How Do I Use Stickies on My Mac?
Desktop sticky notes have been part of macOS for a long time but it’s easy to get them confused with the Notes app. Sticky notes are created by the Stickies app, not the Notes app. Sticky notes allow you to jot down notes but unlike Notes, Stickies stay on your desktop (the Finder app) as visual reminders. There is a setting to have the sticky notes float over all other windows and apps if you wish. Stickies is a built-in macOS application so it should already be installed on your Mac. Here’s where to find the Stickies app in the Finder:
How Do I Edit Stickies?
When you create a new sticky note, it will default to a yellow background with black text. However, Stickies has a number of format options to help you differentiate your notes.
Change a Note’s Color and Font
How Do I Arrange My Stickies?
Like physical stickies, your virtual notes can easily get cluttered if you use them a lot. Fortunately, there are ways to manage this so you can reduce screen clutter and keep better track of your important notes.
Arrange Stickies in a Specific Order
If you’d like to keep your notes grouped together under different categories, Stickies lets you set specific arrangement orders to help keep things organized.
Arrange Stickies in Stacks
Location on Screen in particular is a great way to arrange your notes since it stacks them neatly in the top left of your desktop. However, it also folds them into small bars that will cut off long sections of text. You can type Command+Z on your keyboard to undo this arrangement but it will only work if this is the last action you performed.
Color: Arrange notes by color in reverse order of how they appear under the Color menu.Content: Arrange notes alphabetically (determined by the first letter that appears in the note).Date: Arrange notes by the date they were created. The most recent notes will appear at the bottom.Location on Screen: Arrange notes based on their screen location from left to right. Under this arrangement, the leftmost stickies will go at the top.
To expand sticky notes without using Command+Z, follow these steps:
How Do I Make Stickies Easier to Find?
Since sticky notes only appear on your desktop by default, they can quickly become buried if you have a lot of other apps and windows open. However, you can make your notes float on top of any window you have open so you’ll always see them.
How Do I Save or Delete Stickies?
Your notes will save automatically in the Stickies app but if you’d like to access them elsewhere, you can export the text as a Plain Text (.txt) file.
