Question 1

Where does the app keep my data on my Mac?

Accepted Answer

Everything lives in two places on your own Mac, and nothing in this area is sent to anyone's servers. (1) The app's private data folder (its "Application Support" / userData folder) holds: a small SQLite database of your to-dos and lists (supernote-todo.db), an encrypted cache of your note PDFs (in a "notes" subfolder), sealed login/connection secrets (in a "credentials" subfolder), and a few small settings files. (2) Your saved note PDFs are written as ordinary, openable files in ~/Documents/Supernote. The keys that unlock the encrypted parts are stored in the macOS Keychain, not on disk in readable form.

Question 2

Are my handwritten notes uploaded to the cloud or to your servers?

Accepted Answer

No. The app normally pulls your notes straight off your Supernote over your local Wi-Fi (Browse & Access) and converts them to PDF on your Mac — nothing goes to the app maker's servers. If you use the cloud option, the app downloads the copy your device already synced to your own Supernote cloud account — again, nothing is uploaded anywhere new. The ONLY time a note leaves your machine is the opt-in Google Drive feature: if you connect Google Tasks and explicitly turn on "upload notes as PDFs to Drive", then when a linked task is pushed, that note's PDF is uploaded to your own Google Drive. That's off unless you switch it on, and even then it goes to your Drive, not to us.

Question 3

Is my note cache encrypted? Could someone reading my hard drive see my handwriting?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the cached note files are encrypted at rest. Each cached .note and .pdf in the app's "notes" folder is sealed with AES-256 encryption, and the master key that unlocks them is itself sealed in the macOS Keychain. Someone who copies those files off your disk (a stolen laptop, another user account on the same Mac) can't read your handwriting without your Keychain. (It does NOT protect against someone already logged in as you running code as you — that's outside what at-rest encryption can do. And the separate PDFs you save in ~/Documents/Supernote are intentionally plain, openable files, so those are not encrypted.)

Question 4

Where are my login and connection passwords/tokens stored?

Accepted Answer

Connection secrets are kept in the macOS Keychain, never written to disk as readable text. Your Supernote login is held as a normal session cookie inside the app. Tokens for connected to-do apps (a Todoist API token, or your Google or Asana sign-in) are sealed using macOS's secure storage and saved as locked files in the app's "credentials" folder — the plain token only ever exists in memory while the app is running. If secure storage isn't available, the app refuses to store the token rather than save it in the clear.

Question 5

Could a crash leave my private handwriting readable on disk?

Accepted Answer

The app guards against this. While converting a note it briefly works with plain (unencrypted) temporary files, then seals them into the encrypted cache and deletes the temps. If the app crashes mid-conversion and a plain temp is left behind, a cleanup sweep on the next startup deletes any leftover temp files so your handwriting isn't left sitting readable on disk.

Question 6

What exactly happens when I delete a to-do?

Accepted Answer

Deleting a to-do removes it from this app AND from your Supernote (it propagates to the cloud and your device). If you'd already pushed that to-do to a connected app (Todoist, Reminders, or Google Tasks), the copy there is left untouched — it stays in your task app. So "Delete" clears it from Supernote's world but does not reach into your other to-do apps. The confirmation dialog tells you this (e.g. "will be removed from this app and your device. It stays in Todoist").

Question 7

If I delete a to-do that had a linked note, does the note get deleted?

Accepted Answer

Your note on the device is not deleted — only the to-do is. The app's internal cached copy of that note's PDF becomes "orphaned" (no to-do points to it) and gets cleaned up automatically on a later sync. Any PDF you'd saved to ~/Documents/Supernote for that note stays where it is — the cleanup never touches your saved exports.

Question 8

What does "Reset from cloud" do? Will I lose anything?

Accepted Answer

"Reset from cloud" (in the sidebar's Settings section) opens an explainer page with a Reset from cloud… button; confirming discards any unsynced local changes still in flight and reloads everything fresh from the Supernote cloud. Use it as a recovery hatch if your list ever looks out of sync or wrong. It throws away the app's temporary, not-yet-saved view state (optimistic edits, brand-new rows that haven't saved yet) and pulls a clean snapshot. It does NOT delete anything from the cloud, your device, or your saved files — it only resets this app's local view to match the cloud. While it runs you'll see "Reloading from the cloud…"; if the reload fails it restores your last-known data so you're never left with an empty screen.

Question 9

What's the difference between "Reset from cloud" and just deleting things?

Accepted Answer

Completely different. "Reset from cloud" changes nothing on the cloud or device — it only re-syncs this app's view to match the cloud, discarding local edits that hadn't saved yet. "Delete" actually removes a to-do from the app and your Supernote. If you're worried your screen looks wrong but don't want to lose anything, "Reset from cloud" is the safe choice.

Question 10

When I "Empty the Pushed folder" or remove a pushed item, does it delete the copy in my task app?

Accepted Answer

No. Emptying the Pushed folder, or removing an individual pushed item, removes those to-dos from this app and your Supernote device — but they stay in your connected task app (Todoist, Apple Reminders, or Google Tasks). The confirmation message spells this out (e.g. "They stay in Todoist"). The push is a hand-off: once a task is in your other app, this app won't reach back in to delete it. ---

Question 11

Does the note cache grow forever? Does it get cleaned up?

Accepted Answer

It's cleaned up automatically, so it won't grow without bound. The app garbage-collects its internal note cache (roughly every 10 minutes during syncing) and removes two kinds of entries: "orphaned" ones (notes no longer linked by any current to-do) and "aged" ones (notes you haven't opened in over 30 days). Both can be re-fetched from your device whenever you need them again. This cleanup is strictly limited to the app's own cache folder; it NEVER touches the PDFs you've saved in ~/Documents/Supernote.

Question 12

Where do my saved note PDFs go, and can I change the folder?

Accepted Answer

By default, saved note PDFs go to ~/Documents/Supernote — plain PDF files you and your task apps can open normally. You can point this at a different folder in the app's note settings; if you do, that folder is used instead. The "open note" links in your pushed tasks open the saved PDF from this location.

Question 13

What happens to my data when I log out?

Accepted Answer

Logging out purges this account's stored to-do snapshot from the app's database and then clears the Supernote session (cookies), so a different account can't see your synced data. Your saved PDFs in ~/Documents/Supernote remain (they're your files), and the cached notes/credentials cleanup happens through the normal mechanisms. Logging back in re-fetches a fresh snapshot from the cloud.

Question 14

I share this Mac with someone / I use more than one Supernote account. Can they see each other's data?

Accepted Answer

No. The app keeps each account's to-dos and lists separated internally by account, so switching or logging into a different account never mixes one account's data into another's. The encrypted database is also tied to your macOS Keychain, so another user account on the same Mac can't read it.

Question 15

If I uninstall the app, is my data gone?

Accepted Answer

Uninstalling removes the app itself. The app's private data folder (the database, encrypted note cache, sealed credentials) and the Keychain entries may linger until removed — but the encrypted cache is unreadable without the Keychain key. Your saved PDFs in ~/Documents/Supernote are your own files and stay put. Anything that lives in the Supernote cloud, on your device, or in a connected to-do app is unaffected by uninstalling this app.

Question 16

Does turning on Google Drive note upload re-upload my note every time I edit it on the device?

Accepted Answer

No. A note's Drive copy is written only when a task linking it is pushed (or re-pushed) — there's deliberately no background "re-upload on every device edit". Once a note is attached, editing it on the device afterwards does not touch Drive until another task linking the same note is pushed. The upload only happens at all if you've connected Google and explicitly enabled note upload.

Data, Privacy & Files

Where your data lives

Deleting & resetting

Storage, accounts & leaving

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