Troubleshooting

ShowNotes is visible in Zoom

This happens on Zoom 6.17 and later, which introduced a new capture mode that can bypass macOS content protection by default.

Fix: Open Zoom → Settings → Share Screen → Advanced → enable "Advanced capture with window filtering." Restart Zoom. ShowNotes will be hidden again.

See the Compatibility page for full platform-by-platform details on screen-share invisibility.

ShowNotes is visible in another app

ShowNotes uses macOS content protection (sharingType = .none) which is respected by Zoom (with the setting above), Teams, Meet, Webex, Loom, QuickTime, and OBS. Some apps use custom capture methods that bypass this OS-level protection.

If you find an app where ShowNotes is visible during screen share, email [email protected] with the app name and version — we'll investigate.

I can't edit cards

Your trial has likely expired. Check the banner at the top of the card or go to Settings → About for your license status.

Purchase a license ($19, one-time) to restore full editing. See the Licensing docs for details on purchasing, activating, and managing your license.

The window disappeared

Press ⌘⇧S to toggle the notes window. This global hotkey works even when another app is in the foreground.

If that doesn't work, check the menu bar icon — click it and select "Show Notes."

If the window opened off-screen (e.g., after disconnecting an external monitor), go to Settings → General → Reset All Data to reset the window position.

Cards aren't saving

ShowNotes saves to ~/Library/Application Support/ShowNotes/state.json. If saves fail, you'll see a red "Not saved — check disk space" message in the footer.

Common causes:

• Disk is full. Free up space and try editing again.
• Folder permissions changed. Make sure your user account has read/write access to ~/Library/Application Support/ShowNotes/.
• Antivirus blocking writes. Some security tools block apps from writing to Application Support. Add ShowNotes to your antivirus allowlist.

How do I move my data to a new Mac?

Copy the file at ~/Library/Application Support/ShowNotes/state.json to the same location on your new Mac. That's your entire dataset — all decks and cards.

Your license will need to be re-activated on the new machine. The same transaction ID works on up to two Macs. See Licensing for activation details.

How do I contact support?

Email [email protected]. Include your macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac) and what you were doing when the issue happened. We typically respond within one business day.