A local-first note-taking app that holds everything

If you want a notes app that is fast, private and yours, the simplest answer is one that keeps everything on your own computer. Barside is a free, local-first note-taking app for Windows, Linux and Mac. You open it, you write, and every change is saved on your machine as you type. There is no account to create, no note limit and no cloud you have to trust with your ideas.

This guide shows what a Barside note can hold, how to organize a large library, and where your notes live.

What a Barside note can hold

A note in Barside is a full page, not a text box. The toolbar has everything you expect from a document editor:

• Headings, fonts, sizes, text color and highlight color.
• Bold, italic, underline and strikethrough, alignment, bullet and numbered lists.
• Checklists, quotes and code blocks for commands or snippets.
• Links to websites, and links to other notes when you type [[ (see linked notes and backlinks).
• Tables, with row and column actions that appear when your cursor is inside one.

Spelling is checked as you type. Right-click a word with a red underline to pick one of up to five suggestions, or choose Add to dictionary. The same menu has Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste as plain text and Select all.

Notes also hold media. The media button adds images, video and audio, and you can drag supported files into the editor. Barside copies each file into its own storage, so moving or deleting the original never breaks the note. To add a screenshot, copy it with your system's screenshot tool, click in the note and paste. On Windows that is Win+Shift+S, then Ctrl+V, and the Paste screenshot button reads the image straight from the clipboard.

A note can also be the home for bigger things. You can record your screen into a note, draw a diagram with Excalidraw or save a copy of a webpage, and it all stays inside the note.

How to create and organize notes

1. Open Barside and choose Create, then New note. Ctrl+N does the same.
2. Type a title. If you leave it empty, Barside suggests a short title from the note's text, made on your computer.
3. Write. There is no save button: each change is saved as you type.
4. Choose a workspace from the selector above the note to file it with a project.
5. Use Note options to change the note's color, duplicate it, save it as a template, or delete it.

Workspaces keep a large library calm. Each workspace has its own color, and its notes, cards and pinned tabs use it, so you can tell projects apart at a glance. There is no limit on notes or workspaces. See workspaces for projects for how to set them up.

Notes at the edge of your screen

Barside is a desktop app first. You can pin any note to the desktop in its own window, or dock it to the edge of your screen, where it folds into a slim tab. Open the tab when you need the note, and it slides back when you are done. It is the difference between a notes app you have to go to and notes that stay beside your work.

The search bar finds any note from any app: press Alt+Shift+Space anywhere, or Ctrl+K inside Barside, and type a few words of the title or text. It also finds tasks, bookmarks, meetings and commands. See the search bar and hotkeys.

Checklists that become tasks

Any checklist in any note is a real task list. Hover a checklist item and choose + date to give it a due date, right in the note. Every checklist item from every note then appears on one board, grouped by when it is due: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Next 7 days, Later and No due date. Tick a task there and it is ticked in the note too. See the task board built from your checklists.

For notes you write again and again, start from a template: meeting notes, a daily journal, a weekly review, a project brief, a one-on-one or research notes, or any note of your own. Repeating notes make themselves on a schedule, like a daily journal at 8:00. See note templates and repeating notes.

Who it is for

• Students who want lecture notes, readings and deadlines in one place that works without the campus Wi-Fi.
• Writers who want a quiet editor with no account and no feed, and drafts that never leave their computer.
• Consultants and freelancers who keep a workspace per client, with bookmarks and meeting notes beside the work.
• Developers who want code blocks, checklists and a search bar that finds a snippet from any app.
• Anyone leaving a cloud notes app who wants their library back on their own drive. Importing takes a few minutes.

Tips for a library that stays easy to use

• One workspace per area of your life or work, not per topic. Five to ten workspaces stay easy to scan.
• Link instead of copying. Type [[ to point to another note, so each idea lives in one place and the note map shows how they connect.
• Put dates on checklist items you mean to do, and let the task board remind you. Undated items still appear under No due date.
• Keep reference material in bookmarks. Each workspace has its own bookmark bar, so links stay beside the notes they belong to.
• Search before you create. The search bar finds titles and text in a moment, which keeps duplicates away.

Where your notes live

Barside is local-first. Your notes, and the images, video and audio in them, are stored in Barside's data folder on your computer. Nothing is uploaded unless you use an online feature on purpose: sharing a note to a Space, a share link, or cloud backup with Barside Plus.

Backups are yours to control. Settings & backups makes a ZIP of the whole library, and each app update makes a safety copy first. With Barside Plus, cloud backup encrypts the library on your computer before it uploads, and you can restore any day from the last 90. Read more about local-first storage and backups and the privacy guide.

Using AI with your notes

Barside has no AI model of its own and no AI subscription. If you want AI, you connect your own Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or OpenRouter account in Settings → AI. Then the AI assistant can read and write notes you point it to, AI search answers questions from your library, and agents can prepare drafts that wait for your approval. You can also let Claude Desktop, ChatGPT and other AI apps use chosen workspaces through AI connections. Without a connection, no note is ever sent to an AI.

How it compares

Cloud editors such as Notion are built around a shared online workspace. Barside is built around your computer: faster to open, fully offline, and private by default, with online Spaces only when you want to share. If you are comparing apps, read the Notion alternative and Obsidian alternative guides, or the list of the best note-taking apps.

On platforms: Barside runs on Windows 10 and 11 and on Linux (AppImage or .deb), and on Mac.

Works well with