Description

Keeps your Joplin notes safe with password and encryption.

Additional Information

Secure Notes

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

[!IMPORTANT] SecureNotes-v2.2.6
This release migrates the encryption format from JSON-based to CodeFence-based, laying the groundwork for performance improvements in Joplin 3.6 and fixing bugs caused by note tags in the old JSON format. The plugin is temporarily limited to the Markdown viewer layout and is not supported in Rich Text Editor (RTE).

See the CHANGELOG for full details.

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 lock icon in the toolbar, or go to Tools > Secure Notes > Encrypt Note.
3. Enter a password when prompted.
4. The note will be encrypted and encryption tag is added.

Decrypt Note

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

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 content is displayed temporarily without permanently decrypting the note.

[!NOTE] Menu options for encrypt/decrypt is replaced with toggle Lock for this version.

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: 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.

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

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

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.