How do I attach files and images to a note in Notesnook?

Open the insert menu in the editor and pick Image or Attachment. The file is encrypted on your device before it is uploaded, so nobody — including us — can read it. Attaching files requires a Notesnook account, and how large a file can be depends on your plan.

You need an account to attach files

Trying to insert an attachment while logged out shows Not logged in with the message Login to upload attachments. Attachments are stored on Notesnook's servers in encrypted form, which is why an account is required. See why login is needed to upload attachments.

Attach a file or an image

1. Put the cursor where the file should go.
2. Open the insert menu (the + button on the toolbar).
3. Choose Attachment for any file, or Image → Upload from disk for a picture.
4. Pick one or more files.

Shortcuts: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + A for an attachment, Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I for an image. You can also drag files straight into the editor.

Notesnook hashes each file first, so attaching the same file twice reuses the copy that is already uploaded instead of consuming your storage again.

File size and storage limits

	Free	Essential	Pro	Believer
Maximum file size	10 MB	100 MB	1 GB	5 GB
Storage per month	50 MB	1 GB	10 GB	25 GB

Storage counts attachments only — images, files, audio and web clips. Your notes never count against it. If a file is over your plan's limit, the upload is refused with a message telling you the size you are allowed. Full details are on Plans & limits.

Upload images at full quality Pro

By default Notesnook compresses images before uploading. The Image Compression setting offers Ask every time, Enable (Recommended) and Disable — and Disable, which uploads at full quality, needs Pro or Believer.

Go to Settings → Behaviour → Image Compression.

Manage your attachments

The attachment manager lists every file in your account with its name, upload status, size and upload date.

Go to Settings → Profile → Attachments and press Open.

Filter and search

Both apps group attachments by type. On desktop and web the sidebar has All files, Images, Documents, Videos, Audios, Uploads and Orphaned, each with a count. Mobile shows All files, Images, Audios, Videos, Documents, Orphaned and Errors.

• Uploads — files that are still waiting to be uploaded.
• Orphaned — files that are no longer referenced by any note, usually left behind by a note you deleted. These are safe to delete once you are sure you don't want the file itself.

The search box at the top filters the list by filename. On desktop and web you can also sort by clicking the Name, Size or Date uploaded column headers.

Act on an attachment

Open an attachment's menu — right click desktop and web, tap the item on mobile — for:

Action	What it does
Preview attachment	Opens images and PDFs without downloading them (desktop and web)
Linked notes	Lists the notes that use this file; picking one opens it
Run file check	Verifies the uploaded file is intact and decryptable
Rename	Changes the filename
Download	Saves the file to your device
Reupload	Replaces a broken upload — you must pick the same file, the hash has to match
Delete permanently (Delete on mobile)	Removes the file from your account and from the notes that use it

Download, Run file check and Delete also work on a multi-selection from the toolbar at the top of the desktop and web list.

Fix a failed attachment

A file that shows an error usually needs Run file check first. If the check reports a problem, Reupload with the original file repairs it.

Download every attachment

The download button at the bottom of the desktop and web sidebar is Download all attachments; on mobile it is the download icon in the header. A progress ring appears while it runs, and pressing the button again cancels it. This is the quickest way to get a local copy of everything you have uploaded.

Clear the cache

Clear cache removes the local copies of files without touching what is on the server. The confirmation spells out what happens: downloaded images and files are cleared, pending uploads are cleared, and uploaded images and files are unaffected.

Use the Clear cache button at the bottom of the attachment manager's sidebar.

Pending uploads are cleared too

Anything that has not finished uploading is lost when you clear the cache. Let uploads finish first.

Read a PDF without downloading it

PDFs open in a viewer inside Notesnook, so you can read one without saving it to your device first. The file is downloaded to the local cache, decrypted in memory and shown — it is never handed to another app unless you ask for that.

To open one, click or tap the PDF attachment where it sits in the note. On desktop and web there is a second route: open the file's menu in the attachment manager and choose Preview attachment. That entry appears only on images and PDFs, and the attachment manager on mobile has no preview action — go through the note instead.

The PDF opens in a side pane to the right of the editor, so you can read it and write at the same time. Drag the divider between the two to resize them.

The pane's toolbar has:

Control	What it does
Search	Searches the text of the PDF and highlights the matches
Go to previous page	Back one page
Page number	Shows the current page and the total; type a number to jump
Go to next page	Forward one page
Zoom out / Zoom in	Steps the zoom down or up; the current percentage sits between them
Download	Saves the PDF to your device
Enter fullscreen	Hands the whole screen to the PDF
Close	Closes the pane and returns the space to the editor

The table of contents and the note properties share this space, so opening the PDF preview closes whichever of those was open.

Password-protected PDFs

A PDF with a password on it opens on a PDF is password protected screen instead of the document. Enter the PDF's own password to read it. This is the password whoever made the file set on it — it has nothing to do with your Notesnook account password or your vault password, and Notesnook cannot recover it for you.

Deleting an attachment

Deleting an attachment removes it from your account and from every note that references it — attachments are not moved to Trash the way notes are.

What is an orphaned attachment?

Deleting a note does not delete the files it contained — they stay in your account as orphaned attachments, listed under Orphaned in the attachment manager. Delete the ones you no longer want the file for.

Why is my storage still full after I deleted attachments?

Your plan's storage figure is a monthly allowance, not a measure of how much you are currently storing — that is why every plan is written as 50 MB/mo, 1 GB/mo and so on. Uploading a file spends part of that month's allowance, and deleting the file afterwards does not hand the allowance back. The allowance starts again at the beginning of the next month.

So deleting attachments is worth doing to keep your account tidy, but it is not the way to get more room this month. If you are hitting the ceiling regularly, a plan with a larger monthly allowance is the fix — see plans & limits.

Need more room for files?

The free plan gives you 50 MB a month and a 10 MB file size cap. Paid plans go up to 25 GB a month with 5 GB files — and every file stays end-to-end encrypted on all of them.

See plans and pricingWhat's included in each plan

Related pages

• Plans & limits — the storage and file size limits for every plan
• Trash — why deleted notes leave their files behind
• How is my data encrypted? — how attachments are encrypted before upload
• Private vault — locking the notes your files live in
• Backup and restore — including attachments in a backup
• Why do I need to log in to upload attachments?