JOURNAL TOOLS · DESKTOP APP

HandNotes for Your Computer

The same HandNotes as the web version, installed on your own computer. Handwriting and drawings, photos, voice recordings with transcripts, and typed notes, organized by project and tag. It opens in its own window from a desktop icon and keeps your notes in a private storage folder on your computer. No account and no server.

The online version is a fully functional demo, but it is not secure. Use this download for notes you want to keep on your own computer.
Download HandNotes-Local.zip (version 2.1.2) Help file Open the web version All tools

Install

  1. Download HandNotes-Local.zip and unzip it. On Windows, right-click it and choose Extract All. The installer will not run from inside the zip preview.
  2. Run the installer for your computer:
    SystemRunWhat it does
    Windows 10 or 11Install-Windows.batInstalls the program into C:\Program Files\HandNotes and adds a Desktop icon, a Start menu icon and an uninstaller under Settings > Apps. Windows asks for permission once; click Yes.
    MacInstall-Mac.commandInstalls into /Applications/HandNotes.app (it shows in Launchpad) and adds a Desktop alias. It may ask for your password. If the Mac blocks the file, right-click it and choose Open.
    Linuxbash install-linux.shInstalls into /opt/handnotes, adds it to the applications menu and puts an icon on the Desktop. It asks for your password (sudo).
  3. Open HandNotes from the desktop icon. It opens in its own window using Chrome, Edge or Brave, whichever is installed. Camera, microphone and folder mirroring need one of those browsers.
  4. In Settings, press Keep data permanently, then Backup now, and keep the backup file somewhere safe.

Your notes are not kept in the program folder. They stay in your own user folder (on Windows, AppData\Local\HandNotes\profile), so updates and reinstalls keep them, and notes from an earlier HandNotes install carry over.

Don't want to install anything? Open app/HandNotes.html from the unzipped folder in Chrome or Edge and it runs as-is.

Moving notes between the web version and your computer

Each copy keeps its own notes. In the copy that has them, go to Settings and press Backup now. In the other copy, press Restore backup and pick that file. Restoring adds the notes and keeps what is already there.

AI and transcription

Both are optional. Add your own Anthropic key (AI tools) and Deepgram key (transcription after recording) in Settings. The keys stay in this computer's storage and are sent only to those two services when you press a button. Browser speech recognition works without a key in Chrome and Edge.

Uninstall

Windows: Settings > Apps > HandNotes > Uninstall, or Uninstall-Windows.bat from the zip. Mac: Uninstall-Mac.command. Linux: bash uninstall-linux.sh. Uninstalling removes the app and its shortcuts and keeps your notes, unless you type DELETE when it asks. Make a backup first either way.

HandNotes 2.1.2 · © 2026 Jeff A Pierson / Sharing and reposting permitted if the document remains unaltered and attribution is retained. Commercial use requires written permission.