# How to keep sticky notes on top on a Mac

> **TL;DR** To make a sticky note stay on top on a Mac, click the note in Apple's Stickies and choose Window > Float on Top. The setting is per note, so repeat it for each one. In Apple Notes, a Quick Note stays visible while it is open. In Stickies by Coduo, a separate app that is not released yet, every pinned sticky floats above normal windows on every Space with no setting to turn on, and unpinning it sends it to the screen edge.

To make a sticky note stay on top on a Mac, click the note in Apple's Stickies and choose Window > Float on Top. It works one note at a time: every note you want in front of your other windows needs the same menu item.

That covers Apple's own app, which comes with macOS. Below are the other built-in route, Apple Notes' Quick Note, and how Stickies by Coduo handles it. Stickies by Coduo is a separate menu-bar app from Apple's Stickies. It does not read or change Apple's notes, and it is not released yet.

## How do you make a sticky stay on top on a Mac?

Use Float on Top in Apple's Stickies. Apple's guide describes it as keeping the note in front of other windows.

1. Open Apple's Stickies.
2. Click the note you want on top, so it is the selected note.
3. Choose Window > Float on Top.
4. Repeat for every other note you want floating.

Two more settings in the same menu are worth knowing. Window > Translucent makes the note semi-transparent, which helps when a floating note sits over the thing you are reading. And Window > Use as Default turns the selected note's formatting and customization into the template for new notes. Apple lists Float on Top among a note's customizations, so making one note float and choosing Use as Default is worth trying if you want every new note to float. Apple's guide does not say outright that the float carries over, so check it on the next new note.

## Does a floating sticky stay on top over full-screen apps and on other desktops?

Apple's guide does not say. It describes Float on Top as keeping the note in front of other windows and says nothing about full-screen apps or Spaces, the separate desktops a Mac can have. This guide did not test it, so it makes no claim either way.

One thing Apple does say applies here too: when the Stickies app is closed, notes don't appear on the desktop at all. A floating note is only on top while Apple's Stickies is open.

## Can Apple Notes stay on top?

A Quick Note can. Apple says a Quick Note stays visible on the screen while it is open.

To open one, press and hold the Fn or Globe key and press Q, or move the pointer to the bottom-right corner of the screen, which is the default hot corner. By default a Quick Note reopens the previous one. Deselect "Always resume to last Quick Note" in Notes > Settings to get a new note each time. Quick Notes land in the Quick Notes folder in Notes.

If you came here from Windows: Microsoft Sticky Notes cannot stay on top either. Microsoft's help says you cannot currently have Sticky Notes stay on top of other applications, and its list of places your sticky notes appear names Windows, OneNote on iPhone, iPad and Android, Outlook and the web, but no Mac app.

## How does Stickies by Coduo keep a sticky on top?

In Stickies by Coduo, pinning a sticky is what makes it float. There is no per-note setting to find, because every pinned sticky gets the same window setup in the code:

- the floating window level, above normal app windows;
- a place on every Space, so it follows you between desktops;
- permission to appear over full-screen apps.

A sticky is always in one of two places: pinned on the desktop as its own window, or stashed at the right edge of the screen as a thin strip. Command-Shift-N from any app makes a new sticky that starts out pinned. Clicking the pin in a stashed sticky's window pins it.

A stashed sticky that you open from its strip at the edge floats at the same level, but it does not stay. Opening it does not change it to pinned, and the moment you click anywhere else its window closes and it goes back to the edge. That is the difference between reading a note and keeping it out: pin it to keep it.

## What are the catches with Stickies by Coduo?

There are three, all from the current code.

- **You cannot put a pinned sticky behind other windows.** Floating is not optional for a pinned sticky. If you want a note out of the way, stash it.
- **No translucency.** A sticky's window has three controls: the pin, a format button, and a menu with Copy and Delete. Apple's Stickies has Translucent; Stickies by Coduo has nothing like it.
- **The menu-bar panel's pin does not keep the panel open.** The panel has a pin labelled "Keep Quick Panel open", but in the current build a click outside still closes the panel.

## How do you stop a sticky floating?

In Apple's Stickies, Float on Top is set per note from the Window menu, and Apple's guide describes only turning it on. Select the note and open the Window menu to change it.

In Stickies by Coduo, click the sticky's pin. The window closes and the sticky goes to the top of the stash at the right edge of the screen, the newest one first. Nothing is lost: hover its strip to peek at it, click to open it, and pin it again to make it float. The [guide to hiding sticky notes](https://www.coduo.co/stickies/guides/hide-stickies-on-mac) walks through the stash, and the [guide to putting sticky notes on the desktop](https://www.coduo.co/stickies/guides/put-sticky-notes-on-mac-desktop) covers making them.

## Which should you use?

| | Apple's Stickies | Apple Notes Quick Note | Stickies by Coduo |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| How a note stays on top | Window > Float on Top, per note | Stays visible while open | Every pinned sticky floats |
| Over full-screen apps and on every Space | Not documented | Not documented | Set in the code |
| Translucent note | Yes | Not documented | No |
| Where a note goes when not on top | Stays on the desktop | Quick Notes folder | The stash at the right edge |
| Available | Ships with macOS | Ships with macOS | Not released yet; see the [plans page](https://www.coduo.co/stickies#pricing) |

If you have one or two notes that should float and you keep Apple's Stickies open, Float on Top is already on your Mac. Stickies by Coduo suits the person who wants floating to be the default and wants a quick way to get a note out of sight without closing it.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I keep Apple's Stickies on top of other windows?

Click the note in Apple's Stickies, then choose Window > Float on Top. Apple's guide describes it as keeping the note in front of other windows. It applies to the note you chose, so set it on each note you want floating.

### Can Apple Notes stay on top of other windows?

A Quick Note can. Apple says a Quick Note stays visible on the screen while it is open. Open one by holding the Fn or Globe key and pressing Q, or by moving the pointer to the bottom-right corner of the screen.

### Can Microsoft Sticky Notes stay on top?

No. Microsoft's own help says you cannot currently have Sticky Notes stay on top of other applications, and Microsoft's list of places its sticky notes appear names no Mac app.

### How does Stickies by Coduo keep a sticky on top?

Pinning is the float. Every pinned sticky in Stickies by Coduo is a window at the floating level, set to join every Space and to sit over full-screen apps, so there is no per-note menu item. Stickies by Coduo is a separate app from Apple's Stickies and is not released yet.

### How do I stop a sticky floating in Stickies by Coduo?

Click its pin. Stickies by Coduo closes the window and puts the sticky at the top of the stash on the right edge of the screen, where it shows as a thin strip until you open it again.