New Note Ctrl+N
Adds a new note under the currently selected one. Prompts for a name; duplicate names within the same parent are rejected. Default name is "New Note".
ToDoList node is protected./ as separator — e.g. ToDoList/Work/Q4 Report. Shows the path in a dialog for confirmation.2026-09-1114:232026-09-11 14:23InsCtrl.txt — Ctrl-prefix snippetsInsShift.txt — Shift-prefix snippetsInsShiftCtrl.txt — Ctrl+Shift snippetsLabel; text. The text supports tokens like $dddd (weekday), $dd, $mm, $yyyy, $hh, $ss, %hh:mm:ss, %h:mm tt, and ^ which becomes a newline.
Lookup.txt (lines of Name; url$query). Highlight a word in the editor, pick a lookup entry, and the app opens the URL in your browser with the word substituted. Great for dictionaries, wikis, and search engines.ghostnotes.ghn. A green "Saved" toast blinks on the toolbar for a moment to confirm..ghn file — useful for backups, project splits, or sharing a subset of notes with someone.ghostnotes.ini.
Backups\ folder next to the exe — e.g. Backups\ghostnotes_2026-09-11.ghn. Only one snapshot per day; the most recent 30 are kept, older ones are pruned automatically. If you ever need to roll back after an accidental deletion or corruption, your last month of versions is right there.ghostnotes.ghnghostnotes.ini.txt file and creates a new note under the current selection with that file's text as the body. If a note with the same name already exists in that parent, the import is auto-numbered ("My File (1)", "My File (2)", …) so nothing is overwritten. Great for pulling in quick notes from other apps..txt file, with the tree structure shown as indented headings and the note content beneath each one. RTF codes are stripped so the output is clean and readable..rtf file with each note as a bold heading followed by its fully formatted body — bold, italics, colours, and font changes are preserved. Opens cleanly in Word, WordPad, LibreOffice, and most rich-text editors. Ideal when you want to print or share a formatted copy of the whole notebook.Launcher.txt (lines of Label; command). Each entry runs the command when clicked — perfect for opening your browser, favourite apps, or scripts without leaving Ghost Notes.%USERPROFILE% or %SystemRoot%. They're expanded before running, so shortcuts stay portable across machines.Ln 5, Col 12), the word and character count (updates every keystroke), and an unsaved-changes indicator (*).ghostnotes.ini so it reappears exactly where you left it.* appears in the title bar and next to the cursor position in the status bar. Close the app and you'll be prompted to save first.ghostnotes.ini. On next launch Ghost Notes recreates it with defaults. Your notes in ghostnotes.ghn are never touched.ToDoList. You'll see it in the tree but can't rename or delete it — it holds the entire notebook together. You can still add children to it just like any note.Logs\single_instance.log next to the exe, along with any mutex or event errors. Useful if you ever need to trace why the app behaved oddly on launch.Ghost Notes is a small hierarchical notebook inspired by the classic MemPad by Horst Schaeffer — the sort of tool that quietly does one thing well and then stays out of your way. It keeps every note in a single XML file, so backing up your entire notebook means copying one file to a USB stick or a cloud folder. Rich text, dark mode, favourites, back/forward navigation, auto-backup, cross-note find & replace, and a handful of keyboard-driven niceties are all baked in. There are no accounts, no cloud sync, no telemetry, and no ads. Ghost Notes is free, and it always will be. 💚