Last updated September 2026
SidebarNotes is a local app. Your notes never leave your Mac — there's no account, no sync, and no server that stores or sees what you write.
Notes are kept in a local database in your Mac's Application Support folder. Note bodies are encrypted (AES-GCM) with a key held in your login keychain. Nobody but you — not even us — can read them.
At launch, SidebarNotes sends your license key to Polar (our payment and licensing provider) to confirm it's valid. That request includes the key and a label identifying your Mac (its device name) so a license can be tied to the machines it's activated on. No note content, filenames, or usage data is ever sent.
Checkout is handled entirely by Polar. We don't receive or store your card details — see Polar's privacy policy for how they handle payment information and receipts.
Questions about this policy: support@sidebarnotes.com.