Scratchpad for Linux
The Linux app: a new note from any app, reminders as notifications, a tray icon, and signing in with any passkey through your browser.
Scratchpad for Linux gives your notes their own app, with real menus in your language, a tray icon, desktop notifications for your reminders, and a key that starts a new note from whatever you're doing. It's the same Scratchpad and the same notes as everywhere else, and it comes with every plan.
Installing it
Download it from scratchpad.sh/linux. There are two kinds:
- The AppImage runs on almost any distribution with nothing to install.
Make the file executable (right-click, Properties, or
chmod +xin a terminal) and open it. On Ubuntu 22.04 or later, installlibfuse2first. - The .deb installs Scratchpad like any other app on Ubuntu and Debian,
for Intel and AMD or for ARM:
sudo apt install ./Scratchpad-linux-amd64.deb.
Signing in
Click Sign in with your browser. Your browser opens on a page that shows a four-digit code, and the app shows the same one. If they match, click Sign in to the Scratchpad app, and the app is signed in a moment later.
It goes through your browser so that every way you sign in works: a passkey in Chrome, a password manager, or on a security key, as well as Google. Only continue if you started the sign-in yourself and the codes match. If you didn't, click This wasn't me.
You can also type your email and password straight into the app.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+N | A new note, from any app |
| Ctrl+N | A new note, when Scratchpad is in front |
| Ctrl+, | Settings |
| Ctrl+Q | Quit |
On some keyboards, Ctrl+Alt+N types a letter instead, and some Wayland desktops don't let an app listen for keys everywhere. The tray icon's New Note works either way.
The tray icon and reminders
Closing the window keeps Scratchpad running, with an icon in the tray to open it again, start a note, or quit. Reminders arrive as desktop notifications while it's running, and clicking one opens its note.
To keep them coming, tick Open at Login in the File menu. The app then starts quietly when you sign in to your computer, without opening a window.
Locked notes and passkeys
A locked note opens with its password, as usual. To use a passkey instead, click Unlock in your browser: your browser asks for the passkey, and the note opens in the app.
Passkeys are added and managed in your browser, under Settings → Signing in. In the app, that section has a button that opens it there.
Updates
The app checks for a new version when it starts and every few hours after, downloads it in the background, and installs it the next time you quit. The .deb asks for your password to install each one. Check for Updates… in the Help menu looks right away.
Last updated 20 October 2026