Documents & Notes: what to install, and why
Read, write and keep track of things locally. The dividing line in this category is not features but where your files live: several tools here work…
What this category is for
Read, write and keep track of things locally. The dividing line in this category is not features but where your files live: several tools here work entirely on your disk, and that changes both the privacy story and what happens if the company disappears.
What we filter on
- Works offline by default, with no account required to open your own file.
- An open or documented file format. Your notes and documents should survive the tool.
- A clear statement of what the free tier covers and what the paid tier adds.
- No installer that bundles a browser, a search bar or a PDF converter you did not request.
The 8 programs, compared
The table below is generated from the same directory data as the main list. Licence wording matters here: free for personal use is not the same as free for a work machine, and source-available is not the same as open source. Every link opens the publisher's own site.
| Program | Licence / price | Platforms | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| LibreOffice Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | A complete office suite with no account, no telemetry and no ribbon. Opens and saves .docx and .xlsx reliably enough for everyday work. Install it even if you own Microsoft Office, as a second opinion on stubborn files. |
| ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Choose this over LibreOffice if you exchange files with Word users all day: its rendering of .docx formatting is noticeably closer to Microsoft's. Fewer features, better fidelity. |
| Sumatra PDF Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows | Opens PDFs in under a second, remembers where you stopped reading, and has exactly no upsell. It also reads epub, mobi and cbz. There is nothing to configure, which is the whole appeal. |
| PDF24 Creator Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Closed source | Windows | The offline alternative to those 'free online PDF tools' that quietly upload your contracts to a stranger's server. Merge, split, compress, OCR, all on your own machine. |
| Calibre Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | An entire e-book library manager: converts between formats, fixes metadata, and can send books straight to most e-readers over USB or email. Deeply unglamorous, extremely capable. |
| Obsidian Publisher's site ↗ | Free for personal use | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Notes stored as plain Markdown files in a folder you own, linked together into a graph. Nothing is locked in a proprietary database, so you can walk away with everything at any time. |
| Joplin Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Markdown notes that sync end-to-end encrypted through a folder, Dropbox or your own Nextcloud, with web clipping and no subscription. Pick it over Obsidian if sync is the priority. |
| Zotero Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | One click in the browser saves a paper, its PDF and its citation data together. Then it formats your bibliography in any style you name. If you write anything with references, this is not optional. |
If you only install one
LibreOffice. It is the only entry here that replaces an entire office suite rather than one part of it, and it reads and writes the formats you will be sent. The compatibility is imperfect on complex layouts, but for a new machine that has no office software at all, it removes the largest single gap.
Its Free · Open source licence and Windows, macOS, Linux support are listed in the table above. The rest of this category exists because the right answer changes with the job, not because the other entries are filler.
The trade-offs
| Instead | What changes |
|---|---|
| ONLYOFFICE | Closer layout fidelity with Microsoft formats, worth trying if a shared document keeps reflowing. |
| Sumatra PDF | A fast, disposable PDF reader. Install it as well, not instead of a document editor. |
| Obsidian | Plain Markdown files on your disk, which is the strongest long-term answer for notes, but free for personal use only. |
Mistakes we see
- Assuming a complex document will round-trip perfectly through a different suite. Keep the original and check the layout before sending it onwards.
- Putting years of notes into a format only one application can read. Plain files outlive products.
- Installing a PDF printer driver to do a job the editor already does with Export as PDF.
Questions people ask
Do I need a PDF reader if I have an office suite?
A dedicated reader is faster, opens untrusted files in a smaller surface, and does not try to edit the document.
Which note tool is safest long-term?
The one that stores plain text you can open without it. That is the reason Obsidian and Joplin are here.
Where to go next
These guides use tools from this category:
- Setting up a new Windows PC: the order that actually works
- Building a reliable remote-work machine
- When free software is enough, and when it is not
- Getting a few more years out of an older PC
Or continue through the other categories:
- Browsers — 4 programs
- Files & Organisation — 6 programs
- Media, Recording & Capture — 10 programs
- Graphics & Design — 7 programs
- Communication — 6 programs
- Privacy & Security — 10 programs
- Developer Tools — 12 programs
- System & Hardware — 8 programs
- Backup & Sync — 5 programs
- Network & Remote — 6 programs
How to read this page. How to read this page. Platform, licence and publisher details come from our directory data. Where an independent review, audit or survey is mentioned, it is summarised in our own words with the source named and linked; our /sources page sets out that policy. The recommendation, the trade-offs and every 'skip it if' line are our editorial judgement. We do not run benchmarks, publish measured performance figures or host installers, and every download link goes to the publisher's own site. If a detail is out of date, our About page explains how to tell us.