The return of plain text notes

Every few years a new notes app promises to be the last one you need. Then it changes direction, adds a paid tier, gets acquired or shuts down, and people go looking for the next one. Meanwhile, a .txt file written in 1998 still opens in Notepad.

That durability is why plain text notes keep coming back, now usually in the form of Markdown: plain text with a few conventions for headings, lists and links. Obsidian, Logseq and many other tools are built on folders of Markdown files, and their popularity says something about what people want.

Why plain text appeals

• It lasts. Text files outlive every app that edits them.
• It is portable. Any editor on any operating system can open it.
• It is searchable with tools you already have.
• It is diffable and versionable, so you can track changes with tools like Git.
• It is yours. No account, no format only one app understands.

The CommonMark specification gave Markdown a standard core, which helps files move between tools without surprises.

Where plain text falls short

• No reminders. A text file never comes to find you. “Call Sam Thursday” sits there until you happen to read it.
• No structure unless you add it. Dates, tags and checkboxes are just characters unless a tool interprets them.
• Capture is still slow if you have to open the file, find the right place and type.
• Sync is your problem, usually through a cloud folder.

The first point is the important one for tasks. Text is good at holding things. It is bad at bringing them back at the right time.

Getting the best of both

A pattern that works well:

1. Capture fast, in a tool that understands dates and turns them into reminders.
2. Store reference notes as plain Markdown, in a folder you control.
3. Export regularly, so even your task tool’s data exists as text.

That is roughly the shape Jot is built around. The capture box reads dates, tags and lists out of a plain line of text, so “call Sam thursday 3pm #acme” is still just text, but it also becomes a reminder. The data lives in a local SQLite database, and the Markdown export writes every note and todo as one file each, in a dated folder you choose. See export your notes as Markdown.

A tiny plain-text system

If you want to try plain text for notes:

• One folder, called notes.
• One file per topic, named plainly: acme-contract.md, pricing-ideas.md.
• One inbox.md for anything you have not sorted.
• Dates in ISO format (2026-10-04) so they sort and search well.
• A weekly look at inbox.md. See a ten-minute weekly review.

It is not glamorous. It will still work in 2046.

Jot is on the Microsoft Store if you want the reminders without giving up text.

Jot is a quick-capture app for Windows: one hotkey, one line, back to what you were doing. What it is, or what is still unproven.