Have you ever deleted Sticky Notes accidentally? Do you have any idea how to recover lost Sticky Notes? This article on MiniTool describes the common reasons for Sticky Notes loss and provides you with several proven methods to help you recover deleted Sticky Notes in Windows 10/11.
According to the Internet, lots of users are encountering the problem of losing Sticky Notes. Here you can see a true example from answers.microsoft.com:
After accidentally deleting a Sticky Note, is there a way to restore the note?
Also, is there any way to disable the shortcut of Ctrl + D to prevent accidental deletion?
I'm using Sticky Notes 4.5.6.0 on Windows 10. Thank you.
answers.microsoft.com
Before fixing this issue, you may need to know the common reasons for why Sticky Notes loss.
Common Causes of Sticky Notes Loss
Sticky Notes can be lost due to various reasons, and here you can see the common causes.
- Notes were deleted by mistake.
- Data loss due to computer viruses or malware.
- Notes lost due to power outage or system crash .
- Notes are hidden and cannot be seen.
- Notes disappeared due to a Windows system update.
How to Recover Deleted/Lost Sticky Notes
After knowing the main reasons for Sticky Notes loss, you can keep reading to find some effective ways to recover Sticky Notes.
Method 1. Check the Notes List
When you find that your Sticky Notes are missing, don’t worry. Since it's not necessarily gone permanently, just not showing, you can follow the steps below to see if you can see your notes again.
Step 1. Open Sticky Notes on your computer.
Step 2. Right-click the Sticky Notes icon in the Windows taskbar and select Notes list .
Then you will see all your Sticky Notes listed on the screen. You can right-click the wanted one and select Open note or double-click it to access your note.
Method 2. Check Your Microsoft Account
You also cannot see your Sticky Notes when you are using a new computer that is not logged in to Sticky Notes, or you are logged in with a different Microsoft account than the one used to sync Sticky Notes . In these cases, you need to sign in to Sticky Notes with the same Microsoft account to confirm whether the notes are lost.
If your notes still do not display after signing in to the correct Microsoft account, they may be gone. You can try the methods listed below to get deleted Sticky Notes back.
Method 3. Check the Outlook Folder
Although you don't need to be signed in to Sticky Notes to use it, it is recommended that you sign in to your Microsoft account. This is because in Sticky Notes 3.0 and above, signing in with the same Microsoft account allows you to view them on other devices or applications.
After a Sticky Note is accidentally deleted, you can log in to Outlook online to find the lost note. Here you can follow the steps below.
Step 1. Go to the Outlook sign-in page and log in to the same Microsoft account of Sticky Notes (You may be interested in this post: 5 Ways to Fix Microsoft Outlook Web Not Working ).
Step 2. Move on to the Deleted Items folder, and check whether there are deleted Sticky Notes.
Method 4. Check the Sticky Notes File (.snt / plum.sqlite) in File Explorer
Windows Sticky Notes are stored with the name StickyNotes.snt or plum.sqlite on your computer by default. Therefore, accidentally deleted Sticky Notes may also be stored there.
StickyNotes.snt is a file created by Sticky Notes in Windows 7 that is primarily used to store the text, font, color, and position on the desktop of each Sticky Note.
Tip: The file extension may be different based on the operating system. You can see StickyNotes.snt in Windows 7/8, and plum.sqlite in Windows 10/11. You can learn more information from this post: Sticky Notes: Location, Backup, and Restore in Windows 10 .
So, you can open the file location to view the Sticky Notes file.
But sometimes files and folders are hidden to prevent them from being accidentally deleted - mainly system files. In this case, you can follow the steps below to unhide and recover the files.
Step 1. Press Windows + E key combinations to open File Explorer.
Step 2. Click View > Options . Then go to the View tab.
Step 3. Check Show hidden files, folders, and drives and click OK .
Step 4. In the address bar of File Explorer, type the following location path and press Enter .
For Windows 10 Anniversary Update Version 1607 and later (Remember to replace the username with your actual username ):
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState
For Windows 10 version 1511 and earlier:
C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Sticky Notes
Now you can see the Sticky Notes file ( StickyNotes.snt or plum.sqlite ).
Step 5. Right-click the file to open it with Notepad or WordPad, etc. Then use the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcuts to find your deleted Sticky Notes.
Method 5. Recover Deleted Sticky Notes With Data Recovery Software
If you accidentally delete the .snt file or encounter a system crash that causes the file to be lost, then you can use professional data recovery software to recover Sticky Notes.
Here MiniTool Power Data Recovery is recommended. It is a professional, safe, and easy-to-use tool that can help you recover lost data in Windows 7/8/10/11. And it supports data recovery from all file storage devices like external hard drives, SSD, USB drives, etc. that use different file systems like FAT12, FAT32, NTFS , etc.
Here you can see how to recover deleted or lost Sticky Notes with MiniTool Power Data Recovery.
Step 1. Download, install, and launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery to get its main interface.
Tip: The free version helps you find all files in the partition and recover data of no more than 1 GB for free. If you want to recover more files, please consider an advanced edition. You may be interested in License Comparison .
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