Heal through reflection. Keep your words private.
Thoughtfully designed to feel like writing in a cherished journal
Every design decision prioritizes your safety and healing
AES-256-GCM encryption ensures your letters are completely private. We literally cannot read them—even if we wanted to. Your master key lives in secure device storage (iOS Keychain / Android KeyStore).
Zero network requests. No cloud sync. Your data never leaves your device.
Compassionate, evidence-based prompts guide your reflection journey.
Material 3 design with warm, paper-like aesthetic. Feels like a cherished journal.
No ads. No premium tiers. We're a non-profit—your privacy isn't for sale.
Simple, private, healing
Pick an age or memory you want to write to. Maybe it's you at 16, struggling with identity. Or you at 25, navigating heartbreak. Select from our prompts or write freely.
What does your younger self need to hear? What wisdom do you have now that could have helped then? Our interface provides a calm, focused space for deep reflection.
Everything is encrypted on your device. No cloud storage means no one— including us—can read your letters. Re-read them anytime, completely private.
We built Notes to Self to be impossible to compromise
The app never connects to the internet. Not for analytics, not for cloud sync, not for anything.
Military-grade encryption. Your master key lives in secure storage (iOS Keychain / Android KeyStore).
We don't use Google Analytics, Firebase, Mixpanel, or any tracking SDKs.
No email, no phone number, no username. Just download and start writing.
We'll publish the source code so security researchers can verify our claims.
All data stored on your device. If you delete the app, your data is gone.
Our approach is grounded in peer-reviewed research from leading psychology journals. Studies show this practice can reduce anxiety, shame, and negative mood while increasing emotional well-being.
A 2024 study published in Frontiers in Psychology specifically examined writing to your past self and found significant decreases in tension, anxiety, and depression, with increases in vigor and positive mood.
The research found this practice works especially well for people with negative attitudes about their timeline and when writing about social and relational experiences with friends and family.
Read the full studySwee et al., 2023 • Mindfulness
A randomized trial found that 16 days of self-compassionate letter writing produced large reductions in shame (d=0.76), self-criticism (d=0.68), and anxiety among college students, with effects maintained at one-month follow-up.
View paperNeff & Knox, 2023 • Annual Review of Psychology
A comprehensive review in one of psychology's most prestigious journals establishes self-compassion's benefits across mental and physical health. This theoretical framework underpins our approach.
View paperWaters & Fivush, 2015 • Journal of Personality
Research with 103 emerging adults showed that narrative coherence—creating organized, meaningful stories about your life—significantly correlates with purpose, positive self-view, and relationship quality.
View paperAdler et al., 2012 • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
A longitudinal study tracking therapy clients found that increases in narrative agency and coherence—qualities this app helps develop—predicted mental health improvements during treatment.
View paperSelf-compassionate writing reduces shame and self-criticism with large effect sizes that persist beyond the intervention period
Writing to your past self specifically decreases negative mood, anxiety, and depression while increasing positive affect
Creating coherent narratives about your life predicts well-being, purpose, and healthy relationships
These practices work best when writing about social experiences and when used by people struggling with their relationship to the past
Most mental health and journaling apps harvest your data. They track what you write, when you write, how you feel. They build psychological profiles. They sell insights to advertisers.
We believe healing requires privacy. You can't be vulnerable if you're performing for algorithms. You can't explore difficult truths if you're worried about data breaches.
Notes to Self is different.
We're the Embodied Knowledge Institute—a non-profit building technologies of inwardness without data extraction. We create tools for orientation, reflection, and healing that respect your humanity.
This app is free forever. No ads. No premium tiers. No data sales. Your privacy isn't for sale because we're not a business—we're a mission.
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