Scratchpad for Mac
The Mac app: a new note from any app, reminders as notifications, and signing in with any passkey through your browser.
Scratchpad for Mac puts your notes in the Dock, with a real menu bar, Mac 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.
Download it from scratchpad.sh/mac. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later, and runs on Apple silicon and Intel.
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 iCloud Keychain, 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 |
|---|---|
| ⌃⌥N | A new note, from any app |
| ⌘N | A new note, when Scratchpad is in front |
| ⌘, | Settings |
| ⌘W | Close the window. Scratchpad keeps running |
| ⌘Q | Quit |
Reminders
Reminders arrive as Mac notifications while the app is running, and clicking one opens its note. Closing the window doesn't stop them, but quitting does.
To keep them coming, tick Open at Login in the Scratchpad menu. The app then starts with your Mac, quietly, 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. Check for Updates… in the Scratchpad menu looks right away.
Last updated 19 October 2026