What your Mac needs
KeptNote runs on macOS 15 or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon. Two features need macOS 26.
- The app
- macOS 15 or later
- Chip
- Apple silicon
- Transcription by Apple, on your Mac
- macOS 26 or later
- The note writer, on your Mac
- macOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence
On macOS 15, choose Whisper as your transcription engine in Settings, under Transcription. Whisper needs whisper.cpp on your Mac, and a model file. See Whisper models.
You do not need an account, and you do not need an AI key to start. Without a key, KeptNote still transcribes your meetings, and it still writes notes if your Mac supports the on-device writer. A key adds Ask and stronger note writing. See AI keys and which brain answers.
Get KeptNote
See Pricing to get KeptNote. The download is a zip file. The app is signed, and macOS checks the signature when you open it.
Install it
Open the zip file. macOS unpacks it and gives you the KeptNote app.
Drag KeptNote into your Applications folder.
Open KeptNote from Applications. macOS may ask you to confirm, because the app came from the internet. Choose Open.
KeptNote starts a short guided setup. Your first meeting walks you through it.
Your 14-day trial starts the first time you open KeptNote. You do not need a card or an account. See Your trial and license.
Home. Your coming meetings and your recent notes are here, and Record is at the top right.
Find your way around
The narrow rail on the left holds the places you use most. From the top:
- Home, with your next meetings and recent notes.
- Ask, to ask questions across your meetings.
- All meetings, a list of every note.
- Folders and recent, which slides out your folders.
- Search, also on Command-K.
At the bottom of the rail are Take five (the Reef), Help and Settings. While a meeting records, a Live meeting button joins the top group.
The Record button is at the top right of most pages. Press it, or press Command-N, to start. KeptNote also adds an icon to your menu bar, so you can start or stop from anywhere. See The menu bar and the recording capsule. The app also comes with desktop widgets and a free Reef screen saver.
KeptNote opens when you log in
The first time you run it, KeptNote adds itself to your login items. That lets a meeting prompt reach you even before you open the app. You can turn it off. See Launch at login and the Dock icon.
Keep it up to date
KeptNote checks for updates once a day, and it downloads a new version in the background. It never restarts while you record, pause, stop, or while it writes a note. It waits until it is idle.
To check yourself, open the KeptNote menu and choose Check for Updates…. The item is off while KeptNote records or writes a note, and a tooltip says it is available once that is finished. The menu from the menu bar icon also has Get the Latest Version…, which opens keptnote.com.
Move to a new Mac, or remove KeptNote
- A new Mac. Install KeptNote there and enter your key. A license works on two Macs. See Your trial and license. Your meetings do not move by themselves. They stay on the old Mac, in the KeptNote folder inside Library / Application Support. Export the notes you want first. See Export and share.
- Remove it. Quit KeptNote and drag it from Applications to the Trash. Your meetings stay in their folder until you delete that folder. Deleting the app does not restart your trial.