Feather Documentation
Native markdown editor for Windows
Scratchpads
Scratchpads are lightweight, always-on-top floating windows for quick markdown notes. They live outside your main document tabs, so you can jot down ideas, outlines, or reference material without disrupting your workflow.
Creating a Scratchpad
There are three ways to open a new scratchpad:
- Global hotkey: Press
Ctrl+Alt+Nfrom anywhere (even when Feather doesn't have focus) - Menu: File > New Scratchpad
- System tray: Right-click the Feather tray icon and select New Scratchpad
The global hotkey can be customized in Settings > Background & Shortcuts.
How Scratchpads Work
Each scratchpad is a floating window with its own markdown editor. Scratchpads support all of Feather's smart editing features: auto-close pairs, list continuation, selection wrapping, formatting shortcuts, and more.
Key behaviors:
- Always-on-top by default (toggleable via the pin icon in the title bar)
- Auto-save on every keystroke (500ms debounce) so you never lose a note
- Persistent across app restarts. Each scratchpad is saved as an
.mdfile in your local app data - Multiple windows can be open simultaneously
Scratchpad Controls
Each scratchpad window has a minimal title bar with these controls:
| Icon | Action |
|---|---|
| Pin | Toggle always-on-top |
| Open in Feather | Open the scratchpad content as a full tab in the main Feather window |
| Save | Export a snapshot of the scratchpad to a file location of your choice |
| Delete | Permanently delete the scratchpad and its backing file |
| Close | Close the window (content is preserved on disk for later) |
Run in Background
To use the global hotkey when Feather's main window is closed, enable Run in background in Settings > Background & Shortcuts. This keeps Feather alive in the system tray so the hotkey works at any time.
When background mode is on:
- Closing the main window hides it instead of quitting
- A system tray icon appears with options for New Scratchpad, Show Feather, and Exit
- Use Exit Feather from the tray to fully quit
Tips
- Use scratchpads for meeting notes, quick outlines, or reference snippets while working on your main documents
- The scratchpad title is automatically derived from the first line of content
- Close a scratchpad to dismiss the window. Your content is saved and the file remains on disk
- Delete a scratchpad when you're done with it to clean up