Evernote built its name on one simple itch: get the thought out of your head and into a searchable place before you lose it. That quick-capture habit is the part people miss most when the app feels heavier than the job requires, or when a signup screen stands between them and a two-line reminder. We built Quick Slate, a free browser-based note tool that opens straight into a ready note. No account, no install, no folder to create first.
Play Quick Slate now
Start typing right away. Your note saves as you go, and everything stays on this device.
How to use Quick Slate
The editor is active the moment the page loads, so just type. Add comma-separated tags above the note to group related ideas, and they show up as chips right below the field. Every keystroke autosaves after a short pause, with a small “Saved” label confirming it landed. The list on the left shows every note you have written, newest first, with the title pulled from the first line. Tap a note to reopen it, use the search box to find one by text or tag, or tap the trash icon to remove one (you get a few seconds to undo). On phones, the note list tucks behind a menu button so the editor gets the full screen. A quiet streak counter in the top bar tracks how many days in a row you have captured something, and it is saved on your device. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
How it compares to Evernote
Quick Slate keeps the part of Evernote’s loop that matters for a fast thought: open, type, tag, find it later by search. That is genuinely useful for grocery lists, meeting scraps, or an idea you do not want to forget before your next meeting.
It drops almost everything else on purpose. There is no sync across devices, so a note you write on your phone will not show up on your laptop unless you copy it over yourself. There is no web clipper, so saving an article or a webpage means copying and pasting the text by hand. Rich attachments are out too: no PDFs, no scanned receipts, no audio clips, no handwriting recognition. Notes live only in this browser’s local storage, which means clearing your browser data or switching browsers will erase them, and there is no cloud backup to fall back on.
Think of Quick Slate as a scratchpad for one device, not a replacement for a notebook system you depend on across your phone, tablet, and computer. If you take a handful of quick notes a day and rarely need them anywhere but where you wrote them, it covers that case well. If you clip web pages, scan documents, or need your notes to follow you between devices, the real app is built for that and this tool is not trying to be.
Get the full app
Evernote adds notebook organization, cross-device sync, a web clipper, PDF and image search, and handwriting recognition, features that go well beyond what a browser scratchpad can offer.
If you have already decided to move on from Evernote for good rather than just wanting a quick scratchpad, we compared seven full alternatives, including free and privacy-focused picks, in our Evernote alternatives roundup.
Frequently asked questions
Is Quick Slate the real Evernote?
No. Quick Slate is an original tool built by the Unstore team, inspired by the quick-capture habit that made Evernote popular. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Evernote or its publisher in any way.
Where are my notes stored? Is my data private?
Everything you type stays in your browser’s local storage on this device. Nothing is uploaded, synced, or sent to any server, including when you use the Share button, which only sends a short stat like a word count, never your note text. Clearing your browser data or switching browsers will remove your notes, so treat this as a scratchpad rather than long-term storage for anything important.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the page has loaded, typing, saving, searching, and deleting notes all work without an internet connection, since everything runs locally in your browser.
Is it free?
Yes, completely free with no account, no signup, and no upgrade prompts. There is nothing to unlock because everything the tool offers is already unlocked.
Can I sync these notes to my phone or another computer?
Not with Quick Slate. It intentionally has no sync layer, since notes are private to the browser you wrote them in. If you need your notes to follow you across devices, that is exactly what the full Evernote app, or one of the alternatives in our roundup, is built to do.
