Notesnook stores notes, notebooks, tags and attachments in an end-to-end encrypted account. It also has local backup files, readable export formats, a browser clipper and public note pages called Monographs. These paths do different work. Locking a note adds another password gate inside the account, while publishing a Monograph deliberately creates a web address outside the private notes view.
The clipper depends on an open web session
The browser extension connects to a signed-in Notesnook web app that remains open in the background. It can capture a full page, an article, the visible area or selected nodes. Bookmark saves a title and URL. Simplified removes page styling, Screenshot creates a non-interactive image, and Complete with styles saves an interactive styled embed.
Screenshot and Complete with styles consume attachment storage. Complex pages can render incorrectly after capture. The connection can also fail when several browser windows are open, when the Notesnook web tab has closed or when a protected browser-internal page blocks the extension. The clipper can assign an existing notebook, append to an existing note and add tags, but it cannot create a new notebook during capture.
Private Vault adds a second gate
All account notes already use account encryption. Private Vault places selected notes behind one additional vault password on an accessible device. Opening, editing or deleting a locked note requires that password. Private Vault is not another account and does not give each note a separate password.
Forgetting the vault password does not reveal a recovery copy. The account password can remove the vault, and that process can delete the notes inside it. Clearing the vault also deletes its locked note set. The user must distinguish removing a lock from preserving the content before choosing either action.
A Monograph is a publication
Publishing a note as a Monograph creates a URL that a reader can open without Notesnook. An optional publication password restricts access, and self-destruct can remove the publication after the URL is viewed once. Self-destruct therefore creates a single-use link rather than a durable share.
The note body and attachments share a publication size limit. A note that fits inside the encrypted account can exceed that limit when it becomes a Monograph. Unpublishing removes the publication path, but it does not turn the earlier public act into private encrypted sharing.
Backup and readable export are different files
A manual backup creates an .nnbackupz archive for later restoration inside a signed-in Notesnook session. The web app cannot write scheduled backup files to a local folder; it can only remind the user to create one. Losing both the account password and recovery key makes the encrypted account data unrecoverable.
PDF, HTML, Markdown and plain text exports create readable output for other programs. Exporting several notes produces a zip archive, and exporting the full collection requires account-password authentication. Those files serve migration or reading, while the encrypted backup serves Notesnook recovery. Import conversion happens on the client for supported inputs rather than sending the source bytes to the server during conversion.
