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Your Collection#

FoldNotes stores all your notes as plain Markdown files in a single folder called your collection. You always own your data — notes are readable and editable1 by any text editor.

Location#

The default collection location is in iCloud Drive:

~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~foldnotes/Documents/

If you're not signed in to iCloud, FoldNotes stores notes locally2 at:

~/Documents/FoldNotes/

Folder Structure#

Documents/
├── Meeting Notes.md           # Regular notes
├── Project Plan.md
├── .daily/
│   ├── 20260401.md            # Daily notes (YYYYMMDD.md)
│   └── 20260402.md
├── .trash/
│   └── Old Note.md            # Soft-deleted notes
├── .attachments/
│   ├── screenshot.png         # Images
│   └── photo.jpg
└── .views/
    └── saved-queries.json     # Saved search queries

Regular Notes#

Notes are stored as .md files in the collection root. The filename (minus the .md extension) is the note's title.

Daily Notes (.daily/)#

Daily notes are stored in a hidden .daily/ subfolder with filenames like 20260401.md. See Daily Notes for details.

Trash (.trash/)#

Deleted notes are moved here rather than permanently removed. Empty the trash to reclaim space.

Images (.attachments/)#

Images and files dragged into notes are stored here. FoldNotes references them via relative paths. See Images for details on importing, renaming, and inserting images.

Saved Views (.views/)#

Database views and saved search queries are stored as JSON files.

Front Matter#

Every note begins with a YAML front matter block that FoldNotes manages automatically:

---
id: 8A3F2B1C-1234-5678-9ABC-DEF012345678
created: 2026-04-03T10:30:00Z
title: Meeting Notes
---

This metadata is hidden in the editor — you never see it while writing. It stores the note's unique ID, creation date, and other internal state. See Front Matter Reference for the full schema.

iCloud Sync#

Notes sync automatically via iCloud Drive. FoldNotes detects file changes from other devices and updates its index. If a sync conflict occurs (the same note edited on two devices simultaneously), FoldNotes resolves non-overlapping edits automatically. For overlapping edits, macOS shows a conflict resolution panel; iOS shows a banner with Keep Mine / Keep Theirs options.

  1. The YAML front matter should not be edited as it is fields are maintained by FoldNotes. ↩

  2. Notes stored locally won't automatically sync. Sign in to iCloud Drive to enable sync for new notes. If you have existing local notes, you will have to copy them. ↩