How to protect your notes with a password
Notepad Free lets you lock any note with a password, share an encrypted link only the right person can open, and download a protected file that cannot be read without the password. All encryption runs in your browser — the server never sees your password or unlocked content.
Locking a note on your device
To password-protect a note you are editing, click the Password button in the toolbar. Enter a password and confirm it. The note is immediately encrypted using AES-GCM with a PBKDF2-derived key and stored in its encrypted form in your browser. When anyone opens that note next time, it appears locked — clicking it opens a password prompt. Enter the correct password and the note decrypts and opens in the editor. The password is never stored anywhere; only the encrypted data is. If you forget the password, the note cannot be recovered — choose something memorable or record it in a password manager.
Sharing a password-protected note
Open the share dialog and tick Protect with a password before copying the link. Enter a password and the note is encrypted in your browser before being encoded into the URL. The recipient opens the link and sees a password field rather than the note — entering the correct password decodes and displays the note in their browser. The password is not part of the URL, so intercepting the link alone is not enough to read the note. Best practice: send the link by one channel (email, chat) and the password by a separate channel (phone call, another message application).
Downloading a protected file
Choose Password-protected (.npf) from the Download menu to save an encrypted copy of your note to your device. The .npf file is a self-contained JSON envelope with the AES-GCM-encrypted note inside. When you upload the file back to Notepad Free on any device, you are prompted for the password before the content is revealed. This makes .npf files useful for transferring sensitive notes between your own devices, keeping offline backups or archiving notes in a form readable only with the password.
What the encryption protects and what it does not
The encryption protects note content from anyone who does not know the password — including anyone who finds the .npf file, intercepts a share link or examines browser local storage. It does not protect against someone watching your screen, observing what you type or already having access to your unlocked device. For the strongest protection, choose a long, unique password and deliver it through a channel that is separate from the one you use to deliver the link or file.