Notepad Chrome Extension That Works Offline: NotePADD

NotePADD: an offline notepad for Chrome

Quick notes in your toolbar, with or without the internet

NotePADD is a free notepad extension for Chrome that works offline and needs no account. Click the toolbar icon to write quick notes, checklists and formatted text, keep several notes with search, and lock them with a password (AES-256 encryption). If you want a backup, NotePADD can copy your notes to a spreadsheet in your own Google Drive.

What does NotePADD do?

NotePADD puts a notepad one click away while you browse. Click the toolbar icon, and a small window opens with your notes: a list on the left, the text on the right.

Quick notes. Jot down a phone number, a link, a to-do or a draft reply without opening another tab or app.
Several notes. Create as many as you need with New Note, rename them and delete the ones you no longer want.
Search. Type in the search box to find a note by its name or by words in the text.
Saved as you type. There is no Save button; close the window and your text is still there.

The notepad opens as a popup under the icon and closes when you click back on the page. It does not stay on screen next to the page and does not use Chrome's side panel.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Notes are kept in the extension's storage in your Chrome profile, on this computer, so you can write, edit and search them without an internet connection, with no account and no sign-up.

Two things to know:

Notes belong to this computer and this Chrome profile. They do not sync through Chrome Sync. To use them elsewhere, turn on the Drive backup or export a file.
Uninstalling the extension deletes the notes stored on your computer. Back them up first.

Lists, checklists and formatting

The editor is a small word processor:

text sizes and headings; bold, italic, underline and strikethrough;
numbered lists, bulleted lists and checklists you can tick off;
alignment, subscript and superscript, and code blocks for snippets.

Can I lock notes with a password?

Yes. Turn on Encrypt data and set a password:

Note contents are encrypted with AES-256 (GCM); the key is derived from your password with PBKDF2 (100,000 rounds) and a random salt for each note.
The password itself is not stored. If you forget it, the notes cannot be decrypted, and we cannot recover them.
Auto-lock: never, after 30 minutes, 1, 4 or 24 hours of inactivity, or every time you close the notepad.
After three wrong passwords, the notepad locks for three minutes.
You can change or remove the password later.

Note names are not encrypted, so give private notes a neutral name. Step by step: how to password-protect notes in Chrome.

Can I back up notes to Google Drive?

Yes, if you want to. Click the cloud icon, agree to share your notes with Google Sheets and sign in with Google. NotePADD then creates one spreadsheet, Notes sheet, in your own Google Drive, and updates it about two seconds after you stop typing. If you are offline, changes wait and are uploaded when the connection returns.

What to know about the backup:

It is a Google Sheets spreadsheet, not a Google Doc: one row per note, the name in column A (cut to 40 characters) and the text in column B.
The spreadsheet keeps plain text: formatting is dropped. With encryption on, it holds the encrypted text instead.
Each save rewrites the whole sheet. If two computers edit at the same time, the last save wins.
It holds up to about 1,000 notes; Google Sheets allows 50,000 characters per cell, so a very long note may not fit.
The spreadsheet is in your Drive. HotPanCake has no copy and no access to it.

To restore notes on another computer, install NotePADD there and connect the same Google account. Backup and moving notes, step by step.

Export and import

Export saves all notes to a CSV file named with the date and time. The content is stored in NotePADD's own format (or encrypted, if encryption is on), so the file is a backup for NotePADD rather than a document to read in Excel. Import loads such a file and replaces all current notes, after a warning.

How does it compare?

	NotePADD	Google Keep	Sticky-note extensions	Windows Notepad
Where	Chrome toolbar	Web, phone apps, Chrome	On web pages or the desktop	Windows desktop
Account needed	No	Google account	Usually no	No
Works offline	Yes	After first sign-in	Usually yes	Yes
Password encryption	Yes, optional	No	Rarely	No
Checklists	Yes	Yes	Varies	Varies by version
Sync	Optional, via your Google Drive	Built in	Varies	No
Phone apps	No	Yes	No	No

More: NotePADD vs Google Keep · NotePADD vs sticky notes · best notepad extensions for Chrome.

How do I start?

Add NotePADD from the Chrome Web Store.
Click the puzzle-piece icon and pin NotePADD.
Click the NotePADD icon and press New Note.
Type. To protect or back up your notes, use Encrypt data or the cloud icon.

Missing something? Request a feature or tell us what went wrong.

Is it safe?

Notes are stored on your computer and are not sent to HotPanCake. The extension contacts only Google, and only when you turn on the Drive backup. Every permission is explained on the safety page; the details are in the privacy policy.

Product facts


Developer	HotPanCake (PayForSay s. r. o., Slovakia)
Version	3.1, updated 2025-02-06
Languages	52
Works on	Chrome on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS and Linux
Storage	On your computer; optional backup to your own Google Drive
Price	Free

Guides

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More tools for writing in the browser: notes and text extensions · all HotPanCake extensions.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a notepad extension for Chrome that works offline?

Yes. NotePADD saves notes on your computer, so you can open, write and search them without an internet connection. You only need the internet to install it and, if you choose, to back notes up to Google Drive.

Where does NotePADD store my notes?

In the extension's local storage, in your Chrome profile on this computer. Notes are not sent to HotPanCake. If you turn on the Drive backup, a copy also goes to a spreadsheet called Notes sheet in your own Google Drive.

Do I need a Google account to use NotePADD?

No. Writing, searching, checklists and password encryption work without any account. A Google account is needed only for the optional backup to Google Drive.

Can I password-protect notes in Chrome?

Yes. Turn on Encrypt data in NotePADD and set a password. Note contents are encrypted with AES-256, and the notepad locks again after the time you choose, from 30 minutes to 24 hours, or every time you close it.

What happens if I forget the password?

The notes cannot be decrypted. The password is not stored anywhere, so neither NotePADD nor HotPanCake can recover it. After three wrong attempts the notepad locks for three minutes.

How do I get my notes on another computer?

Connect the same Google account on both computers with the cloud icon: the notes are copied to the Notes sheet spreadsheet and loaded from it. Or export a CSV file and import it on the other computer. Formatting is not kept in the spreadsheet.

Will I lose my notes if I uninstall the extension?

Yes, notes stored only on your computer are deleted with the extension. Export a CSV file or turn on the Drive backup before you uninstall, reinstall or move to a new computer.

Can I export my notes?

Yes, as a CSV file with a title and content column. The content is in NotePADD's own format, so the file is meant for importing back into NotePADD rather than for reading in Excel. Import replaces all current notes.

Does NotePADD open in Chrome's side panel?

No. It opens as a popup from the toolbar icon and closes when you click back on the page. Your text is saved as you type, so nothing is lost when it closes.

Is NotePADD a Google Keep alternative?

For notes on your computer, yes: it needs no account, works offline from the first launch and can encrypt notes with a password. Google Keep is better if you need phone apps, reminders, labels or sharing.

Is NotePADD free?

Yes. NotePADD is free, with no paid plan, no ads and no account.

Does it support checklists and formatting?

Yes. The editor has headings and text sizes, bold, italic, underline and strikethrough, numbered and bulleted lists, checklists, alignment and code blocks.

How many notes can I keep?

NotePADD has no note limit of its own. Notes share the storage Chrome gives the extension, which is enough for a lot of text but not unlimited. The Drive backup holds up to about 1,000 notes.

Is NotePADD an online notepad?

It is a notepad that lives in your browser, but unlike an online notepad website it does not need the internet or a server: notes are saved on your computer and are there after a restart.