Sticky Notes updated in Win11 : Bloated and non-functionnal
08:56 27 Feb 2026

I have recently moved from Win10 to Win11; I previously used Sticky Notes as a mean to save raw txt data that I needed for the day after.

However, I have noticed 2 things that changed in Sticky Notes making the application non-functional:

  • It seems like Sticky Notes parses the data and modifies it the same way Excel sometimes corrupts data through data-types. I noticed that Excel only recently asks not to break data integrity when opening a .csv file.
    Example here, sharing a snippet of code that allows recursive DIR command to be sent into an OpenVMS system.
    P1's first apostrophe means it's a variable, and the next apostrophe casts it as a String :
    $DIRR = "@DIRROOT:RECURSDIR ''P1'"
    When reopening the exact same note the first apostrophe disappears, leading to a plain wrong command :
    $DIRR = "@DIRROOT:RECURSDIR 'P1'"

  • Sticky Notes now requires both internet connection and Microsoft account login, which forbids using it as a mean to quickly save raw text data when offline (ie. most of the time on intranet networks)

Am I missing something obvious that would fix both of the issues ? I feel like it would be strange for a simple "Sticky-notes" application to be modified in such a breaking way.

I have already tried saving the proper command multiple times with no avail; On the next opening, Sticky Notes corrupts the data everytime.
Adding the apostrophe manually in Sticky Notes leads to a different type of apostrophe (inverted comma), and would not fix the above-mentioned issue.

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