Description
Rich Text editor, desktop and Android: an empty bullet, numbered item or checkbox stays in the note until you type in it, instead of being dropped when the note saves. Mobile support was developed and tested on Android only (untested on iOS).
Additional Information
| Links: | |
|---|---|
| Maintainers: | dejoyf |
| Version: | 1.3.0 |
| Minimum app version: | 3.4.2 |
| Downloads: This version: | 12 |
| Last updated: | 2026-10-02T21:06:28Z |
Keep Blank Bullets (Joplin plugin)
In Joplin's Rich Text editor, an empty bullet, numbered item or checkbox stays in the note until you type in it. Works on desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) and on Joplin for Android. The mobile side was developed and tested on Android only. It is untested on iPhone and iPad.
The problem it fixes
You press Enter to start a new bullet and stop to think. A moment later the empty bullet is gone, and sometimes the cursor has jumped to the bullet above.
Joplin saves a Rich Text note by converting it to Markdown, and that conversion drops a list item with nothing in it. The empty bullet then survives only until the editor redraws from the saved text. On desktop that happens after a sync, when an attachment changes, or when the same note is open in two windows. On mobile the bullet is gone the next time you open the note.
What the plugin does
- An empty list item is saved as
- (a non-breaking space), the same form Joplin already uses for an empty paragraph. The item now survives every save and redraw. - When the note loads, the editor shows that item as a truly empty bullet, so what you type into it saves as clean text with no stray character.
- It covers bullets, numbered items, checkboxes and nested lists.
- HTML-format notes are left alone. They already keep empty items.
- On desktop it also skips a needless redraw. Joplin 3.7 redraws the editor from the saved text after every typing pause when a note with an attachment is open in two windows, which can move the cursor to the bullet above. When the redraw would show exactly what is already on screen, the plugin skips it. Any real change, from sync or another window, still comes through.
Install
In Joplin open Options > Plugins (desktop) or Configuration > Plugins (Android), search for Keep Blank Bullets, install, and restart Joplin.
To install by hand, download publish/com.dejoyf.keepBlankBullets.jpl and use
Install from file.
What changes in your notes
Only empty list items. In the Markdown editor, and in any other Markdown tool, an empty
item reads - . It renders as a blank bullet everywhere. Delete the line to
remove it.
Limits
- Mobile support was built and tested on Android only (Joplin Android 3.7.11). I do not have an Apple device, so iPhone and iPad are untested. If you run it there, please open an issue with what you see.
- Only a redraw that would change nothing is skipped. A redraw carrying a real change (sync, another window, another plugin) still replaces the editor content.
- On mobile, a blank bullet in a note opened before the plugin finished loading can show a narrow leading space while you type. It is removed when the note saves.
Tests
tests/ holds the checks this release passed, on Joplin 3.7.21 desktop and Joplin
Android 3.7.11:
matrix.mjs: 12 list shapes saved, reopened and saved again in a real Joplin desktop, including nested lists, checkboxes, lists inside quotes and 200 empty items.flow.mjs: the typing sequence. Enter, a forced redraw, typing into the kept item, leaving the list, undo.mobile-rig.mjs: the mobile save and load paths against Joplin's own Markdown converter, 14 cases. The on-device check was done by hand on an Android phone.
The desktop tests drive a Joplin started with its own empty profile. Never point them at a Joplin that holds real notes.
License
MIT