Settings → Your data → Export saves every note as a Markdown file plus a JSON backup. Export always works, even after the trial.
Restore: Settings → Your data → Restore, then pick a backup file. Notes you already have are kept. Restoring is part of the full version.
Open the folder: Settings → Your data → Open folder.

Settings

Section	What you can change
Profile	Your name for the greeting, your avatar and the accent colour
Desktop tabs	Screen edge (left or right), size, show or hide the dock, peek on hover
Writing	Font for new notes, move ticked checklist items to the bottom
Appearance	Light, dark, or follow Windows
Behaviour	Start with Windows, replay the welcome tour
Shortcuts	A list of every keyboard shortcut
Licence	Trial status, enter a key, deactivate on this PC
Your data	Export, example notes, backups and restore, where notes are stored

Start with Windows

NotePebble can open quietly in the tray every time you sign in, so your notes are always on the edge. Turn it on or off in Windows Settings → Apps → Startup, where NotePebble is listed. Settings → Behaviour in NotePebble shows you where.

Troubleshooting

I can't see the tabs on the screen edge

Check that NotePebble is running: its icon should be in the tray. If not, open it from the Start menu.
Check Settings → Desktop tabs → Show tabs on the desktop is on, and which edge is selected.
If your trial has ended, the dock is paused until you activate a key.
With more than one monitor, the dock sits on the main display's edge.

The tabs go behind a full-screen app

The dock re-claims the top of the screen every couple of seconds, so move the mouse to the edge again and it appears. Some games in exclusive full-screen mode always draw over everything. Use borderless or windowed mode in the game's settings.

Ctrl + Alt + N doesn't work

Another app may already use that shortcut. Close the other app or change its shortcut, then restart NotePebble.

My key won't activate

See what the activation messages mean. Make sure you copied the full key, and that you're online without a VPN blocking the connection.

A note disappeared

Look in Done in the main window, or clear the search box and colour filters. If you deleted it in the last few days, restore it from a daily backup (Settings → Your data → Restore).

NotePebble feels slow or stuck

Right-click the tray icon and choose Quit, then open it again from the Start menu. If it keeps happening, email us and tell us what you were doing.

Uninstall

If you have a licence, deactivate it first (Settings → Licence → Deactivate on this PC) so you can use the key again. Then go to Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps → NotePebble → Uninstall. Export your notes first if you want to keep them.

Still stuck?

Email support@notepebble.com. A real person replies, usually within one working day. Tell us your Windows version, what you expected and what happened. A screenshot helps a lot.