What is the SNT file format?
Files with the .snt extension contain information about one or more notes created with Sticky Notes. Sticky Notes is an application included with Windows Vista and Windows 7, although each system uses a slightly different .snt format despite sharing the same extension. .snt files store notes that can be placed on the desktop in a manner similar to post-it notes and will persist between sessions for the same user.
Internally, a .snt file is an OLE2 Compound File Binary (CFBF) container - the same binary structure used by legacy .doc and .xls documents. Each note occupies its own GUID-named OLE storage within the single container file, holding two sub-streams: stream 0 carries the note content as RTF, and stream 3 carries it as UTF-16 Unicode plain text.
Contents of SNT files
Each .snt file stores complete information about all notes created by a given user, including:
- Note's text,
- Note's background color,
- Fonts and formatting:
- Size,
- Bullets and numbering - 6 types,
- Text alignment,
- Font options: bold, italics, underline, strikethrough.
- Locations of notes on the desktop.
.snt files allow notes to persist on the desktop using the same layout between user sessions.
How to create a SNT file
Sticky Notes is available from the Windows Accessories menu. The application can be launched by entering the stickynotes.exe command in the Run dialog or by choosing Sticky Notes from the Start menu. Sticky Notes supports standard keyboard shortcuts. Created notes are saved automatically to StickyNotes.snt, located at %AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\.
The new design of Sticky Notes
Sticky Notes on Windows 10 offers many additional features. The application supports note synchronization across accounts via Microsoft's cloud service. The new version also allows users to add images to notes, a functionality that has been present in many similar applications such as Google Keep. Windows 10 Sticky Notes uses a completely different file format: a SQLite database named plum.sqlite, stored under the app's Packages path. The legacy app can convert existing .snt notes to this new format automatically by placing the .snt file in the appropriate Sticky Notes folder. Because deleted or closed notes can persist in unused OLE sectors, .snt files remain of interest in digital forensics.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA .snt is passive note data with no executable content; opening it is safe. The only real consideration is privacy/forensics: the file may contain unencrypted personal notes (including ones the user thought were deleted), so treat it as sensitive when sharing a profile or backup.
Format details
in a nutshell- PKWARE SecureZIP encrypted archive - SecureZIP could output .snt self-extracting encrypted archives - unrelated to Sticky Notes.
Programs that open SNT files
Windows4 apps
Sticky Notes (legacy, built into Windows 7)
Built-in Place StickyNotes.snt in %AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\ and launch Sticky Notes - it loads the notes automatically.
WordPad / any RTF reader
Built-in Copy the file, rename to .rtf and open in WordPad to read the note text (works because stream content is RTF).
MiTeC Structured Storage Viewer
Free Open the .snt as an OLE compound file to browse the GUID storages and export stream '0'/'3' content.
StickyParser (forensic)
Open-source Parse .snt (and plum.sqlite) to dump note text, including recoverable deleted notes. Technical details
deep spec| Container format | OLE2 / Compound File Binary Format (CFBF) |
| Rich-text note encoding | RTF (Rich Text Format) stored in OLE sub-stream `0` of each note's GUID-named storage |
| Plain-text note encoding | UTF-16 Unicode text stored in OLE sub-stream `3` of each note's GUID-named storage |
| Per-note OLE structure | One GUID-named OLE2 storage per note inside the single `.snt` container file |
| CFB sector size | 512 bytes (CFBF major version 3) |
| Byte order | Little-endian |
| Magic bytes | `D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1` at file offset 0 (shared OLE2/CFBF header) |
| MIME type | `application/x-snt` |
| File scope | Single file holds all sticky notes for one Windows user account |
| Default file path | `%AppData%\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\StickyNotes.snt` |
| Encryption | None - note content is stored as plain RTF/Unicode, unprotected |
| Associated OS versions | Windows Vista (Tablet PC), Windows 7, Windows 10 legacy desktop app (pre-2016) |
| Superseded by | `plum.sqlite` SQLite database used by the UWP Sticky Notes app from 2016 onward |
| Forensic significance | Deleted or closed notes can persist in unused CFB sectors, recoverable with OLE forensic tools |
| Released | Windows 7 (2009); also Windows Vista Tablet PC Sticky Notes |
| Latest version | Legacy Win7/early-Win10 format; superseded by plum.sqlite in the UWP Sticky Notes app (2016) |
| Specification | forensics.wiki |
SNT conversions
Community Q&A
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