Quick Notes

Quick Notes is a lightweight Markdown scratchpad that lives in the VS Code sidebar. Keep persistent notes close to your work, preview Markdown without leaving the sidebar, and open any note in VS Code's native editor when you need the full editing experience.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.116.0 or newer
• No account, API key, or external service is required
• GitHub Copilot is optional and is only used through your normal VS Code setup when a note is opened in the native editor

Installation

Install Quick Notes - ASF from the Extensions view in VS Code, or run:

code --install-extension asfreitas.quick-notes-asf

You can also visit the Visual Studio Marketplace listing.

Getting started

1. Select the Quick Notes icon in the Activity Bar.
2. Use the + action in the Notes view title to create a note.
3. Select a note in the tree and type Markdown in the Editor view.
4. Use the eye icon to preview the rendered note.
5. Use the square-and-arrow icon beside Preview/Edit to open the note in VS Code's native editor.

Notes save automatically and remain available across workspaces in the same local VS Code profile.

Notes tree

• New notes are named Note 1, Note 2, and so on.
• Select a note to edit it.
• Right-click a note and choose Rename or Delete. Rename uses a native VS Code input prompt; deletion shows a confirmation dialog by default.
• Drag a note onto another note to place it before that note.
• Drop a note on empty tree space to move it to the end.
• Use Ctrl/Cmd+PageUp and Ctrl/Cmd+PageDown to move through the ordered notes.

Notes, their order, the current selection, and each note's Edit/Preview mode are restored after VS Code restarts.

Markdown editor

The sidebar editor follows your VS Code theme and supports standard mouse selection, keyboard selection, undo/redo, cut/copy/paste, word navigation, scrolling, spellcheck, and context-menu behavior.

Its compact topbar contains:

• Insert Markdown — a keyboard-accessible menu for headings, links, images, code blocks, block quotes, lists, checkboxes, and horizontal rules in both Edit and Preview;
• Toggle List — adds or removes list formatting; applying it to a checklist converts that item into a regular list item;
• Toggle Checklist — adds or removes checklist formatting; applying it to a regular list converts that item into a task item;
• Text Color — applies red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, or gray to the selected text;
• Open in Editor — opens the current note as a native Markdown document;
• Preview/Edit — switches between Markdown source and rendered output.

Pressing Enter after a populated bullet continues the list. Numbered lists increment automatically, and task-list items continue with a new unchecked checkbox. Press Enter again on the empty item to remove its marker and exit the list. This behavior works in both Edit and Preview. Tab indents the entire current line or selection, while Shift+Tab outdents it, including regular and task-list items.

Colored text uses the concise #@color text #@ syntax. For example, #@red Important #@ displays “Important” in red in both the Markdown editor and Preview. With no selection, Text Color formats the complete word touching the caret without inserting placeholder text. Selected source text remains visible against VS Code's selection color. The syntax remains directly editable, and because the marker is part of the note, formatting stays attached to the text when switching notes or reopening VS Code. Notes using the older {color:red}text{/color} form remain compatible.

Markdown preview

Preview mode is editable: click anywhere in the rendered note and type normally. Quick Notes converts those changes back to Markdown continuously, so switching to Edit shows the updated source. Preview supports:

• headings, paragraphs, emphasis, strong text, and strikethrough;
• ordered, unordered, nested, and task lists;
• tables and horizontal rules;
• links, automatic links, and images;
• inline code and fenced code blocks;
• block quotes, escaping, and typographic replacements.

Raw HTML is escaped for safety. Task-list checkboxes remain interactive while typing: selecting one updates the corresponding [ ] or [x] marker in the Markdown source and saves the note, including when immediately returning to Edit. List and task markers are normalized to a single space, so repeated mode changes do not accumulate whitespace. All applicable topbar editing actions are available in Preview and preserve the logical caret or text selection after rendering. Heading acts on the rendered paragraph itself rather than exposing ## in Preview. The Insert, List, and Checklist controls are disabled when the caret is in a heading or another unsupported rendered block. Switching between Edit and Preview keeps the selection at the equivalent rendered or source position. Edit/Preview mode is stored separately for each note.

Topbar edits, checkbox changes, automatic list continuation, and indentation participate in Quick Notes' undo/redo history in both modes. Use the normal Ctrl/Cmd+Z, Ctrl+Y, or Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z shortcuts.

Native editor and Copilot

Select Open in Editor to open the current note as a real .md document in VS Code's editor area. This provides native keybindings, multi-cursor editing, find/replace, Markdown language support, installed editor extensions, and Copilot inline completions according to your existing VS Code configuration.

• Native-editor changes are reflected in the sidebar as you type.
• Sidebar changes update a native editor that is already open without opening or revealing one automatically.
• Quick Notes does not call document.save(), avoiding format-on-save feedback loops and repeated newlines.
• If the sidebar changes while a native editor is open, closing without saving keeps the sidebar version. Explicitly saving the native document makes the editor version authoritative.
• Closing the native editor does not delete the note. Deleting the note closes its native editor and removes its disposable Markdown cache file.

Quick Notes makes no language-model requests and consumes no Copilot credits itself. Suggestions in the native editor come from your installed Copilot or completion provider under its normal configuration and usage terms.

Keyboard and mouse interactions

Standard platform shortcuts for undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, select all, word navigation, and text selection continue to work inside the note editor.

Commands

Open the Command Palette with Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P and search for Quick Notes:

Settings

Storage and privacy

• Note data is stored in Quick Notes' VS Code global extension storage for the current local profile.
• Notes are available across workspaces using that profile but are not written into your project folders.
• Native-editor sessions use disposable Markdown cache files inside the extension's global storage directory.
• Deleting a note removes its stored data and disposable cache file.
• Quick Notes does not send note content over the network or make AI requests.

Licence and source

Quick Notes is released under the MIT licence. Source code and issue tracking are available in the project repository.