A notes app for a Chromebook, matched to what you need

The best notes app for a Chromebook depends on what the note is for. Google Keep suits quick notes and lists you also want on your phone, Cursive suits handwriting with a stylus, Google Docs or OneNote suit long notes, and TackNote Lite, our extension, suits a note about a specific web page.

No single app wins all five jobs, and you may end up using two. Below we compare them, say where each one falls short, and cover what changes on a school or work Chromebook. If you are short on time, this picks one for you:

Chromebook notes apps compared

Google Keep: quick notes and lists

Keep is the natural first stop. On a Chromebook you open it from the Launcher. Google's Keep help covers notes, lists, drawings, labels, colors, pins, reminders and sharing a note with someone who can then edit it, and it has guides for computers, Android phones and iPhones.

Keep also works without a connection. Google says to go online and wait a few minutes first, so your Chromebook can save your notes. After that you can edit them or write new ones offline, and the changes show up in Keep the next time you are online.

Choose Keep for a shopping list, a reminder, or anything you want on your phone as well.

Cursive: handwritten notes with a stylus

Cursive is Google's app for capturing, editing and organizing handwritten notes. It needs a touchscreen Chromebook that works with a stylus. Open it from the Launcher, or tap the stylus icon and choose Create note. Your notes sync to your Google account.

If your Chromebook has no touchscreen or stylus, Cursive is not an option, and one of the typed apps here is the better fit.

Google Docs: long notes you may share

Keep suits short notes. For lecture notes, meeting minutes or anything with headings, a document is often easier to work in. Google describes Docs as an online word processor for creating and formatting documents and working with other people, and you can choose whether each person can view, comment or edit.

Docs works offline too. Google says offline use is turned on automatically for ChromeOS users.

OneNote for the web: notebooks, if you already use Microsoft

OneNote organizes notes the way a paper binder does: every notebook contains sections, and sections contain pages. If your school or job runs on Microsoft, it may be where your notes already are.

On a Chromebook, we suggest starting with the web version. Microsoft's guide says you can create, edit and share notebooks stored on OneDrive from a web browser, using a free Microsoft account. It does not mention Chromebooks by name, and we could not find a current Microsoft page that covers the OneNote Android app on a Chromebook, so check it on your own machine before you rely on it.

Other Android note apps are possible too. Google says you can download Android apps from the Play Store on a Chromebook, but if you cannot find the Google Play option in Settings, your Chromebook does not work with them.

TackNote Lite: a note on the web page it is about

Every app above keeps your notes in the app. On a Chromebook, though, most of your work happens in Chrome, and many notes are about one page: a question for the shared document, a reminder on a client portal, what to check on a booking page. That is the job we built TackNote Lite for. It is a Chrome extension, so it runs in Chrome on ChromeOS.

• Adding a note. Right-click a page and choose Tack a note to this page, or click the toolbar icon and choose + Note on this page. Chrome asks once for each site, or you can choose Use on every site.
• Where it shows. On that page, each time you open it. Choose Whole site to show a note on every page of a website, or Just this page to tie it back to one.
• The basics. Five colors, and any note can become a checklist.
• Finding notes. The toolbar icon opens a board of every note, grouped by site. Search every note looks through note text, page titles and addresses, and clicking a note takes you back to its page.
• Privacy. There is no account, and TackNote Lite never sends your notes anywhere.

Where TackNote Lite falls short

• No sync and no phone app. Notes stay in Chrome on your Chromebook. If you need them on a phone, Keep is the better choice.
• No handwriting. It is for typed notes and checklists.
• The backup is on you. Save a backup, in its settings, writes your notes to a file, and Restore a backup brings them back. Do this before a reset: Google says a factory reset erases all user data on the Chromebook, but not your files on Google Drive or an external drive, so keep the file in one of those places.
• Not on every page. It does not run in Incognito windows, and Chrome does not let extensions add notes on the Chrome Web Store or its own pages.
• The free limit counts every note you create. Deleting a note does not give one back. We explain how far that goes in a free sticky notes Chrome extension, and when free is enough.
• A separate purchase. A TackNote for Mac or Windows license does not unlock it.

For the steps, see how to put a sticky note on a web page in Chrome. If you are comparing extensions rather than apps, read how to pick a sticky notes Chrome extension. If you came here for sticky notes in particular, our guide to sticky notes on a Chromebook goes into more detail, including Chrome's reading list and keyboard shortcuts.

On a school or work Chromebook

On a managed Chromebook, your administrator can rule some of these out, so it is worth checking before you commit to one:

• Extensions. Google notes that your organization might block some extensions. Extensions also cannot be added while you are browsing as a guest. If Add to Chrome is not available for TackNote Lite on a managed Chromebook, this is the likely reason.
• Android apps. Google says you might not be able to add the Play Store or download Android apps on a work or school Chromebook.
• Cursive. Google says you may need to contact your administrator to sign in on a work or school account.

Web apps that your school or employer already uses are often the simplest answer here. If your account is Google, that usually means Docs and Keep. If it is Microsoft, try OneNote for the web.

Which one to choose

• A list or quick note you also want on your phone: Google Keep.
• Handwriting with a stylus: Cursive.
• Long notes, with a Google account or no preference: Google Docs.
• Long notes, with a Microsoft account: OneNote for the web.
• A note about a web page, that shows when you open that page: TackNote Lite.

Questions

What is the best notes app for a Chromebook?

It depends on the note. Google Keep suits quick notes and lists you also want on your phone. Cursive suits handwriting with a stylus. Google Docs or OneNote suit long notes. TackNote Lite suits a note about a specific web page.

Does OneNote work on a Chromebook?

OneNote for the web runs in a browser, and Microsoft says you can use it with a free Microsoft account and notebooks stored on OneDrive. We could not find a current Microsoft page that covers its Android app on Chromebooks.

Which Chromebook notes apps work offline?

Google documents offline use for Google Keep and Google Docs on a Chromebook. Keep needs a few minutes online first so it can save your notes, and offline use for Docs is turned on automatically on ChromeOS.

Does TackNote Lite sync between devices?

No. TackNote Lite keeps notes in Chrome on your Chromebook and has no phone app. To move notes to another computer, use Save a backup, then Restore a backup on the other computer.