Use the scratchpad

The scratchpad is a small window that stays above every program. You type or dictate into it and insert the note into a program later.

Open the scratchpad

There are three ways:

• Open Scratchpad in the sidebar and click New note.
• A shortcut of its own. There is none by default.
• A button in the Action Bar. It is off by default.

You set both on the Scratchpad page under Opening.

The shortcut opens the scratchpad from anywhere. Press it again to close it. Remove shortcut deletes it.

Under When it opens you choose what the scratchpad shows: Last note (the default) or New note.

Type and dictate

Click into the window and type. To dictate, hold Ctrl+Win and speak. Dictate writes into the scratchpad as into any other program.

Dictate saves the note by itself after a short pause. The bottom of the window shows the number of words and Saved.

Several notes

• New note (the plus) opens a new tab. Ctrl+N works too, on a Mac Command+N.
• Close tab closes a tab. The note stays saved. The last tab closes the window.
• Notes shows the list on the left, with a search.
• Small window and Large window change the size.
• All notes opens the Scratchpad page in the main window.

Dictate deletes empty notes when you close the window. The window opens again in the same place.

Insert a note into a program

Open the scratchpad from the program the note should go into. The bottom of the window then shows a button with the program's name, for example Insert into Word. Click it, or press Ctrl+Enter, on a Mac Command+Enter. The scratchpad closes, and Dictate inserts the note at the cursor.

If this fails, the text is on the clipboard: Not inserted. The text is on the clipboard.

More buttons at the bottom of the window:

• Copy puts the note on the clipboard.
• Delete note asks Delete?. A second click deletes the note.

Manage your notes

The Scratchpad page lists all notes under Your notes. A click opens a note in the window. With the mouse over a row, Rename and Delete appear. You cannot undo a delete. The magnifier Search notes searches your notes.

Where the notes are kept

Notes stay on this computer, encrypted with the key of your system. Settings›Privacy›Export data puts the scratchpad into the ZIP file. Privacy in Dictate has more.