Frequently asked questions

Yes — it is currently free on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Windows.

No. There is no sign-up and no login. HanNote keeps nothing on a server, so there is no account to create. Your vault password is what unlocks your records.

A vault is the store on your own device that holds all your notes and attachments. Note contents are encrypted with your vault password; attachments are kept as the original files. You create a vault the first time you launch the app by choosing where to keep it and setting a password.

The vault lives only on your device and is never uploaded to any server.

There is no way to recover it. HanNote keeps your data only on your device and never sends your password anywhere, so no server exists that could unlock the vault for you.

That is also what guarantees nobody else can open your records. When you create a vault, store the password and the five-word key phrase somewhere safe, such as a password manager.

In the folder on your own device that you chose when creating the vault, and nothing is uploaded to a cloud. Note contents are kept encrypted. Attached files are not encrypted — they stay in the vault folder as the original files, which is what lets another app open and edit a PDF or Word document in place. For sensitive files, use your device's own disk encryption as well.

Since there is no cloud backup, backups are up to you. Copy the whole vault folder to an external drive or a backup tool such as Time Machine.

Keeping sync enabled across several devices also leaves you with multiple copies.

No. Your notes are never transmitted to us, and we run no server that stores them.

Just the five-word key phrase generated automatically for your vault. The new device asks to join with it, and a device you already use approves the request.

The vault password is never typed into the new device — each device's unlock password is set on that device, so they can differ. No cloud account or server setup is required either. See Syncing devices in the manual for the details.

Check these in order:

• Both devices are on the same LAN or Wi-Fi network
• HanNote is running on both devices
• Both devices run the same version of HanNote — 0.26.0 does not sync with anything earlier
• The new device's join request was approved on the device you already use
• No firewall or public Wi-Fi client-isolation setting is blocking device-to-device traffic

If that doesn't help, please get in touch.

A device joins as one or the other. A participant sends the key phrase with a name and email and waits for approval. An owner supplies the owner password alongside the phrase, and another owner device that is already running verifies it, so the join completes without an approval step.

The app never transmits the owner password, so it has to be handed over person to person. And keep two or more owner devices — if every owner device is gone, the remaining devices go on syncing but no new owner device can be added.

No. Joining and syncing changed in 0.26.0, and it does not sync with earlier versions. If one side is older the connection is refused and you are told to update the other device.

Please update all of your devices together. Your notes stay on each device, so once they are updated and meet again they bring each other up to date.

That device locks the vault and asks whether to move its copy to the trash or leave it alone. Moving means the trash, not a permanent delete, and emptying it is up to you.

Only that device's copy moves; the vault on your other devices is untouched. If the device is approved again later it picks its original folder back up instead of downloading every note over again.

No. Devices exchange data directly with each other, and everything sent is encrypted.

There is no restriction on file type. Images appear right inside the note, and a PDF opens in the note where you can highlight and draw on it, with your markings saved into the file.

Documents such as Word or PowerPoint files open in their own apps for editing and saving, and any other file can be attached and opened whenever you need it.

You can import Markdown (.md), PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx), and HanNote's own format (.mmp).

Right-click a folder in the sidebar and choose Import…, or use File ▸ Import… on the Mac. One file becomes one note. See Importing in the manual for the details.

Support for more formats is on the way.

Right-click a folder in the sidebar to import and the file lands in that folder. With File ▸ Import… on the Mac it goes into whichever folder is selected in the sidebar, or the folder holding the note you have open if none is.

One file always becomes one note, named after the file. No folders are created.

A PowerPoint file is brought in by drawing each slide as an image, and LibreOffice is what draws them. It is free — install it and try again.

This is also why PowerPoint import works only on Mac and Windows. LibreOffice cannot be installed on iPhone or iPad, so those files cannot be imported there.

An image in a Markdown document is not the file itself — it points at a web address or a path in another folder. That is not an attachment in your vault, so it cannot come across as an image and arrives as a link on its alt text instead.

If you want the image in the note, drag it in yourself once the note is imported. HTML written directly into the document is dropped too.

No — an exported .mmp is not encrypted. It is built to be opened by someone else, or in another vault, without your vault password. That also means it loses the vault's protection the moment it leaves, so treat it like any other document when you send it or store it.

The file carries the body together with every attachment the note uses. If an attachment has not synced to this device yet, the export fails and says so rather than quietly leaving it out.

Yes — notes can be exported as .mmp files and imported again, which is useful for archiving a note or moving it to another device.

Native apps for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, plus a Windows app. An Android version is in the works.

The iOS and iPadOS version is still in beta, so it ships through TestFlight. Anyone can join, and once it is released you'll be able to get it from the App Store.

Mac supports up to four panels and iPad supports two. iPhone does not support multi-panel view because of the narrow screen.

Please write to help@amatch.co.kr. You'll find instructions in the manual and per-version changes in the changelog.