Your thoughts, always within reach

Double-tap Fn and start typing. Notes, todos, a timer — all in your menu bar, without losing what you were doing.

GitHub

Get Flowbar

Free, open source, runs entirely on your Mac.

Download from GitHub
  1. Open the downloaded Flowbar.dmg and drag Flowbar into your Applications folder.
  2. Launch Flowbar. macOS will show a warning — this is normal for apps that aren't notarized.
  3. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click "Open Anyway". You only need to do this once.
  4. That's it! Double-tap Fn to open Flowbar from anywhere.
Why the security warning? Apple charges for a developer certificate to skip this prompt. Flowbar is free and open source — so it's not notarized. The DMG is built automatically by GitHub Actions from the public source code.

See it in action

A quick look at how Flowbar fits into your workflow.

Built to disappear

It's there when you need it, gone when you don't.

Notes view

Your notes, at a glance

Everything in one place — browse, search, and jump into any note without opening a full app. It lives in your menu bar, always ready.

Notes with todos

Todos live inside your notes

Drop a checkbox anywhere in a note. Flowbar picks them all up and shows them in one list — so nothing slips through the cracks.

Note editing

Write without distractions

A clean markdown editor that stays out of your way. Just write — it saves as you type.

Search

Find anything, instantly

Hit ⌘K and start typing. Flowbar searches filenames and content across all your notes — jump to any note in a keystroke.

Todo list

One list to rule them all

Todos scattered across twenty notes? This view pulls them together. Check things off, see what's left.

Timer

Know where your time goes

Pick a task, start a timer. It's a small thing, but it keeps you honest — and helps you build better habits.

Settings

Make it yours

Point it at any folder, change the shortcut, pick a theme. It adapts to how you work, not the other way around.

Just Markdown

Plain text files. No lock-in. They're your notes.

🔒

Completely private

No account, no cloud. Everything stays on your Mac.

📚

Works with Obsidian

Point it at a folder in your vault. Quick access without opening Obsidian.

Ready to try it?

Free, open source, and ready in under a minute.