Don't Forget: How to Create and Sync Sticky Notes in Windows

Sticky Notes has been a handy feature in Windows for years, giving you the ability to create and place virtual notes on the screen to remind you of things you need to do. But beyond simply concocting notes, you can save and access them in a history list and sync them across multiple computers. That means you can create notes on your Windows 11 laptop and access them on your Windows 10 tablet without missing a beat. Here's how to get started.

Open and Sync Sticky Notes

Sticky Notes is included in Windows as an app. In Windows 10, click the Start button and select the Sticky Notes shortcut from the app list. Windows 11 users can open the Start menu and click All Apps, then select the Sticky Notes listing. Alternatively, just type "Sticky Notes" in the search field and select the result.

The first time you launch Sticky Notes, a Welcome screen pops up inviting you to sign in with your Microsoft Account so you can sync your notes on other devices. Click Get started to sign in or choose Use another account if you have a preferred login.

Create and Store Sticky Notes

Type your first note in the note window. You can create additional notes by clicking the plus sign. Sticky Notes supports cut, copy, and paste. Select and right-click on the text in a note and choose Cut or Copy. Right-click any empty area in a note and choose Paste.

You can also play with the formatting of the text in the note. Select the entire note or just the text you want to reformat. The note window offers icons for bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and bullet points.

You can even paint your notes with different colors. For any note you want to repaint, click the ellipsis icon and choose a different color. When done, you can then close the note. Your note is not deleted; it is instead stored in your Sticky Notes history.

Even if you close out the Sticky Notes app entirely, your notes will remain saved in the program. You can double-click a closed note to open it back up again, and even add more information or change what is already there, if necessary.

If your notes start to pile up, you can search for specific ones. In the history window, type your keyword in the search field to display the relevant results.

Delete Sticky Notes

If you want to delete a note, click the ellipsis icon and select Delete note. You can also do this by hovering your mouse over the note in the history list and clicking the trash can icon. You can also delete a note from the context menu. Right-click on a note and then select Delete note.

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You're asked to confirm if you want to delete the note. Click on Delete to remove it or click on Keep to save it from the axe. Check the box next to Don't ask me again to disable the confirmation question going forward.

Access Cloud Storage

You can sync your notes in the cloud. At the history window, click on the Settings icon. Click on the Sign in button and then sign in with your Microsoft Account, if you didn’t already do so when you first launched Sticky Notes.

Now when you move to another computer that's running Windows 10 or 11, you can open Sticky Notes and find the notes you previously created on your other device.