Markdown Notes

A zero-install, offline notes app that edits real .md files in a folder you choose. The folder is the database — no accounts, no cloud service, no lock-in. You write in a WYSIWYG editor (formatted text, like Word/Notion — no raw markdown symbols), and everything is saved as plain Markdown on disk. Built with plain HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript; the only bundled dependency is the Toast UI Editor (vendored under vendor/, so it still runs fully offline).

A note open in the WYSIWYG editor (light theme):

Requirements

• Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome (any recent version). The app uses the browser File System Access API to read and write files on disk, which Firefox and Safari do not support.

How to run

1. Open index.html in Edge or Chrome (double-click it, or right-click → Open with).
2. Click Open folder and choose where your notes live (any folder on your disk, e.g. a Notes folder synced by OneDrive/Dropbox).
3. Grant read/write permission when the browser asks.

That's it. The app remembers the folder, so on the next launch you only re-grant permission with one click ("Reconnect folder").

Sync across devices with OneDrive

The notes folder you pick can live inside OneDrive (or any sync service — Dropbox, Google Drive Desktop, iCloud Drive). Since every note is a plain .md file on disk, OneDrive syncs them like any other files: edits made on one machine show up on your others automatically, and you get OneDrive's versioning/backup for free. Just choose a OneDrive-synced folder (e.g. OneDrive\Notes) in the Open folder step above — nothing else to configure.

Desktop shortcut (Windows, optional)

For a one-click launch, you can put a Notes shortcut on your Desktop. It runs launch-notes.vbs, which starts a tiny local server (http://127.0.0.1:8787) and opens the app in Chrome's app mode. Serving over http://localhost (instead of file://) lets Chrome remember the folder permission across launches. Requires Python on PATH (python -m http.server).

Easiest — run the helper script:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File create-shortcut.ps1

This creates Notes.lnk on your Desktop, pointing at this folder, with the notes.ico icon.

Or do it by hand:

1. Right-click the Desktop → New → Shortcut.
2. For the location, paste (adjust the path to where you cloned the repo): wscript.exe "C:\path\to\Markdown-Notes-editor-\launch-notes.vbs"
3. Name it Notes.
4. Right-click the new shortcut → Properties:
   • Start in: the repo folder (e.g. C:\path\to\Markdown-Notes-editor-)
   • Change Icon… → browse to notes.ico in the repo folder.

The original Notes.lnk is intentionally not committed (it hard-codes an absolute local path); generate your own with the steps above.

Features

• WYSIWYG editing — write formatted text directly with a toolbar (bold, italic, headings, lists, links, tables, code…); no markdown syntax to type. Saved as Markdown automatically.
• Real files & folders — each note is a .md file; each folder is a real subdirectory.
• Autosave — edits are written back to disk ~0.7 s after you stop typing (status shows Saving… / Saved). Ctrl+S forces a save.
• Full-text search — filter the sidebar by note title and content.
• Organize — create, rename, move (via the folder dropdown), and delete notes and folders.
• Import / Export — bring in external .md / .markdown / .txt files, or download a copy of the current note.
• Light & dark — follows your OS theme automatically.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + N	New note
Ctrl + S	Save now

(Standard formatting shortcuts like Ctrl + B / Ctrl + I are provided by the editor.)

Files

File	Role
index.html	App shell and layout.
styles.css	Layout, theming (light/dark), sidebar + editor host.
fs.js	File System Access layer + handle persistence (window.FS).
app.js	UI state, tree rendering, autosave, search, import/export, editor.
vendor/	Bundled Toast UI Editor (toastui-editor.js + light/dark CSS).

Verifying changes (manual)

There is no build or test suite — checking the app means opening index.html and exercising the UI. After any change to app.js / fs.js, run through these scenarios; each one targets a data-loss or state-corruption bug that has bitten this app before:

1. Switch notes with a pending edit — type into note A, then within ~0.7 s click note B. B must keep its own content (A's unsaved text must not leak into B), and A must be saved.
2. Rename, then quickly switch — edit note A's title, then immediately click note B before the rename lands. The rename must apply to A, and B must open normally.
3. Rename a folder containing the open note — the editor must re-open the same note at its new path (not go blank or write to the old, now-deleted location).
4. Move a note and move it back — moving to a folder then back to the same folder must be a no-op (no note-2.md duplicate), and the editor must follow the note to its new location.
5. Search, then clear it fast — type a query, then immediately backspace to empty. The full tree must stay rendered (a late search result must not overwrite it).
6. Create a note in a subfolder — select a subfolder, create a note; the newly created note must open, even if a same-named note exists elsewhere in the tree.
7. Close with an unsaved edit — type, then close the tab within ~0.7 s. The browser should prompt before closing so the save can land.

Notes & limitations

• Editing is WYSIWYG, but storage is plain Markdown. Conversion is handled by the Toast UI Editor; very exotic Markdown may round-trip imperfectly.
• Renaming a note rewrites the file under a new name (the API has no atomic rename); the same is true for moving notes between folders and renaming folders.
• Because files are plain .md on disk, OneDrive (or any sync tool) keeps them in sync across devices automatically.

Credits & licenses

This project's own code is released under the MIT License — © 2026 Adou63.

It bundles third-party assets under vendor/, which keep their own licenses:

• Toast UI Editor 3.2.2 — MIT License, © NHN Cloud (vendor/toastui-editor-all.min.js and its CSS).
• Newsreader and Hanken Grotesk fonts — SIL Open Font License 1.1, via Google Fonts (vendor/fonts/).