Where FUTO Notes stores your notes

FUTO Notes keeps your notes as plain markdown files in one folder on your device. On desktop that folder is futo-notes inside your Documents folder, on iOS it is visible in the Files app, and on Android you choose between a shared folder and private app storage.

Settings → Storage always shows the exact path the app is using.

Default location

Platform	Default notes folder
Windows	`C:\Users\<you>\Documents\futo-notes`
macOS	`~/Documents/futo-notes`
Linux	`~/Documents/futo-notes`
iOS	On My iPhone (or On My iPad) → FUTO Notes → `futo-notes`
Android, Device storage	`Documents/FUTO Notes` in shared storage
Android, App storage	`Android/data/com.futo.notes/files/futo-notes`

On desktop, “Documents” is whatever your operating system reports as your Documents folder. On Windows, if Documents is redirected to OneDrive or another drive, the notes folder goes there. On Linux it is your XDG Documents directory. If the system reports no Documents folder at all, FUTO Notes uses a futo-notes folder inside its app data directory instead (see the table below).

The default folder is created the first time the app runs. If it has no notes in it, the app adds a Welcome note.

Change the notes folder on desktop

Open Settings and find the Storage section. It shows the current path.
Click Change directory and pick a folder.
Confirm. The app restarts using the new folder.

Note: changing the folder does not copy or move anything. The confirmation says so: “Existing notes in the current directory will NOT be moved.” Your old notes stay where they were. To bring them along, quit the app and copy the files into the new folder yourself, before or after the switch.

You can pick an empty folder or one that already holds markdown files, such as an Obsidian vault. Either way the app opens that folder as it is.

Some things the desktop app remembers are stored inside the notes folder itself: theme, language, crash-report choices, open tabs, and the sync connection. A different folder starts with its own copy of these, so after switching you may need to connect sync again for the new folder.

To go back, click Reset to default in the same section. It appears only while you are using a custom folder, and it also restarts the app.

If the folder goes missing

If a custom folder disappears, for example because it was on an external drive that is not plugged in, the app does not create a new empty folder in its place. It shows “Can’t find your vault folder at” followed by the path, and Settings shows “This folder is no longer reachable. Choose it again, or reset to the default location.” Reconnect the drive and restart, choose the folder again, or reset to the default.

Android: Device storage or App storage

On Android, notes live in one of two locations: Device storage or App storage. The first time you open the app on Android 11 or newer, it asks “Where should your notes live?”

Device storage (recommended) is Documents/FUTO Notes in shared storage. You can open it from the Files app and from other apps, and it survives uninstalling FUTO Notes. It needs Android’s “All files access” permission.
App storage is private to FUTO Notes. No permission is needed, but the stock Files app can’t see it, and Android deletes your notes if you uninstall the app.

On Android 10 and older, Device storage isn’t available and the app uses App storage. Installs from before the storage picker existed keep their notes in internal storage, shown as “Internal · private (legacy)”, until you choose another location.

You can’t pick an arbitrary folder on Android.

Switch storage on Android

Open Settings → Storage → Storage location and choose the other option. The Folder row shows the full path.

If the new location is empty, the app shows “Moving notes…”, copies the whole notes folder there, checks the copy, and restarts on the new location. When you move away from App storage or internal storage, the old copy is then deleted. When you move away from Device storage, the old folder is left in place, because other apps may still be using it.
If the new location already has files, the app asks “Open the notes already there?” and shows how many notes each side has. Choosing Open that folder switches without copying, merging, or deleting anything. Your current notes stay where they are.
While sync is connected, you can’t switch to a location that already has notes: “Disconnect sync before switching to a folder that already has notes.”

iOS: the Files app

On iPhone and iPad the notes folder is fixed. It lives in the app’s own Documents folder, and Apple’s Files app shows it under On My iPhone (or On My iPad) → FUTO Notes → futo-notes. You can browse, copy, and back up the files there. You can’t point the iOS app at a different folder, such as one in iCloud Drive.

Hidden files inside the notes folder

FUTO Notes keeps a few files of its own inside the notes folder. Their names start with a dot, so the app never lists them as notes, sync never uploads them, and most file managers hide them.

File	Platforms	What it holds
`.app-state.json`	Desktop	Theme, language, crash-report and update choices, a device ID, and the sync server address and session token
`.app-config.json`	Desktop	Sidebar width, open tabs, and expanded folders
`.e2ee-state.json`, `.e2ee-ancestry.json`	All	Sync bookkeeping: which files have been uploaded and at what version. No encryption keys and no note text
`.crashlogs/`	All	Crash reports waiting to be sent or discarded
`.txt-migration-done`	All	A marker that the one-time `.txt` conversion has run (see file format)

You may also briefly see files starting with .sf- while the app is saving. They are temporary and removed when the write finishes.

Your sync password is never written to the notes folder. See the next section.

What lives outside the notes folder

These are kept per device, outside the notes folder, and are not part of a copy of it:

What	Where
Sync password (desktop)	The system keyring: Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, Secret Service on Linux
Sync password (iOS, Android)	The iOS Keychain; the Android Keystore
Search index	Desktop: `search` in the app data directory. iOS: the app’s Application Support folder. Android: the app’s private storage
Custom-folder choice (desktop)	`notes-dir-override.json` in the app data directory
Diagnostic log (desktop)	`journal` in the app data directory. It stays on your device and is never uploaded
Settings (iOS, Android)	The app’s own preferences storage

The desktop app data directory is:

OS	App data directory
Windows	`%APPDATA%\com.futo.notes`
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/com.futo.notes`
Linux	`~/.local/share/com.futo.notes` (or `$XDG_DATA_HOME/com.futo.notes`)

The search index is built from your notes, so you never need to back it up.

Because the password is in the keyring, copying the notes folder to another computer does not carry it along. You enter it once on each device. See sync password.

Run a separate copy with FUTO_NOTES_DATA_DIR

On desktop, the FUTO_NOTES_DATA_DIR environment variable moves everything to one directory you choose: the notes go in a notes folder inside it, and the search index, folder choice, and diagnostic log sit next to it. Set it in the environment you start the app from. The keyring entry is kept separately for each notes folder, so this copy never reads the other one’s sync password. It is useful for testing, or for keeping a second, separate set of notes.

Next steps

File format: what the files in the notes folder contain.
Back up your notes: copy the folder safely.
Using an Obsidian vault: point the app at an existing folder of markdown.