Privacy and locking
Varlig keeps your notebook on your Mac and gives you clear controls over who can read it. This page explains where your notes live, how to protect the private ones, and exactly when Varlig uses the internet. To keep a copy of your notes, see Import, export and backups.
Where your notes live
Your notes are stored in a library on your Mac, in ~/Library/Application Support/Varlig/. Attachments such as images and PDFs are copied into the library, so a note keeps working even if you move or delete the original file. Everything saves as you type.
You don’t need an account to use Varlig, and your notes aren’t sent to a server.
Notes without a password are stored unencrypted, like most documents on your Mac. Anyone who can sign in to your Mac user account could read them. For sensitive notes, add a password as described below, and consider turning on FileVault in macOS to encrypt your whole disk.
Protect a note with a password
Give a private note, such as bank details or a journal entry, its own password:
- Open the note and choose Note › Note Password….
- Enter a password of at least 8 characters, and confirm it.
- To open the note with your fingerprint later, turn on Allow Touch ID or Mac password on this Mac.
- Choose Encrypt.
Varlig encrypts the note’s text and its attachments, and lists the note in the sidebar’s Locked section. While the note is locked, its title shows as “Locked note” and search can’t see inside it.
To read a locked note, select it and choose Unlock Note, then enter the password or use Touch ID. Note › Note Password… is also where you change or remove a note’s password.
A few honest details:
- When you protect a note, Varlig removes its earlier saved versions from your library.
- Copies you exported or backed up before adding the password stay as they were. Delete them if they shouldn’t be readable.
When protected notes lock again
Protected notes you’ve opened lock again automatically, so you don’t have to remember:
- When you switch to another app, while Lock protected notes when Varlig is inactive is on in Settings › General. It’s on to begin with.
- When your Mac has been idle for the time set in Lock when idle, also in Settings › General. The default is 5 minutes.
- Whenever you choose Note › Lock Encrypted Notes.
Lock the whole app
Choose Note › Lock Varlig to hide your entire library behind a lock screen, for example before you hand your Mac to someone. To get back in, choose Unlock with Mac Authentication and use Touch ID or your Mac password.
To ask for authentication every time Varlig opens, turn on Require Mac authentication at launch in Settings › Advanced.
Locking the app hides your notes from view, but it doesn’t encrypt them. For notes that must stay private, add a note password as well.
Spotlight is up to you
Varlig keeps your notes out of Spotlight unless you choose otherwise. To find notes from Spotlight, turn on Include unencrypted notes in Spotlight in Settings › Advanced.
Password-protected notes are never added to Spotlight. Turning the setting off again removes your notes from Spotlight.
What uses the internet
Most of Varlig works entirely offline, including writing, search, text recognition in images and PDFs, Mermaid diagrams, formulas, and calculations with units or currencies once rates are downloaded. None of the features below send your notes anywhere:
| Feature | What it fetches | How to control it |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange rates | Daily rates from the European Central Bank and crypto rates from Coinbase, when a calculation first needs them, then at most hourly | Turn off Refresh currency and crypto rates hourly in Settings › Calculations. Refresh Now updates on demand. |
| Rate history and inflation data | Exchange-rate history from the European Central Bank and US inflation figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, soon after Varlig opens | The same Refresh currency and crypto rates hourly switch |
| Pasting a web link | The page’s title | Turn off Auto-fill titles when pasting web links in Settings › General |
| Link cards | The page’s title and image, when you choose Show Preview | Only when you ask for a preview. A saved card displays offline. |
| File › Clip Web Page… | The page you enter | Only when you use the command |
Varlig keeps the last exchange rates it downloaded. If it has never had rates for a currency, a conversion shows an error rather than a guess.
Settings also has a Sync pane, but iCloud sync isn’t available in current versions of Varlig, and your notes stay on your Mac.
If you turn on Allow local MCP connections in Settings › Advanced, an AI assistant you connect can read the notes you allow, and it may send them to its own service. It’s off to begin with. See Settings.