Getting Started

Notes Tab turns every new browser tab into a fast, distraction-free notes editor. Open a new tab and you are immediately in a rich-text document that saves itself as you type. Everything stays on your own machine by default, and you can organize your writing across multiple named tabs, search all of them at once, and optionally hand selected notes to an AI agent.

Start writing on a new tab

Open a new browser tab and start typing. The first time, you land on a tab called Home with a short starter note showing what you can do. Your text is saved automatically a fraction of a second after you stop typing, so there is no save button and nothing to lose if you close the tab.

Notes are written in rich text but stored as Markdown. You can type Markdown shortcuts inline and they format as you go:

Type # , ## , or ### for headings
Type - for a bulleted list or 1. for a numbered list
Type > for a quote
Wrap text in **bold**, *italic*, ~~strikethrough~~, or `inline code`

Type / anywhere on a line to open the command menu, then keep typing to filter (for example /check or /h1). Pick an item with the arrow keys and Enter, or click it. The menu inserts:

Heading 1, 2, or 3
Bulleted list and Numbered list
Checklist — a list of checkboxes you can tick off
Image — opens a file picker to drop a picture inline
Divider — a horizontal rule between sections

Press Escape to dismiss the menu without choosing anything.

Style selected text

Select any text to bring up a small formatting toolbar above it. From there you can toggle bold, italic, ~~strikethrough~~, and inline code, add a link by pasting a URL, or copy the selection as Markdown. To remove a link, open the link editor on linked text and clear the field.

Add checklists, images, and links

Checklists: insert one from the slash menu and click a box to check or uncheck it. Lists can be nested.
Images: paste an image from your clipboard or drag an image file straight into the note, and it is embedded inline. You can also insert one through the slash menu’s Image command.
Links: paste a URL onto selected text, or just type a URL and it becomes clickable. Links open in a new tab.

Organize notes into tabs

Notes Tab keeps separate documents in named tabs along the top of the page.

Add a tab: click the + button in the tab strip. New tabs are named Tab 1, Tab 2, and so on.
Rename a tab: click the tab that is already active to edit its name, type a new name, and press Enter.
Switch tabs: click a tab, or use the keyboard — Ctrl/Cmd + [ and ] cycle through your visible tabs.

Each tab holds its own note, and switching tabs instantly loads that note into the editor.

Search across every tab

Click the magnifying-glass button in the tab strip or press Ctrl/Cmd + K to open search. Start typing and Notes Tab looks through every visible tab’s name and note body at once. Results show the tab name, a snippet of the surrounding text with your term highlighted, and a count when a term appears more than once. Move through results with the arrow keys and press Enter (or click) to jump to that tab — the matching text is highlighted on the page for about ten seconds so you can find it. Press Escape to close search.

Manage tabs in Settings

Click the gear button in the tab strip to open Settings, where you can manage your whole workspace:

Reorder tabs by dragging the handle next to each one.
Hide a tab to remove it from the tab strip without deleting its note; show it again the same way. Hiding the tab you are on moves you to another visible tab.
Delete a tab and its note (you are asked to confirm first). You cannot delete your only tab.

Choose a theme

In the Appearance section of Settings, pick Auto, Light, or Dark. Auto follows your operating system’s light/dark setting and updates live when that changes.

Copy a note as Markdown

To get a note out of Notes Tab, click Copy markdown below the tab strip to copy the current tab’s full note to your clipboard as Markdown. To copy just part of a note, select the text and use the copy button in the formatting toolbar.

Back up and restore your notes

In the Backup section of Settings:

Export to file saves all your tabs and notes to a single JSON file (named with today’s date) that downloads to your computer.
Import from file loads a previously exported backup. Importing replaces everything currently stored, so you are asked to confirm — the dialog tells you how many tabs and notes the backup contains and when it was exported.

By default every note is stored locally and stays private. If you want an AI agent on your computer to read certain notes, turn on Agent sharing in Settings:

Switch on Share notes with an AI Agent.
Mark the tabs you want to share using the lightning-bolt button next to each tab in the Settings list. Shared tabs show a lightning-bolt badge in the tab strip.
Notes Tab writes the shared notes as plain files into a folder under your Downloads (~/Downloads/notes-tab-shared/), refreshing them whenever a shared note changes.
Use Copy AI prompt to copy a ready-made instruction that tells your agent where to find the shared notes, then paste it into your agent.

Turning sharing off (or unsharing a tab) removes those notes from the shared folder. You choose exactly which notes are shared; nothing leaves your machine unless you mark it.

Where your notes live

Notes Tab stores everything in your browser on the device you are using. Notes are not synced to an account or a server. If you open new tabs in more than one window, edits made in one are picked up by the others. To move notes to another machine, use Export and Import in Settings.

Learn more

This page is the quick tour. For a deeper guide to each feature:

The notes editor — Markdown shortcuts, the slash menu, formatting, checklists, images, and links.
Organizing notes with tabs — adding, renaming, switching, and copying notes.
Searching across your tabs — the command palette, match snippets, and jump-to-match.
Settings and your workspace — reorder, hide, and delete tabs; themes; backup and restore.
Sharing notes with an AI agent — the opt-in bridge that hands chosen notes to a local agent.
Installing and updating Notes Tab — store builds and the beta channel.