Launched this week
Browser Notes
Your ideas, organized - not uploaded
146 followers
Your ideas, organized - not uploaded
146 followers
Notes are often scattered across writing apps, sticky boards, and mind-mapping tools, while your private ideas are pushed to the cloud. Browser Notes brings notes, sticky notes, and mind maps into one local-first workspace. No account, no tracking, and no forced sync. It works offline, stores everything in your browser, and lets you back up your data anytime.
Browser Notes
Hey Product Hunt 👋
Browser Notes started with a very normal problem: thoughts arrive faster than we can organize them.
A meeting idea lands in one app.
A quick reminder goes into a random sticky note.
A bigger concept needs a mind map.
Then later, you remember the idea… but not where you saved it. 😅
I wanted one simple place where I could open the browser and immediately capture whatever was in my head.
✍️ Write detailed notes
🟨 Drop quick ideas onto sticky boards
🧠 Connect thoughts with mind maps
🔎 Search everything with ⌘K
🎯 Switch to focus mode when it is time to think deeply
No signup. No setup. No “create your workspace” onboarding maze.
Just open it and write.
Everything is auto-saved locally in your browser, works offline, and can be backed up or exported anytime. Your ideas stay yours—without being locked into another cloud account.
Browser Notes is for those tiny moments when you think:
“Let me quickly note this down before I forget.”
I’d love to know which mode fits the way you think best: Notes, Sticky Boards, or Mind Maps? 🚀
The local-first, no-account model is exactly why I'd try this over another cloud notes app — half-formed notes shouldn't need a login. Since it's a browser extension, my install-time question is the permission surface: does it request access to page content / all sites, or is it scoped to its own extension storage? And where do the notes actually live — IndexedDB with a quota ceiling that large mind maps could eventually hit, or something else?
Browser Notes
@hi_i_am_mimo Exactly, half-formed thoughts shouldn’t require creating an account first 😄
Great questions. Your notes, sticky boards, and mind maps are stored locally in your browser using IndexedDB. Nothing is sent to our servers, and you can export a backup anytime.
Browser storage does have a quota determined by the browser and available device space, but IndexedDB allows significantly more storage than traditional extension storage or localStorage. For normal notes and mind maps, the practical limit should be quite high. We’re also thinking about storage visibility and warnings so users are never surprised as their workspace grows.
On permissions, we’ve kept the extension’s access as limited as possible and don’t use it to track browsing activity or collect page content.
Appreciate the straight answer — local IndexedDB with no server round-trip is exactly the model I want for half-formed notes. One follow-up on permissions, since 'as limited as possible' is a policy statement and the manifest is what's actually enforceable: what does the extension declare for host_permissions — <all_urls>, activeTab-only, or no host access at all? And is the export a plain open format like JSON/Markdown I can re-import elsewhere, or a proprietary blob only Browser Notes reads?
Awesome work - one thing I noticed: when adding a new child node / deleting an existing child node, the positions of child nodes reset. I may be missing something, but I think that could get a little frustrating if you've already spent time arranging the layout.
Video for reference: https://createademo.com/v/cmr2oaekt0003lb04rn0u9vcq
Browser Notes
@john_marker3 Thanks for catching this, you were absolutely right. We’ve fixed the issue now, so adding or deleting a child node should no longer reset the positions of the nodes you’ve already arranged.
Really appreciate the specific feedback. It helped us improve the mind map experience quickly.
Voquill
Looks clean. How does it handle large note collections over time, and is there any way to sync across devices without giving up the local-first approach? Congrats on the launch!
Browser Notes
Hi :)
I like the local-first approach. Two questions:
1) Which browsers does it support at the moment - and is Firefox on the roadmap?
2) Since the notes live inside the browser, can the browser's own AI features or profile sync reach them? I am trying to understand whether "local" still holds once the browser itself has AI built in.
Thank you!
Browser Notes
@alieksia Browser Notes supoorts all major browsers including Firefox. You can use firefox and it will work.
Regarding AI, we are working on it. Its in the roadmap.
@daxeelsoni Thank you, that is good to know - I will give it a try on Firefox.
Browser Notes
@alieksia Feel free to share feedback. Our vision is to have free and private note taking application so you own your information 100%.
How does the backup actually work if everything stays local, and is there any way to sync between my laptop and phone without signing into an account?
Browser Notes
@sevimb37927 Great question. The backup is user-controlled: Browser Notes exports your workspace as a file that you can store wherever you prefer, such as Google Drive, iCloud, a USB drive, or your laptop. You can import that file later to restore your notes.
There’s no automatic laptop-to-phone sync right now. Your data stays local to each browser, and adding seamless sync without turning it into another account-based cloud notes app is the tricky part. A manual export/import workflow is the current privacy-first option, though we’re exploring ways to make device-to-device transfer easier without requiring an account.
How does the backup process actually work if everything lives in the browser, and what happens to my notes if I clear my cache by accident?
Browser Notes
@furkan578657 Great question. Browser Notes lets you export your complete workspace as a backup file and save it anywhere you choose. You can later import that file to restore your notes, sticky boards, and mind maps.
Clearing the browser’s regular cache usually shouldn’t remove IndexedDB data. However, clearing site/extension storage, resetting the browser profile, or uninstalling the extension may delete locally stored notes. That’s why we recommend exporting a backup periodically, and we’re working on making backup reminders and storage status clearer inside the app.