Three Note Apps Are Better Than One

I spent years trying to find the perfect note-taking app and came close with Google Keep. For a while, this app provided everything I was looking for and then some. However, as my needs began to expand, I slowly outgrew it.

Microsoft's native Notepad app naturally became my go-to for quick notes during work, while Obsidian found its place as my long-form notes app for rough drafts and gathering my thoughts. As unconventional as it may seem, I've found that my perfect note-taking app is actually a trio of apps, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Google Keep

Google Keep was the first short-form note-taking app I began regularly using and has been my primary one for roughly the last decade. I initially chose this app for its seamless syncing across devices and effortless integration with other Google services. After setting up Keep, I ran an amateur test on the syncing feature by editing a note on my phone while the same note was simultaneously open on my desktop browser. Keep's real-time status updates made it easy to monitor as my text was edited, saved, and synced in a matter of seconds. Knowing my notes will promptly and reliably sync to all of my connected devices gives me peace of mind when creating and editing notes, no matter where I am.

Another aspect of Keep that has kept me with the service for so long is the variety of note styles. Aside from standard text notes, you can also create checklists, add photos and drawings, and record voice notes, which are automatically transcribed. Checklists make Keep my favorite app for staying on top of shopping lists because checked items are moved to an inactive section at the bottom of the note and can be added back to the active list at any time. Collaborators can also be added to each note, making it easy for everyone to help keep track of the grocery lists.

Google Keep also has built-in organizational and productivity features , such as an option to color-code notes and add a background, easily copy notes to Google Docs, set reminders based on the time or your location, pin notes, and more. My most used productivity feature is Labels, which acts as a tagging system, essentially creating custom categories in the menu section. Google Keep also has a search system that combs through all of your notes, including archived ones you may have forgotten about. It won't, however, scan notes that have been thrown away.

Windows Notepad

As versatile as Google Keep is, once I began taking college courses, having my notes open in yet another tab made the app feel more overwhelming than productive. Eventually, having so many labels also began adding to this feeling. I considered using another account in a new window, but it felt like too many steps for what were typically spontaneous notes. What I needed was a simple desktop app dedicated to quickly and conveniently jotting down random thoughts that didn't need my immediate attention.

Employing Windows NotePad was a rather easy and almost intuitive decision. For starters, I didn't have to go through the process of downloading a new program. Notepad was just sitting there, waiting to be used for something more than opening .txt files and assisting with coding projects on a rare occasion. Already, it met my needs for a desktop app that could be used exclusively for more focused, impromptu notes while adding an ease-of-use bonus.

Microsoft NotePad also met my need for a concise layout. Before Windows 11, Microsoft maintained Notepad's reputation for being the most straightforward text editor, primarily by implementing the "don't fix what isn't broken" approach. In the old days, users were met with a blank window containing a basic toolbar at the top and an equally rudimentary status bar along the bottom. We were also still living by the rules of the Wild West when it came to file saving. That is to say, if you accidentally closed NotePad or your PC experienced an unexpected shutdown, there was no automatic backup to save you .

Even after adding a dedicated settings menu, support for Microsoft Copilot , and Microsoft account linking, all in the once bare toolbar, Notepad has managed to stick to its roots of simplicity. One of Microsoft's more divisive updates to the app, however, has been the addition of support for rich-text formatting, including Markdown style . The central fear is that this added feature would also add disruption. Until earlier this year, Notepad only supported plain-text formatting, which many users understandably appreciated for its "no-frills" design.

I was initially one of those who felt this update could be useless at best and overly disruptive at worst. However, rich-text and Markdown formatting have since proven to be helpful in visually organizing even my most abrupt and disheveled thoughts. For those who still prefer the no-nonsense layout of the pre-Windows 11 days, though, Microsoft still allows access to the original version .

Obsidian

Originally, Google Docs stood as the cornerstone of my note-taking trio, holding the title of my preferred long-form note app since the early 2010s. Despite my fondness for the app, I began searching for an alternative a few months ago as part of my initiative to move away from the Google-sphere. My first choice for a replacement was Proton Docs, since I already use Proton Mail, their email service, and Proton Pass, their password manager. Proton Docs did prove to have a more reliable organizational system; however, I found it lacking in many familiar formatting options, given its newness.

Another issue I had with Proton was that it didn't provide a word counter, which is a vital tool for me in meeting both my professional and personal writing goals. Additionally, although there is a desktop app for Proton Drive, saved documents could only be opened and edited in a web browser at the time. Not only did this add to my "too many tabs" problem, but it also meant no offline editing. Amid my search for yet another alternative long-form note app, several How-To Geek articles were published covering Obsidian, so I decided to give it a go after a frustrating number of attempts with Proton.

Obsidian has a different way of approaching notes than many other note apps. For one, it introduces the concept of vaults. Each vault represents a local file that Obsidian creates to store your notes, and how you use these vaults is up to you. I started with a singular vault used as a dedicated drafting space for work. Once I got past the learning curve, I created another for my religious studies and a third for notes I took during an educational summer camp earlier this year. Recently, I've also been considering starting a personal journal in Obsidian.

Aside from its organizational system, one of the reasons I, like many others, love Obsidian is the graph feature. In the graph view, I can see all the notes I have stored in a vault and have the option to link them together for better visualization of where and how they connect. This function is most useful to me when my mind wanders off on tangents related to a primary idea. The canvas element expands on the graph view, providing another way to visualize ideas and make connections. Canvases can display standard notes along with media stored in the vault and cards. These can all be connected within the canvas via directional lines, which are useful for illustrating the flow of ideas.

The canvas layout, and specifically its card element, has given me space to flesh out the ideas I have stored in Windows NotePad. I like to think of canvas cards as virtual sticky notes, connecting them like a detective following clues until I build my case. Each card can also be resized and color-coded to perfectly reflect your thoughts, helping build an information repository . Together, the graph view and canvases have helped me delve deeper into research on topics of interest, making it easier to formulate questions and recognize areas where my understanding is lacking.

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In a world of minimalism and bundles, having three apps to take notes may seem unconventional and possibly even over the top. For me, this system just makes sense considering how I organize physical notes. Throughout high school, I had notebooks for each subject, while personal notes often got written down on any scrap paper I could find and saved in a binder. Similarly, having a dedicated app for general notes, another for work-related ideas, and another for my long-form writing helps me know exactly where to go for everything I need and clear my mind without forcing one app to do it all.