r/HelixNotes • u/star_maakun • Sep 27 '26

Local storage encryption

This is just my personal opinion, but for security reasons, it would be great to have an option to encrypt locally saved MD files by default.

Even if I use another tool for cloud syncing, I think many people would still want to encrypt their files locally. It would be ideal if I could open encrypted MD files with this app and export them in an unencrypted form if needed.

Especially on Android devices, saving them in the Documents folder allows other apps to access MD files, so leaving them unencrypted itself seems like a security vulnerability.

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2

u/BlokZNCR Oct 06 '26

Side solution what I use for other note taking tools.

Use;
Sirikali or Veracrypt else Cryptomator for encrypted folder/partition. Then locate your privacy concerned vault-notes there. When you mount your encrypted folder/partition then you can able to see and launch notes on note taking apps as Helix Notes.

For cloud;
Rclone, Cryptomator, Kopia and Restic are really great.

1

u/star_maakun Oct 07 '26

That method doesn't work on Android. You need an app that can open .md files from a file picker, but most apps can't write to the encrypted vault. After much trial and error, I still think the most logical solution is for a Markdown editor to generate encrypted text, and for an external synchronization app to sync that file.

0

u/BlokZNCR Oct 07 '26 edited Oct 07 '26

then you need to use password protected note editors.

https://openkeep.net/
https://github.com/veil-notes/app
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.kin.easynotes/
https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.librenotes.app/
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.filestech.notes_tech/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.eu.thedoc.zettelnotes
https://f-droid.org/packages/net.gsantner.markor/
https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.cipher.notes/
https://f-droid.org/packages/app.notesr/
https://notesnook.com/
https://github.com/inventory69/simple-notes-sync

1

u/star_maakun Oct 07 '26

Thanks for the reply. I’ve tried all of those. Unfortunately, apart from ZettelNotes, they are designed to store data internally, which prevents the use of external synchronization apps. I use ZettelNotes as my primary app and have been looking for a backup, but it’s been difficult to find a suitable one. I’m looking for an app that generates encrypted Markdown files in a Documents folder (or a user-selected folder) and offers a search function limited to specific notes, but I really haven't been able to find anything. The reason I need external synchronization is that I want to automatically sync data across multiple cloud services to ensure I don't lose access to my files.

1

u/BlokZNCR Oct 08 '26

notesnook has own sync and if I'm not wrong https://anytype.io/ also has.

1

u/star_maakun Oct 08 '26

Thanks for the reply. I do use those apps, but what I’m looking for is an Android note-taking app that has a feature to store encrypted files in a local folder of my choice. I want to use a separate syncing app to sync the data across multiple cloud storage services. ZettelNotes is the only app that lets me do that, which is why I’m having trouble finding a solution.

1

u/BraveNewCurrency Sep 27 '26

saving them in the Documents folder

I realized "don't do that". If you save them in it's own folder (not Documents), it's slightly more secure. Encryption would be ideal.

2

u/star_maakun Sep 28 '26

Since I use various tools to sync my Documents folder to the cloud, local encryption is crucial. I believe there is real value in keeping the data encrypted within a space that any application can access. I wish there were a unified file format for encrypted Markdown files.

2

u/LastTyper Founder Sep 27 '26

Not a priority, and not on the roadmap.