# Microsoft Sticky Notes on Mac: is there an app?

> **TL;DR** Microsoft Sticky Notes has no Mac app. Microsoft's own list of places your synced notes appear names Windows 10 and 11, OneNote on iPhone, iPad and Android, Microsoft Launcher on Android, Outlook and the web at www.onenote.com/stickynotes, and no macOS app. On a Mac, the route Microsoft documents is the web page, signed in with the same Microsoft account. If you want sticky notes that live on the Mac desktop instead, Apple's Stickies comes with macOS, and Stickies by Coduo, a Mac app that is not released yet, keeps pinned notes floating above other apps and tucks the rest into slivers at the screen edge. Keep Microsoft Sticky Notes if you also work on Windows or Android.

Microsoft Sticky Notes has no Mac app. Microsoft's help lists every place your synced sticky notes show up, and a Mac app is not on it. What a Mac can do is open your notes on the web, and if you want notes that live on the Mac desktop itself, macOS has its own options.

Facts about Microsoft Sticky Notes below come from Microsoft's support pages, and facts about Apple's Stickies from Apple's user guide, all read on 2026-09-25. Facts about Stickies by Coduo come from its source code.

## Is Microsoft Sticky Notes available on Mac?

No. Microsoft Sticky Notes is a Windows app; Microsoft's getting-started page opens with "Welcome to Sticky Notes for Windows!" and sends you to the Microsoft Store to install it. When you sign in with a Microsoft account, your notes sync to:

- Windows 10 and 11
- OneNote for iPhone and OneNote for iPad
- OneNote for Android, and Microsoft Launcher on Android
- the web, at www.onenote.com/stickynotes
- Outlook

No macOS app appears in that list. Microsoft's pages also state no price for Sticky Notes, so none is given here.

## How can you see your Microsoft sticky notes on a Mac?

Use the web page. It is the one Mac route Microsoft documents:

1. On your Windows PC, open Sticky Notes, select Settings from the notes list, and sign in with your Microsoft account. Sync needs Sticky Notes 3.0 or later.
2. On the Mac, open www.onenote.com/stickynotes in a browser.
3. Sign in with the same Microsoft account.

We checked that the page answers; we have not tested how it renders in Safari or Chrome on a Mac after sign-in.

OneNote for Mac is free on the Mac App Store, and it is tempting to assume it shows Sticky Notes the way OneNote for iPhone does. Microsoft does not say so. Its OneNote for Mac help page never mentions Sticky Notes, and the synced-devices list names OneNote on iPhone, iPad and Android only. If you need it to work, try the web page first.

## What does Microsoft Sticky Notes do better?

Microsoft Sticky Notes reaches almost everywhere except the Mac. Your notes follow one Microsoft account across Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad, Outlook and any browser. If your working day crosses a Windows PC and an Android phone, no Mac app can match that, and Stickies by Coduo in particular runs on a Mac only.

It also has search. Press Ctrl+F in the notes list and it filters to the notes containing your term. Stickies by Coduo has no search. On Windows you can write on a note with your finger or a stylus, add pictures, pick a background color per note, and switch between light and dark modes. Stickies by Coduo holds text only, formatted bold, italic or strikethrough.

And on Windows it asks nothing of you up front: Microsoft says you do not need to be signed in to start using it. The account comes in only when you want sync.

## What does a native Mac sticky-notes app do instead?

A native Mac app puts the notes on the Mac desktop itself, which is the part a web page cannot do. There are two to look at.

**Apple's Stickies** comes with macOS. It keeps notes on your desktop while the app is open, can float any single note above other windows with [Window > Float on Top](https://www.coduo.co/stickies/guides/keep-sticky-notes-on-top-mac), and holds fonts, pictures and lists. Apple's guide describes no sync between Macs; its route to other devices is exporting every note into Apple Notes.

**Stickies by Coduo** is a Mac app, not released yet, built around the one thing Microsoft says its app cannot do. Microsoft's help is blunt: "You cannot currently have Sticky Notes stay on top of other applications." In Stickies by Coduo, every pinned sticky is its own window at the floating window level, so it stays above your other apps without a setting. It joins every Space and shows over full-screen apps.

The rest of the app:

- **[Unpinned stickies go to the screen edge](https://www.coduo.co/stickies/features/stash-to-screen-edge).** Unpin one and its window closes; the sticky becomes a colored sliver 12 points wide at the right edge. Hover over a sliver and a card for that sticky alone fades in, showing its title and first lines. Past seven stashed stickies, the edge column scrolls and has no hover preview yet.
- **[A global shortcut](https://www.coduo.co/stickies/features/quick-panel-and-new-sticky-shortcut).** ⌘⇧N makes a new pinned sticky from any app, and a menu bar panel composes new stickies and lists recent ones. The shortcut cannot be changed yet.
- **Sync through your own iCloud.** Sticky Notes syncs through a Microsoft account. Stickies by Coduo is built to sync through your private iCloud database, with no Microsoft account, no Coduo account and no Coduo server; the newer edit wins when two meet. The two-Mac round trip has not been checked yet, so treat sync as designed, not proven.

## Can you move notes from Microsoft Sticky Notes into Stickies by Coduo?

No. Stickies by Coduo has no importer for any other app. To move a note, open it on the Sticky Notes web page, copy the text, and paste it into a new sticky. Pictures and handwriting will not come across, because a sticky holds text only.

## How do Microsoft Sticky Notes, Apple's Stickies and Stickies by Coduo compare?

| | Microsoft Sticky Notes | Apple's Stickies | Stickies by Coduo |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mac app | None listed by Microsoft; web page | Comes with macOS | Mac app, macOS 15 or later, not released yet |
| Other devices | Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android through OneNote, web, Outlook | Mac only | Mac only |
| Price | Not stated on Microsoft's pages | Part of macOS | See [plans](https://www.coduo.co/stickies#pricing) |
| Stays above other windows | "Cannot currently" (Windows) | Per note, Window > Float on Top | Every pinned sticky |
| Hides notes at the screen edge | No | No | Yes, right edge |
| Sync | Microsoft account | None documented; export to Notes | Private iCloud database, built, not yet proven on two Macs |
| Search | Yes | Find and replace | No |
| Pictures and handwriting | Yes, on Windows | Pictures and PDFs | No |
| Font and size | "You cannot currently change" | Any font | Bold, italic, strikethrough |

## Which should you pick?

If you use Windows or Android as well as a Mac, stay with Microsoft Sticky Notes and use the web page on the Mac. Nothing on the Mac side follows you to those devices.

If your notes live on the Mac alone, a native app will serve you better than a browser tab. Start with Apple's Stickies: it is already installed, and it floats a note on request. Stickies by Coduo is for people who want every pinned note floating by default, the rest tucked into slivers at the screen edge, and sync between Macs through their own iCloud. It is not released yet; the [plans page](https://www.coduo.co/stickies#pricing) has the details.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is there a Microsoft Sticky Notes app for Mac?

No. Microsoft's list of places where synced sticky notes appear covers Windows 10 and 11, OneNote for iPhone, iPad and Android, Microsoft Launcher on Android, Outlook and the web, and names no macOS app.

### How do I see my Microsoft sticky notes on a Mac?

Open www.onenote.com/stickynotes in a browser on the Mac and sign in with the Microsoft account your notes sync to. Sync needs Sticky Notes 3.0 or later on Windows, signed in to that same account.

### Does OneNote for Mac show Sticky Notes?

Microsoft does not say so. Its synced-devices list names OneNote for iPhone, iPad and Android, and its OneNote for Mac help page does not mention Sticky Notes. The web page at www.onenote.com/stickynotes is the Mac route Microsoft documents.

### Can I import Microsoft Sticky Notes into Stickies by Coduo?

No. Stickies by Coduo has no importer. You can copy a note's text from the Sticky Notes web page and paste it into a new sticky.

### Can Microsoft Sticky Notes stay on top of other windows?

Not on Windows. Microsoft's help says you cannot currently have Sticky Notes stay on top of other applications, and suggests pinning Sticky Notes to the taskbar instead. On a Mac, Apple's Stickies can float a note with Window > Float on Top, and Stickies by Coduo floats every pinned sticky.