Just because a Sticky Note isn't showing on your screen doesn't always mean it's gone. Many times, the notes are still saved in the background but have just been closed or minimized, and you can access them through the Notes List feature.

• First, open the Sticky Notes app. You can find it by typing ‘Sticky Notes’ in the Start menu search bar and pressing Enter.
• Once it’s open, look for the Sticky Notes icon in your taskbar (the bar at the bottom of your screen).
• Right-click that icon, and from the menu that appears, select Notes list.

  

• A small window will open displaying all the notes you've saved. Even if they're not visible on the desktop, they'll show up here if they still exist.

  

• Browse through the list and open the note you were looking for.

If you manually deleted a Sticky Note, there's still a chance you can bring it back using the Recycle Bin. When files or folders are deleted on Windows, they're usually moved to the Recycle Bin temporarily. Unless you've emptied the bin recently, your note might still be there.

To recover deleted Sticky Notes from the Recycle Bin:

• Head over to your desktop and double-click the Recycle Bin icon. If you don't see it, search for ‘Recycle Bin’ in the Start menu and open it from there.
• Inside the Recycle Bin, scroll through the list of deleted files.
• Once you locate the note or related file, right-click it and choose Restore.

  

Windows has a backup feature called File History, which keeps older versions of files and folders as long as it's enabled. If you had File History turned on before your notes were deleted, you might be able to bring them back by restoring a previous version of the Sticky Notes app.

• Open File Explorer by pressing Windows + E on your keyboard.
• In the address bar, type the following path (replace username with your actual Windows account name): C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe
• Once inside that folder, locate the LocalState folder.

  

• Right-click it and select ‘Restore previous versions’ from the menu.

  

• Windows will now check if older versions of this folder exist using File History. If backups are found, a list of available versions will appear.
• Select the version that was saved before the notes were deleted and click Restore.
• Now, re-open the Sticky Notes app, and the previously deleted notes should now appear.

Sticky notes  are also saved in your Microsoft Account. If you recently switched to a new device or created a new user profile, your notes may not show up unless you’re signed in with the same account you were using before.

• Open the Sticky Notes app.
• In the top-right corner of the app, look for a gear icon.

  

• Click it and make sure you're signed in using the same Microsoft account you previously used for Sticky Notes.

  

• If you realize you're on the wrong account, sign out and then sign back in using the correct account.
• Once done, the previous sticky notes should appear.

When your Sticky Notes are linked to a Microsoft account, they also sync to Outlook. If a note was deleted, there's a chance it ended up in the Deleted Items folder in your Outlook account.

• Go to Outlook.com using a web browser and sign in with the same Microsoft account connected to Sticky Notes.
• Once logged in, look at the sidebar on the left and click on Deleted Items.
• Browse through the list and see if any of your missing Sticky Notes are there.
• If you find any, select them and click Restore to move them back into your notes or inbox area.

Sticky Notes saves your information in special files stored deep in your system folders. Even if a note was deleted, fragments of it might still exist inside these files. On Windows 11, the file is usually named plum.sqlite.

• Open File Explorer using Windows + E.
• Click the View menu at the top, then go to Show > Hidden items to make sure hidden files and folders are visible.
• Navigate to the Sticky Notes folder: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes_8wekyb3d8bbwe and open the LocalState folder. Replace ‘username’ with the actual name of your account.
• In that folder, look for the plum.sqlite file. This contains all your Sticky Notes data.

  

• Right-click the file and open it using a text editor like Notepad or WordPad.
• Press Ctrl + F to search within the file. We recommend entering a word or phrase you remember from your missing note.