It is amazingly easy to delete or close a Sticky Note on your Windows desktop. At the same time, Sticky Notes is a commonly used and convenient Windows utility that allows you to write down anything that comes to your mind. Therefore, losing your Sticky Notes data can be devastating, especially for those who use Sticky Notes to store important reminders, passwords, etc.
Read Also: 7 Sticky Notes Alternatives That Offer More Features
In this article, you will learn how to recover deleted Sticky Notes in 3 easy steps, as well as tips to prevent losing your Sticky Notes again.
1. Open File Explorer, copy the following address and paste it at the address bar:
%AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\StickyNotes.snt
2. You will be prompted to select a program to open the StickyNotes.snt file. You can open the .snt file with Notepad, Microsoft Word, or Wordpad.
3. Once your Sticky Notes file is opened, you will probably find your content surrounded by some weird characters. Just copy and paste the part that you wish to recover.
Here’s a quick 13 seconds video that demonstrates the 3 easy steps to recover your sticky notes:
4. Try to right click on the StickyNotes.snt file and select Restore previous versions. Do note that this action will replace the current version of the file, which cannot be undone.
5. Once the previous version is restored, you can open the StickyNotes.snt file again to access the restored content, or reboot your computer to get the previous version of your Sticky Notes on your desktop (without weird characters).
How To Prevent Losing Your Sticky Notes Again
1. Get Sticky Notes Alternatives
There are plenty of third-party Sticky Notes Software. Most of them are free. They generally offer more features, such as password protection, set reminder, hide from taskbar, and most importantly, auto backup. Check out the full list of alternatives to Sticky Notes here.
If you don’t want to install third-party software…
1. Backup Regularly
You should backup your Sticky Notes at least once a month. Simply copy the StickyNotes.snt file from the %AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\ folder and paste it at anywhere you wish to keep it safely.
To restore your Sticky Notes backup, first you must delete all of the existing Sticky Notes on your desktop. Then, replace the current StickyNotes.snt file with your backup file by copying and pasting it in the %AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\ folder.
You can also apply the backup and restore steps to move or migrate your Sticky Notes data to another computer.
2. Make Sure The Delete Confimation Dialog Is Turned On
It is extremely easy to delete your Sticky Notes since it only requires a single click on its ‘X’ button to close it. You can reduce the risk of accidentally deleting your notes by turning on the delete confirmation dialog.
Instructions
1. Go to Start menu or Start screen and key in regedit.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\StickyNotes
3. Right click on PROMPT_ON_DELETE and select Modify. Change its value to 1.
Done! Hope you find this tutorial useful in getting back and securing your Sticky Notes.
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