Support & FAQ

DeskMemo is a macOS desktop sticky notes app that keeps your notes always visible on your screen while you work. Unlike traditional note apps that hide in separate windows, DeskMemo notes float directly on your desktop — just like real sticky notes stuck to your monitor.

It offers three note types: Text notes (rich text), Canvas notes (infinite freeform workspace), and Outline notes (hierarchical nested lists). Available on macOS 12 (Monterey) and later, including macOS 26 Sequoia.

DeskMemo costs HK$10 per month with a 7-day free trial — no charges until the trial ends, and you can cancel anytime with no commitment. The subscription includes unlimited notes, iCloud sync, all formatting features, file attachments, Canvas Mode, Outline Notes, and all future updates.

DeskMemo goes far beyond Apple's built-in Stickies: it supports three note modes (Text, Canvas, Outline), lets you attach images, PDFs, videos, Word and Excel files with inline previews, has full iCloud sync across devices, lets notes float above all windows or drop behind all other app windows, and includes a full task manager with the Eisenhower Matrix priority system. Apple Stickies is basic text-only with no sync.

DeskMemo has three note types, each created from the menu bar icon:

• Text Note — a floating sticky note with rich text formatting (bold, italic, colors, highlights, checklists, images, PDFs)
• Canvas Note — an infinite freeform canvas where you place and arrange Text blocks, Task blocks, and file blocks anywhere you like
• Outline Note — a hierarchical outliner for structured thinking, with unlimited nesting levels, per-row file attachments, and completion tracking

Each type syncs via iCloud.

Click the DeskMemo icon in your menu bar and select "New Normal Note", "New Outline Note", or "New Canvas Note". Your new note will appear on your desktop.

DeskMemo works on macOS 12.0 (Monterey) or later. It is fully compatible with macOS 26 (Sequoia) and takes advantage of its new Liquid Glass visual effect for note backgrounds.

Liquid Glass is a modern visual style for note backgrounds available on macOS 26 (Sequoia) and later. When enabled, a note's background becomes a frosted glass effect that dynamically blurs and reflects the content behind it — similar to the translucent panels in macOS 26's new design language. You can combine Liquid Glass with a tint color. On older macOS versions, notes use the standard flat background style unchanged.

Click the Float on Top button in the note's control bar at the top. The note will stay above all other windows.

Yes. Use the Appearance Settings button in the control bar at the top of each note to change background colors, borders, and transparency. You can also format text using the Format button. On macOS 26, Liquid Glass mode adds a frosted glass background option.

Click the Lock button in the note's control bar. This locks the note to your wallpaper and makes it click-through — your mouse passes straight through it. The toolbar disappears. Unlock anytime from the DeskMemo menu bar icon.

Click the Format button (text icon) in the control bar to access text formatting options. You can make text bold, italic, underlined, change colors, add highlights, adjust font size, and change alignment. Line spacing can also be set per note (Single, 1.5×, Double, or custom).

Yes. Click the attach file button in the control bar to attach photos or PDFs. For PDFs, you can navigate through pages, change size, and even edit the PDF in Preview app while it stays attached to your note.

Yes. In a Text note, click the checklist button in the control bar to add interactive checkboxes. For more advanced task management with sections, due dates, reminders, and priority levels, use a Canvas note with a Task block instead.

DeskMemo automatically syncs all your notes across your devices using iCloud Drive. Make sure you're signed in with the same Apple ID on all devices and iCloud Drive is enabled. DeskMemo works fully offline too — when you reconnect, iCloud sync automatically catches up.

Unlimited. Create as many DeskMemo sticky notes as you need.

Yes. Use the sidebar in the main DeskMemo window to create and organize folders. Drag notes into folders to organize them by project, topic, or category. Quick Notes is the default folder for new notes — perfect for temporary ideas and quick capture.

Go to System Settings → Your Name → Media & Purchases → Manage → Subscriptions → Find DeskMemo → Cancel Subscription.

Canvas Mode is a free-form infinite canvas where you can create and arrange blocks of content — text notes and task lists — anywhere you like. Unlike regular sticky notes, Canvas Mode lets you build a visual workspace that reflects how you actually think and work.

Click the + button in the bottom-right corner of the canvas, then choose "Text" or "Task". The new block appears centered in your current view. You can have two block types:

• Text blocks — free-form writing with rich formatting (bold, italic, colors, highlights)
• Task blocks — to-do lists with sections, due dates, reminders, and priority levels

Yes. Drag any block by its header to reposition it. Grab any of the 8 resize handles around a block's edge to resize it. Blocks snap to a minimum size so they always stay readable.

Use the zoom controls in the bottom-left corner — click + or − to zoom in or out, or click the percentage to choose a preset level (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, 200%, 400%). You can also use "Zoom to Fit Content" to see everything at once.

Each task can be assigned a quadrant priority: Q1 🔴 (Important + Urgent — do now), Q2 🟢 (Important, not urgent — schedule it), Q3 🟡 (Urgent, not important — delegate), Q4 🔵 (Neither — eliminate or defer).

Switch to the "4Q" tab in a Task block to see tasks organized in the classic 2×2 Eisenhower priority grid. DeskMemo is the only macOS sticky notes app with built-in Eisenhower Matrix task management.

Yes. Inside any Task block in Canvas Mode, each task can have a reminder with a specific time. DeskMemo uses system notifications — the reminder fires at the time you set and shows a banner notification even if DeskMemo is in the background. Reminders are cancelled automatically when you complete or delete the task.

Yes. You can attach files directly onto the DeskMemo canvas — each file becomes its own resizable block you can freely position alongside your text and task blocks.

Supported file types include images, PDFs, videos, audio, Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets. Each type comes with its own viewer: PDFs get a multi-page viewer with a thumbnail strip, images have size presets, and videos and audio play inline.

Yes. In Canvas Mode, you can attach Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx) files directly as blocks on the canvas. DeskMemo reads the file metadata directly — for Word files it shows the page count, for Excel files it shows the sheet names — without converting the file. The file opens inline using Quick Look preview.

Yes, in Canvas Mode. When you attach a video or audio file to a DeskMemo canvas, it becomes a resizable block with built-in inline playback controls — play, pause, and scrub through the file without opening a separate app. This works for common formats like MP4, MOV, MP3, and M4A.

Yes. Canvas Mode supports full undo/redo (up to 100 levels) for moves, resizes, and content changes. Your canvas layout, block positions, and all content sync automatically to iCloud along with the rest of your notes.

Move Behind Desktop is a button in each note's control bar. When clicked, the note moves below all app and browser windows — visible on your desktop but covered by any open app. Click it once to bring it back to the front for editing. This is the opposite of "Float on Top".

Use this for shopping lists you check occasionally, reference cards you pull up between tasks, or notes you want accessible but out of your way.

Both Lock and Move Behind put the note below all app windows, but they behave differently:

• Move Behind — note is below all apps but still interactive. Click it to bring it forward.
• Lock — note sinks below apps AND becomes click-through. Your mouse passes straight through it. The toolbar disappears. Unlock only from the menu bar icon.

Use Lock for vision boards, wallpaper photo pins, and goal boards you want always visible but never in the way.

Yes. Attach any image as a sticky note using Photo Stickies. Once placed, click the Lock button on each note to lock it — the note becomes uneditable and clicks pass straight through it, making it a permanent, passive part of your desktop display. Combine multiple photo stickies at different sizes and positions for a full vision board layout on your actual desktop.

An Outline Note is a hierarchical note type where each item can have sub-items, and those sub-items can have their own sub-items — with no limit on how deep you go. Think of it like a structured tree: a main topic at the top, with branches and sub-branches beneath it.

Great for project plans, research outlines, meeting agendas, or any information that has a natural parent-child structure.

While editing a row, press Tab to indent it — it becomes a child of the row above. Press Shift+Tab to outdent it back up to the parent level. You can also use the indent (→) and outdent (←) buttons in the control bar. There is no limit to how deep you can nest.

Click the chevron (▶) to the left of any row that has children to collapse it and hide all its sub-items. Click it again to expand. This helps you focus on one part of your outline without deleting anything.

Yes. Drag any row by its left edge to move it up, down, or to a different nesting level. The whole subtree moves with it — children follow their parent.

Each row has a secondary annotation field — a smaller, dimmer line below the main topic. Click the Annotation button in the control bar to show or hide it.

For links, select the text in a row and click the Link button in the control bar. Paste or type a URL and it becomes a clickable inline hyperlink within that row.

Yes. Each row can have one file attachment — an image, PDF, video, Word document, Excel spreadsheet, and more. Use the Attach File (paperclip) button in the control bar to attach a file to the currently selected row, or drag a file from Finder directly onto a row. The attachment appears as a card beneath that row.

• Text Note — open-ended rich text editor. Type freely, like a word processor. Best for writing.
• Outline Note — structured hierarchy. Every line is a discrete row with nesting, completion, annotations, and optional file attachment. Best for structured information with parent-child relationships.
• Canvas Note — freeform. Blocks float anywhere on an infinite canvas, arranged spatially. Best for visual, spatial layouts and combining tasks + notes + files.

No. DeskMemo collects zero personal data. All note content is stored exclusively in your own iCloud Drive — it never passes through Cynthia Apps' servers. The app uses Sign in with Apple for authentication, so the developer receives only an anonymous identifier. There are no analytics, no usage tracking, and no third-party data sharing. Your notes are private by design.

Yes. DeskMemo works fully offline — you can create, edit, and view all notes without an internet connection. When you reconnect, iCloud sync automatically catches up and pushes changes to your other devices.

• Check you're signed in with the same Apple ID on all devices
• Enable iCloud Drive: System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Drive (ON)
• Make sure DeskMemo has iCloud access: System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Apps Using iCloud → DeskMemo (checked)
• Check your internet connection on all devices
• Restart the app on both devices
• Allow a few minutes for initial sync

• Check all folders in the sidebar, including Quick Notes
• Look in the main DeskMemo window's note list
• Check iCloud.com → iCloud Drive → Look for DeskMemo folder
• Notes may be in Recently Deleted on iCloud (recoverable for 30 days)
• Check if iCloud sync is enabled

• Check if the note is locked — click the Lock button in the control bar to unlock, or unlock from the DeskMemo menu bar icon
• When locked, notes become click-through and read-only to prevent accidental changes

• Click the Float on Top button in the note's control bar
• Make sure you're running the latest version of DeskMemo
• Restart the app
• Restart your computer if the problem continues

• Make sure the file format is supported (JPG, PNG, PDF, MP4, MOV, DOCX, XLSX, etc.)
• Check that you have enough storage space on your device and iCloud
• Verify the file isn't corrupted by opening it in another app

• Make changes using the control bar buttons at the top of each note
• Settings are saved automatically when you make changes
• If changes aren't persisting, check that iCloud sync is working properly
• Try quitting and reopening the app