Secure Notes

Secure Notes is a Joplin plugin that lets you password-protect and encrypt your joplin notes locally. It ensures your sensitive information stays private — only you can unlock and read your data.

Important

The v3.x series removes the Editor API and format migration code. The plugin now solely relies on the Content Scripts implementation.

Breaking change: Support for the JSON encryption format has been removed. If you have notes encrypted with the old JSON based format, migrate them to CodeFenced based format using v2.2.6 before upgrading to v3.x.

Features

• 🔒 Password-Protected - Encrypt sensitive notes with a password of your choice
• 👁️ Secure View - Preview encrypted notes without decrypting them permanently
• 📁 Local Storage - Encrypted notes are stored locally in Joplin's database
• 🛡️ Strong Encryption - Uses industry-standard AES encryption with Webcrypto API.
• 🔄 Multiple Modes - Supports AES-CBC, AES-CTR, and AES-GCM modes with 128-bit or 256-bit key sizes.

Disclaimer

NO RECOVERY – If you forget your password, your encrypted notes are permanently lost. There’s no way to recover or reset it. Please keep backups of anything important.

NO WARRANTIES – This plugin is provided "as is" without any guarantees. While it uses industry-standard AES encryption, no system is 100% secure. The author is not liable for data loss or security issues.

Use at your own risk. By using this plugin, you accept these terms.

Installation

From Market-Place (Recommended)

• Open Joplin and navigate to Tools → Options → Plugins → Search
• Search for Secure Notes
• Click Install and restart Joplin

From Source-Build

• Build the plugin package file (.jpl):

  git clone https://github.com/cipherswami/joplin-plugin-secure-notes.git
  cd joplin-plugin-secure-notes
  npm install
  npm run dist

• Then in Joplin, Go to Tools → Options → Plugins → Install from file

• Select the generated .jpl file from the publish/ directory

Usage

Encrypt Note

1. Select the note you want to encrypt.
2. Click the key icon in the toolbar, or go to Tools > Secure Notes > Encrypt Note.
3. Enter a password when prompted.
4. The note will be encrypted.

View Note

1. Select an encrypted note.
2. The plugin will automatically prompt for a password.
3. Enter your password to view the note in read-only mode.
4. The note is decrypted in RAM and displayed temporarily in SecureView.

Decrypt Note

1. Select an encrypted note.
2. Click the key icon in the toolbar, or go to Tools > Secure Notes > Decrypt Note.
3. Enter the correct password.
4. The note will be permanently decrypted.

Settings

Access plugin settings via Tools > Options > Secure Notes

AES Key Size

• 128-bit - Faster, suitable for most use cases
• 256-bit - Maximum security (Recommended)

AES Cipher Mode

• CBC - Cipher Block Chaining mode
• CTR - Counter mode
• GCM - Galois/Counter Mode (Recommended)

Note

Changing encryption settings only affects newly encrypted notes. Previously encrypted notes will use the settings that were active when they were encrypted.

FAQ

Q: What happens if I uninstall the plugin?
A: Encrypted notes will remain encrypted. Reinstall the plugin to decrypt them.

Q: Are encrypted notes searchable?
A: No, encrypted content cannot be searched until the note is decrypted.

Q: Are resources in my notes encrypted?
A: This plugin only encrypts your note contents. Resources like images, attachments are not encrypted because they’re just hyperlinks not the actual files themselves.

Q: Can I encrypt all my notes or notebook at once?
A: Currently, the plugin encrypts notes individually. Batch encryption may be added in future versions.

Change Log

See the full project history in CHANGELOG.

Support

• Questions & Discussions: Join the conversation on the Joplin Forum
• Bug Reports: Report issues on GitHub Issues.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Contributions are welcome! Visit the GitHub repository to submit pull requests or suggest new features.