What private should mean for a journal
"Private" is on almost every journal app's page. It helps to ask what it actually means:
- Where are the words stored? On your device, or on a company's servers?
- Do you need an account? An account means your journal is tied to a service.
- Who reads your handwriting? Recognition and search either run on your machine or send your writing to a server to be read.
- What does the app report? Usage analytics, telemetry, crash data with your content in it.
- What happens if you leave? Can you take every page with you?
Here is how Mementa answers each one.
Stored on your PC
Everything is saved in one folder on your own PC, called Mementa, inside your Windows user folder: your journals, pages, drawings, photos, stickers, highlights and settings. Settings shows you where it is, under Notebook folder. Updating, reinstalling or uninstalling Mementa never touches it. See local first storage.
No account
You do not create an account to use Mementa. Your journal is not tied to a service that could change its terms, shut down, or be breached. Microsoft keeps your purchase with your Microsoft account through the Store, and that is all.
Your handwriting is read on your machine
When you turn handwriting into text, or search a word you wrote by hand, the reading happens on your own PC. The search index sits on your own disk. Nothing you write is sent anywhere to be read or searched. It works with your network switched off. See handwriting to text and handwriting search.
No analytics
There is no analytics and no usage telemetry. Mementa does not measure what you write, what you open, or how you use it. There is no advertising and no third party tracking.
The one time the app sends anything about itself is if it crashes and you agree to send the report. Crash reports never include your notebooks, drawings, text, or any file you have made or opened. See the privacy policy.
When your pages do leave your PC
Two moments, both your choice:
- Ordering a printed book. The pages of that book are sent to be printed, because a printer cannot print what it cannot see.
- Exporting or sharing. A PDF or a notebook file you export goes wherever you send it.
What Mementa does not do
Honesty matters more than a long list. Mementa has no password lock of its own, and it does not add its own encryption. Your journal is protected the way your other files are: by your Windows sign in, and by Windows' own device encryption where your PC has it turned on. If other people use your PC with your account, they can open your journal.
Leaving is easy
Your journal is yours. Export it to PDF any time, or keep a copy of the whole Mementa folder on an external drive. Nothing about it depends on Mementa continuing to exist. See export.
Questions
Is there a journal app that does not use the cloud?
Yes. Mementa keeps your journal in a folder on your own Windows PC. There is no account, and nothing is uploaded unless you order a printed copy.
Does Mementa read my journal?
No. Your writing never leaves your PC to be read. Handwriting recognition and search both run on the device, and there is no analytics.
Can I lock my journal with a password?
Mementa has no password lock of its own. Your journal is protected by your Windows sign in and, where it is turned on, Windows device encryption.
What happens to my journal if I uninstall Mementa?
Nothing. Your notebooks stay in the Mementa folder in your user folder, and reinstalling picks them up again.
Can I journal offline?
Yes. Everything works without an internet connection except ordering a printed book.
Try it yourself
$4.99 once, and Mementa is yours. Every update included, and no subscription, ever.
Get it on the Microsoft Store