Guide to Using Sticky Notes in Windows 7

By now, many users have fallen in love with Sticky Notes. Users who used to depend upon piles of Notepad documents to keep up with quick notes, have now turned to Sticky Notes as you can open all notes at once, not to mention, they are far more aesthetically pleasing. Though some things may seem obvious when using Sticky Notes, there are a few tips and tricks that’ll make you love them even more, such as being able to back them up and formatting text. Below is list of some of the most useful tips and tricks for Sticky Notes.

Basic Use

Open and Close
You have two options when opening Sticky Notes. First, open the start menu, choose All Programs and select Sticky Notes. This brings up all your existing notes. Alternately, open the start menu and type sticky into the search box and press Enter.
You cannot close Sticky Notes by clicking the X in the corner of your note. In fact, this deletes your note. Instead, locate the Sticky Notes icon in the taskbar, right click it and choose Close Window. All notes are immediately closed.

Format Notes
You are not restricted to a certain size for your notes. Drag the note from the bottom right corner.

Right click your note at any time to change its color. You have several options to pick from besides the standard yellow. Changing color helps organize notes by type. For instance, all notes pertaining to a certain project may be blue, while projects related to household tasks may be green.

Add or Delete a Note
Create a new note at any point by pressing the + sign at the top left corner of any existing note. Delete any note by pressing the X at the top right corner. You’ll be asked if you want to delete the note or not. This just helps prevent accidental deletion.

Formatting Text

You’re not restricted to just basic text. You can format text in different ways, such as bold or italics. You can also add bulleted lists. Highlight the text you want to format or select your formatting before typing and use one of the following shortcut keys:
Ctrl + B = Bold Text
Ctrl + I = Italics Text
Ctrl + U = Underline Text
Ctrl + Shift + A = Capitalize Text
Ctrl + T = Strikethrough Text
Ctrl + Shift + L = Bulleted List (press L up to five times for different bullet options, such as bullets, letters or numerals.
Ctrl + L = Left Align
Ctrl + R = Right Align
Ctrl + E = Center Align
Ctrl + Shift + > = Increase text size
Ctrl + Shift + < = Decrease text size
Ctrl + 1 = Single line spacing
Ctrl + 2 = Double line spacing
Ctrl + 5 = 1.5 line spacing

Backup Sticky Notes

If you’ve tried to backup your notes in the past, you may have noticed the notes are not stored anywhere individually. You cannot choose where to save your notes and the location isn’t exactly broadcast by Windows 7. However, there is a way. All notes are saved in a single file. Please note that if you back up your notes and need to replace them, they must be placed in the original location or you will not be able to open your notes.
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the following directory: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\StickyNotes.snt
If Windows 7 is installed on a different drive, your drive letter will be different. UserName should be replaced with your Windows 7 user account name.
If you do not see AppData, you must first set Windows Explorer to show hidden files and folders. Select Organize and choose Folder and search options.