In this series of in-depth blog posts, we have been exploring the major new and redesigned features coming in Leasey 11.5.
So far, we have looked at LeaseyWord, Leasey Media Centre, LeaseySocial and Leasey File Manager. Each one of those features has a clear purpose. LeaseyWord gives you a friendly place to work with documents. Leasey Media Centre gives you a powerful audio environment. LeaseySocial gives you a fast and configurable way to use Mastodon and Bluesky. Leasey File Manager gives you a cleaner and more predictable way to work with files and folders.
This time, we come to one of the most personal features in the whole update.
LeaseyNotes.
Notes are different from many other kinds of computer work.
A note may be tiny. It may be a phone number, a reminder, a shopping item, a sentence you heard in a podcast, a line you want to use in an email, or a thought you do not want to lose.
A note may also be large. It may contain research for a project, a set of instructions, a food log, a list of web links, draft wording for messages, or detailed information you return to again and again.
Sometimes a note is a temporary holding place. Sometimes it becomes a long-term reference. Sometimes you know exactly where it belongs. Sometimes you just need to capture it before it disappears from your mind.
LeaseyNotes has been redesigned with all of that in mind.
At its simplest, it lets you write a note quickly and find it again. But it can also become a very capable notes manager, with categories, attachments, web links, related notes, search, restore points, audio notes, spell checking, export, and advanced fields.
That sounds like a lot. It is a lot.
The challenge with a feature like this is to make it powerful without making it feel like work. A notes application should not force the user to stop and think about the application itself every few seconds. It should help the user capture, organise and retrieve information with as little uncertainty as possible.
That is the heart of LeaseyNotes.
It is not only about saving text. It is about confidence.
To open the full LeaseyNotes app, press the Leasey Key followed by Alt+Windows+N.
This opens LeaseyNotes itself, where you can work with your notes list, categories, note text, attachments, links, related notes, fields and the other features described in this post.
There is also a separate Quick Note command for moments when you do not want to open the full application first.
Let us begin with the fastest route.
You do not need to open a word processor to create a LeaseyNote. From any application, press the Leasey Key followed by Control+Windows+N.
This opens a minimal Quick Note window. It contains the note text edit field, an OK button and a Cancel button. That is all.
Type the note. Press Control+S to save it immediately, or press Tab to reach OK and press Enter or Space. If you want to check the spelling before saving, press F7.
This is important because many notes are not planned. They happen while you are doing something else.
You may be reading an email and want to capture a detail. You may be listening to audio and hear something worth remembering. You may be on a call and need to take down a name. You may be working in a browser and suddenly think of something to do later.
Quick Note is designed for that moment. It does not ask you to build a structure first. It lets you capture the thought.
LeaseyNotes has two modes: Simple and Advanced. These will be fully described shortly. If LeaseyNotes is in Advanced Notes mode, the Quick Note is saved in a category called QuickNotes. If that category does not already exist, LeaseyNotes creates it. If LeaseyNotes is in Simple Notes mode, the Quick Note is saved as a top-level note so it appears in the Simple Notes list.
The note title is based on the date and time, using a friendly form such as May 3 2026 at 5:10 PM.
Later, when you have time, you can return to the note. You might rename it with F2, copy its text into another note, or move it into a category where it properly belongs.
This is a very practical design. It recognises that organisation is important, but it also recognises that sometimes the most important thing is not losing the thought.
LeaseyNotes has two modes.
Simple Notes is for people who want a plain notes interface. It contains only a Notes list and a Note text edit field. You move between them with Tab. Create a note, edit it, save it, find it, rename it, delete it. Nothing about that needs to be complicated.
Advanced Notes is the full notes manager. It includes categories, attachments, web links, related notes, advanced fields, export, context menus, undo history and the other power-user features described in this post.
The reassuring point is that changing mode does not delete notes or convert the notes database.
Simple Notes shows only top-level notes. Notes inside categories do not appear in Simple Notes mode, and categories, links, attachments, related notes and advanced fields are not shown there. But they are not deleted. If you return to Advanced Notes mode, the advanced information is still there.
This means the user can choose the level of complexity which feels right.
Some people will stay in Simple Notes for a long time, and that is absolutely fine. Others will use Advanced Notes immediately. Some may begin with Simple Notes, then move to Advanced Notes when they start needing categories, links or fields.
The feature does not force everyone into the same shape.
One of the most important design goals in LeaseyNotes is clear confirmation.
A note manager is full of small actions which matter. You create a note. You rename it. You delete something. You move a category. You attach a file. You copy a link. You restore a backup. You assign a note to another category.
If the program gives vague feedback, the user can be left wondering what happened.
LeaseyNotes is designed so that JAWS confirmations are specific. When a note is added, JAWS can announce the note title. When something is renamed, it can report the old name and the new name. When a note is copied, it can say which note was copied. When a category is sorted, it can say which category was sorted. When an action is undone, it can say what was undone.
That may sound small, but it changes how the application feels.
The user should not have to guess. The user should not have to perform an action and then go searching around to discover whether it worked. LeaseyNotes tries to say what happened in plain terms.
That clarity is one of the things which makes the more advanced features feel less intimidating.
One of the best features in LeaseyNotes is the restore system.
Notes can become extremely valuable. They may contain work, personal information, research, draft writing, contact details, schedules or technical instructions. Losing them can be more than inconvenient.
LeaseyNotes keeps automatic backups of the notes database.
If there is no backup when LeaseyNotes starts, one is created automatically. When the notes database changes, LeaseyNotes keeps a dated backup before the new version is saved. Routine saves are limited so the restore list does not become cluttered, but important actions create immediate restore points.
Creating notes or categories creates an immediate restore point after the new item has been saved. Destructive actions such as deleting notes, deleting categories, moving categories and restoring from backup create an immediate backup first.
The most recent 50 backups are kept.
To restore, open Options with Control+Comma, move to the Backups list, choose a date and time, and press Enter or activate Restore selected backup. LeaseyNotes asks for confirmation. Before restoring the selected backup, it makes a backup of the current notes database.
That last point is worth highlighting.
Even when you restore, LeaseyNotes first protects the current position. This is exactly what you want from a notes system. It gives you a way back without making the restoration itself feel frightening.
For many people, this will be the feature which gives them confidence to use LeaseyNotes seriously. They can organise, experiment, move things, create categories, add fields, and know that there is a restore system behind them.
LeaseyNotes also allows the notes data location to be changed.
As with the other applications, this is managed from Options, opened with Control+Comma. The Notes data location edit field is the base folder from which LeaseyNotes creates or uses a LeaseyData\Notes folder. The notes database, attachments and backups are stored inside that Notes folder.
This can be useful if you want to store notes in a cloud folder such as OneDrive or Dropbox, so the same notes can be used on more than one computer.
Again, the emphasis is on careful handling. Notes are personal. Moving them should feel controlled, not risky.
In Advanced Notes mode, the main window contains several areas.
There is the Notes tree view. This contains categories and notes. Categories can contain notes, and they can also contain other categories.
There is the Note text edit field, where you type or read the text of the selected note.
There is an Attachments list, a Links list and a Related notes list.
If the selected note has advanced fields, field copy buttons appear after the Related notes list.
You press Tab to move from one area to another. Escape from the Note text edit field saves the current note text and returns focus to the Notes tree view. Escape from the Attachments list, Links list, Related notes list or a field copy button also returns to the Notes tree view.
That is useful because most note management commands begin from the tree view.
The tree view is a standard Windows tree view control, so JAWS can announce whether a category is opened or closed. Right Arrow opens a closed category. Left Arrow closes an open one.
LeaseyNotes remembers whether each category was opened or closed, so the tree view returns to the same state the next time the application starts. It also remembers the last note or category you used. When LeaseyNotes starts, focus returns there. If the item is inside a closed category, LeaseyNotes opens the necessary parent category so the item can receive focus. When you Tab into a selected note, the position where you were last reading is also remembered.
This is another example of design which respects the user’s place.
You should not have to rebuild your working position every time you open the application.
Creating a new note is done with Control+N. Type the note title and press Enter.
LeaseyNotes respects the focused position.
If focus is on an expanded category, the new note is created inside that category. If focus is on a note inside a category, the new note is created immediately after the focused note in the same category. If focus is on a top-level note or category, the new note is created immediately after the focused item at the top level.
This is not just a technical rule. It is a time saver.
If you have 20 notes in a category and want to add a new note at position 7, you can place focus on note 6 and create the new note there. LeaseyNotes will not simply throw the new note at the end and leave you to sort it out afterwards.
Categories work in a similar way. Create a category with Control+Shift+N. LeaseyNotes again uses the focused position to decide where the new category belongs.
After a note is created, the new note remains selected and focus moves to the Note text edit field so you can begin writing.
This is the kind of behaviour which may not sound dramatic in a feature list, but it is exactly the kind of thing which makes a program feel properly designed.
Writing a note is simple. Move to the note, press Tab to reach the Note text edit field, and type.
Notes are saved automatically when you move to another note, press Escape from the Note text edit field, or close LeaseyNotes. You can also press Control+S to save manually.
There is no LeaseyNotes character limit for the main note text. It uses a standard Windows edit control, so the practical limit is set by Windows and available memory rather than by LeaseyNotes.
Renaming notes and categories is done with F2. LeaseyNotes can announce the old and new names, so you know exactly what changed.
Deleting is done with Delete. If Confirm deletion is enabled, LeaseyNotes asks before deleting items. If you delete a category, everything inside that category is also deleted, so confirmation is important.
Multiple deletion applies to notes only, not categories. If a selection contains a category, LeaseyNotes does not delete anything from that selection. This is intentional because deleting a category can also delete everything inside it.
These are sensible safeguards. They allow efficient work, but they respect the seriousness of destructive actions.
In Advanced Notes mode, notes and categories can be moved and sorted.
Alt+U moves the focused note or category up. Alt+D moves it down. Items move within their current level or category, and LeaseyNotes announces the new position.
Control+Shift+S sorts a category alphabetically. If focus is on a note inside a category, the parent category is sorted.
Control+M moves a note or category to another category. There is also a Top level option if you want the item moved out of a category. If you move a category, everything inside that category moves with it.
There is also undo.
When focus is in the Notes tree view, Control+Z undoes the last app-level action. This is intended for larger actions such as creating, deleting, renaming, moving, sorting, adding links, changing related notes and changing advanced fields. It does not replace the normal edit-field undo while typing note text.
Control+Shift+Z opens Undo History. This shows recent actions which can be undone during the current LeaseyNotes session.
Undo and automatic backups work together beautifully. Undo helps with recent actions in the current session. Backups provide a broader restore system. Together, they make LeaseyNotes feel far less fragile.
Notes are only useful if you can find what you wrote.
Control+F finds text in the current note. Type the text to find and press Enter. If the text is found, focus moves to the Note text edit field and the found text is located.
LeaseyNotes does not merely say Found. It announces the line where the result was found, such as:
Found on line 3: Breakfast, coffee and toast.
That is much more useful, because it gives context. You can tell whether the occurrence is likely to be the one you wanted.
After searching, F3 finds the next occurrence and Shift+F3 finds the previous one.
Control+H performs find and replace in the current note. LeaseyNotes reports how many occurrences were replaced.
Control+Shift+F searches across all notes. In Advanced Notes mode, the Search All Notes dialog contains check boxes so you can narrow the search. You can search note text, note titles, category names, attachment names, link names or addresses, and advanced fields. By default, all of these are checked.
That last item is important. Fields are not a hidden corner of the application. They can be searched.
If matching notes are found, results are shown in a list. You can move through them with Up and Down Arrow, and you will hear details of the note and the category if it belongs to one. Press Enter to open a result. If the match was found in something other than note text, such as a title, category, attachment, link or advanced field, the result tells you what matched.
Again, the design aim is certainty. The user should know what has been found and why it was included in the results.
LeaseyNotes includes spell checking.
Move to a note or its Note text edit field and press F7. If text is selected, LeaseyNotes checks only the selected text. If no text is selected, it checks the whole note from the beginning.
LeaseyNotes uses the LeaseySpell spelling component. The Spell Check dialog contains the misspelled word, context, suggestions, a replacement edit field, and commands such as Change, Change All, Ignore, Ignore All, Add, Finish and Cancel.
When a misspelled word is found, JAWS can announce the word and spell it. Suggestions can be reviewed, and LeaseyNotes speaks the letters of a suggestion after a short delay. You can press Control+R to read the sentence containing the current misspelled word.
Control+Shift+W reports the word and character count for the current note.
LeaseyNotes also includes text case commands in the Note text edit field. Control+U changes text to upper case, Control+L changes it to lower case, and Control+T changes it to title case. If text is selected, only the selected text is changed. If no text is selected, the whole note is changed.
These may sound like small editing features, but they help make LeaseyNotes a place where you can actually work with text, not merely store it.
A note is not always just text.
LeaseyNotes can attach files to a note. Move to the note, press Control+Shift+A, and choose the file. The file is copied into the LeaseyNotes attachments folder and appears in the Attachments list.
Move to an attachment and press Enter to open it using the default Windows application for that file type. Press Control+C on an attachment to copy the attached file itself to the Windows clipboard. You can then paste it into an email message, and it should be added as an email attachment.
Attachments can also be removed from the current note without deleting the note itself.
LeaseyNotes can record audio notes too.
Move to the note which should receive the recording and press Control+Shift+P. The Record Audio Note dialog opens. Choose the recording source if necessary, record, pause, resume, stop, play back the recording, and save it when you are happy.
The recording is attached to the selected note. The recording format is chosen in Options, and LeaseyNotes can record in MP3 at 128 or 192K as well as WAV.
This is important because not every audio note is a short reminder. If you want to record something longer, such as a lecture, a meeting, a demonstration or a detailed spoken explanation, MP3 is far more practical than WAV because the file size is much smaller.
Not every note is best typed. Sometimes it is quicker to speak. Sometimes audio captures something text does not. Sometimes you want to attach a short spoken reminder, or a much longer recording, to a written note.
LeaseyNotes gives you that choice. Don't forget too that Leasey Media Centre plays back those notes, so you can change speed or bookmark passages of importance.
Notes often need web links.
Press Control+Shift+L to add a web link to a note. You provide a friendly link title and the web address. The title is what appears in the Links list. The web address is the actual page address.
If you type an address such as hartgenconsultancy.com, LeaseyNotes treats it as https://hartgenconsultancy.com.
Links can be opened with Enter, renamed with F2, deleted with Delete, and copied with Control+C. They can also be rearranged with Alt+U and Alt+D.
This is useful for research, shopping, training material, product information, recipes, travel planning, support pages and anything else where a note should carry its web references with it.
Instead of storing the link somewhere else and trying to remember why it mattered, the link lives with the note.
Related Notes lets one note connect to another note.
This is useful for writing projects, research boards, maps, case notes, character notes, project planning or any situation where one piece of information naturally points to another.
Related note connections are bidirectional. If one note is related to another, both notes know about the relationship.
The main LeaseyNotes window contains a Related notes list. You can move to it with Tab or press Control+Alt+R. Move through the related notes and press Enter to open one. Alt+Left Arrow returns to the previous note after opening a related note.
To manage related notes, press Control+Shift+R. Add chooses another note to relate to the current one. Remove or Delete removes the selected related note connection from both notes.
This turns LeaseyNotes into something more flexible than a simple list.
A category is useful when information belongs in a group. A related note is useful when information connects across groups. Together, they make it possible to build a network of notes without losing the simplicity of the main tree.
Now we come to one of the most interesting parts of LeaseyNotes.
Advanced fields.
The word field can sound technical, so let us make it plain.
A field is a named section of information inside a note.
Instead of putting everything into one block of text, you can divide the note into labelled pieces. For example, a note might have fields called Subject, Body Text and Follow-up.
That could be useful for drafting email messages. The Subject field contains the subject line. The Body Text field contains the message. The Follow-up field contains what should happen next.
It could also be useful for customer records, project snippets, support replies, product descriptions, template wording, diary structures, research notes or anything else where the same note contains several pieces of information which you may want to copy separately.
Press Control+Shift+D to open Advanced Note. The Advanced Note window contains a Fields list, an Add button and a Close button. If the note already has fields, it also contains the field text edit field, Rename, Delete, Copy Field and Copy All.
Add creates a new named field. Rename changes the field name. Delete removes the selected field. When you move to a field in the Fields list, its text appears in the Field text edit area, where you can type or edit it.
Copy Field copies only the text from the selected field. Copy All copies all fields as one block, with each field name followed by its text.
But the really important part is how the field copy buttons appear in the main LeaseyNotes window.
If the selected note has fields, copy buttons for those fields appear after the Related notes list. Each button is named for what it copies.
For example, you do not simply hear a button called Copy.
You might hear Copy Subject.
You might hear Copy Body Text.
You might hear Copy Follow-up.
That distinction matters enormously.
If you are tabbing through controls and every field simply has a button called Copy, you must remember exactly where you are. That creates uncertainty. It also makes the feature feel more technical than it needs to be.
LeaseyNotes tells you what the button will copy.
The button label itself carries the information. Press Enter or Space on Copy Subject, and JAWS announces that the Subject field has been copied.
This is the kind of detail which makes fields approachable. Users do not need to understand databases. They do not need to know formal terminology. They only need to understand that a note can contain labelled sections, and each labelled section can be copied directly.
To reach the fields quickly, press Control+Alt+R to move to Related Notes, then press Tab. This is the closest fixed control before the field buttons, because field buttons vary depending on the note.
Fields can contain multiple lines, and there is no LeaseyNotes character limit for field text beyond the practical limits of Windows and available memory.
Fields are also included when notes are exported, and they can be searched from Search All Notes.
This makes fields much more than a convenience. They can become a personal information system.
Another powerful Advanced Notes feature is the ability to assign a note to more than one category.
This is not the same as copying the note.
It is the same note appearing in another category. If you edit it from any category, the same underlying note is changed.
Press Control+Shift+M, choose or type the category, and press Enter. If the note is already in that category, LeaseyNotes tells you.
If a note has been assigned to more than one category, the additional category entry is shown in the tree with the word assigned after the note title. This tells you that the tree item is another category connection to the same note, not a separate note.
This can be very useful.
You may have a note about a training session which belongs in both Work and Travel. You may have a product note which belongs in both Sales and Support. You may have a writing note which belongs to both a character category and a plot category.
Assigning the same note to more than one category avoids duplication. There is still one note, one set of text, one set of attachments, one set of fields. You are simply able to reach it from more than one place.
LeaseyNotes can export a single note, a category, or all notes to one file.
Press Control+E to export the selected note or category. Press Control+Shift+E to export all notes.
The exported file includes headings for categories and notes. If a note has attachments, the attachment names and paths are included. If it has links, the link titles and web addresses are included. If it has related notes, their note titles are included. If it has advanced fields, those fields are included under an Advanced fields heading.
This is particularly useful for situations such as food logs, where several daily notes may need to be sent together. It is also useful for project summaries, collections of research, training notes, or anything else you want to turn into a single document.
Press Enter on a note in the tree view to open a read only note view.
This is useful when you want to review a note without accidentally editing it. The read only view includes the note text, and can also show advanced fields, attachments, links and related notes. Attachments and links can be opened from there, and related notes can be followed.
Recent Notes is available with Control+Shift+Y. It shows the last five notes whose text you edited during normal use. Choose one and press Enter to open it.
Both of these features are about reducing friction. Sometimes you want to read without changing. Sometimes you want to return quickly to something you were just editing.
LeaseyNotes includes direct focus commands for the main areas of the window.
Control+Alt+E moves to the Note text edit field. Control+Alt+A moves to the Attachments list. Control+Alt+L moves to the Links list. Control+Alt+R moves to the Related notes list.
These commands reduce tabbing during daily use.
Leasey Command Centre is also available with Control+Shift+C. It lets you type part of a command name, shortcut or related word, then choose from matching commands. Each command includes the keystroke where one exists.
This is very helpful in a feature-rich application. You do not have to memorise every command before LeaseyNotes becomes useful.
Control+Shift+I provides Where Am I information.
For a note, JAWS can announce the category, note title, and counts for attachments, links and related notes. For a category, it can announce the category name and the number of items it contains.
In Simple Notes mode, Where Am I can report the current note and position in the list, or the note title and character count when focus is in the note text edit field.
This is another piece of the confidence puzzle. LeaseyNotes gives you ways to confirm your place and understand what surrounds the current note.
LeaseyNotes matters because it understands that notes are not all the same.
Sometimes you need the quickest possible capture tool.
Sometimes you need a plain list of notes and nothing more.
Sometimes you need categories, attachments, web links and audio recordings.
Sometimes you need to connect one note to another.
Sometimes you need a safe restore system because the notes are important.
Sometimes you need structured fields, so one note can hold several labelled pieces of information and let you copy exactly the part you need.
LeaseyNotes is designed to support all of those situations without making the user feel lost.
The confirmation messages are specific. The restore system is reassuring. The Simple Notes mode is deliberately small. The Advanced Notes mode is powerful. The Quick Note window is there when speed matters more than structure. Fields are labelled in a way which tells you what you are copying. Attachments, links, related notes and exports make the system useful for much more than plain text.
This is why LeaseyNotes is one of the standout features of Leasey 11.5.
It is not trying to be fashionable. It is trying to be dependable.
It gives you somewhere to put the little things before they vanish.
It gives you somewhere to build larger collections of information.
And when your notes become important enough that you worry about losing them, moving them or changing them, LeaseyNotes has already thought about that too.
For many people, that combination of speed, structure and safety will make LeaseyNotes one of the most valuable parts of the Summer update.