Notegrove help

Getting started

The first time Notegrove opens, a few welcome notes show how everything works by example. The window has three panes: the sidebar with Notes, Todo, Untagged, Trash and your tags; the note list; and the note itself.

Press Ctrl+N for a new note. The first line is its title.
Everything is saved as you type. There is no Save button.
Press Ctrl+K for a list of commands.

Notegrove also lives in the notification area (the tray). Click the icon for a quick note. Right-click it for New note, Quick note, Open Notegrove, Settings and Quit. Closing the main window keeps Notegrove in the tray for the quick-note hotkey; if you turn the tray icon off, closing the window quits.

Writing

Type Markdown as usual: # for headings, **bold**, *italic*, ==highlight==, - for lists, - [ ] for todos, > for quotes and three backticks for code. With Hide Markdown symbols on (Settings › Editor), the symbols show only on the line you're editing.

Pictures you paste or drop appear in the note. Other files you drop become links.
Rich text pasted from a web page or Word turns into clean Markdown.
Ctrl+click opens a link. A plain click places the cursor, so links stay editable.
Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I and Ctrl+1/2/3 format text and headings; Ctrl+T adds a todo.

Settings › Editor also has the font, text size, line width, spell check, smart quotes and typewriter scrolling.

Tags and links

Tags: type # and a name anywhere in a note, like #ideas or #work/clients for nested tags. A tag needs at least one letter, so #123 stays plain text while #2026-plans is a tag. Tags in code and web addresses don't count, and capitals don't matter. Press Ctrl+Shift+T to pick a tag, or rename one from the sidebar to update every note.

Links: type [[ and choose a note from the list. Ctrl+click a link to open that note. Links to notes that don't exist yet are drawn in italics with a dotted line; Ctrl+click one to create the note. Every note shows the notes that link to it at the bottom.

When you change a note's title, links to it are updated as you leave the note. If more than 3 notes link to it, Notegrove asks first.

Searching

Press Ctrl+Shift+F and type. The list updates as you type and matches are highlighted. You can combine:

Words, "exact phrases" and -word to leave a word out.
tag:work or #work for a tag, including its nested tags.
has:todo, has:done, has:image, has:link, has:file or has:code.
date: (last changed) or created: with today, yesterday, week, month, year, 7d, 2026-10, a range like 2026-09..2026-10, or < and >.
title: to search titles only, and is:pinned.

Ctrl+F finds text in the open note. Ctrl+Shift+P pins a note to the top of the list.

Quick note

Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N in any app, or click the tray icon, and start typing. The note is saved as you type, and Esc closes the window. A quick note is only created once you type something.

In Settings › General you can choose another hotkey, tag quick notes #inbox so they're easy to sort later, and turn on Start with Windows so the hotkey works right after you sign in.

Export, backups and Trash

In Settings › Data:

Export all… saves one file per note in a folder you choose, as Markdown, PDF, Word or web pages. Markdown and web pages bring their pictures and files along. To export just one note, press Ctrl+K.
Import… reads a folder of Markdown files, including subfolders and the pictures and files they link to.
Automatic backups copy all your notes every day and keep the newest 30. Restore… backs up your notes as they are now first, so a restore can be undone.
Move library… puts your notes in another folder.

Deleted notes stay in Trash for 30 days. PDF export uses the fonts on your PC, so emoji and some scripts may not show in a PDF; Word and web page exports keep them.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work from anywhere in Windows while Notegrove is running.

Action	Default shortcut
Quick note	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Shift`+`N`

Trial and license

Notegrove is free to try for 14 days, with everything turned on. After that: Every note stays readable, searchable, editable and exportable. Only new notes are limited, to 3 a day.

Entering your license key

Buy a license. Your key appears on screen as soon as the payment goes through, and arrives by email.
In Notegrove, open the License page in Settings.
Paste the key and choose Activate. The PC needs to be online for this step.

Using it on more than one PC

One key works on up to 3 PCs. To move it to a new PC, deactivate it on the old one from the License page first. If the old PC is gone, free up its place at Manage devices, using the email address you bought with or the key itself.

Once activated, Notegrove works offline. When it's online it checks the license about once a week, so a refunded or revoked key stops working on its next check.

Bought Notegrove in the Microsoft Store? The Store edition is licensed through your Microsoft account instead, and doesn't use a key.

Updates

Notegrove checks for a new version on its own about 30 seconds after it starts, and asks before installing it.

Each update is checked against a fingerprint (SHA-256) before it runs, and installs over the current version without touching your data. Updates for the Microsoft Store edition come through the Store.

See what’s new in each version.

Your data and uninstalling

Notegrove keeps its settings and data on your PC, in this folder (paste it into File Explorer’s address bar to open it):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Hedgerow\Notegrove

To back it up, quit Notegrove and copy that folder.

To uninstall, open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Notegrove and choose Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to remove your data too.

Still stuck?

Email support@hedgerowapps.com and we’ll get back to you. Mention your Notegrove version (shown in Settings › About) and your Windows version. More answers are on the support page.