Ask HN: Where do you save links, notes and random useful stuff?

I have 2,600+ notes in Apple Notes and can barely find anything.

My kid just dumps everything into Telegram saved messages. Running a small research - curious what systems people actually use (not aspire to use).

Do you have a setup that works or is everything scattered across 5 apps like mine?

17 points | by a_protsyuk 1 day ago

20 comments

  • egberts1 10 hours ago
    My only friction with hierarchy-type store of bookmarks is the orthogonal labeling scheme remains poorly or unsupported.

    Slapping a tag or two (or many) is bandaid.

    Need a way to navigate a tree for a bookmark that is repeatedly tagged and filed across hierarchy.

    Perfect example: retirement, budget, investment firms, reviewed

    Each day has a focus, and it often arrives differently to a same bookmark.

    Handcrafted Wikipedia category tree is a good start but still no navigation panel and a search box thereof.

    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 5 hours ago
      This is the fundamental problem with hierarchies - knowledge is multi-dimensional but folders are one-dimensional. You shouldn't have to decide if "Vanguard 2026 review" lives under /retirement or /budget or /investments. What if you could just search "retirement investment options I reviewed" and find it regardless of where it was filed - by meaning, not by path?
  • moowmoow 10 hours ago
    The real issue isn't where you store notes — it's whether you find them when you actually need them.

    I've gone through Notion, Confluence, and plain markdown. The pattern is always the same: I diligently save everything, then never look at it again because the moment I need it, I'm in a completely different context (a ticket, a chat, a meeting).

    The "low friction = actually use it" point resonates. I've started thinking the answer isn't a better note-taking app, but surfacing the right information where the work happens, rather than making people go find it.

    [-]
    • bawis 5 hours ago
      This is actually the truth, we all have tens or hundreds of priceless saved links. However, I claim that 90% are forgotten after a day or two, maybe that's actually something that small language models can fix ?
  • CodeBit26 19 hours ago
    My system is basically a 'digital graveyard' if I don't use full-text search. I moved everything to Obsidian because it's just Markdown files on my drive. For links, I use a simple Telegram bot I wrote that dumps everything into a CSV. Low tech, but it’s the only thing I’ve actually stuck with for more than a year.
  • umtksa 11 hours ago
    using obsidian for notes raindrop.io for bookmarks and have my own jekyll template just for public links

    https://github.com/umtksa/links (repo)

    https://umtksa.github.io/links/ (demo)

  • TheKnack 12 hours ago
    I used to keep everything in Obsidian, but I recently switched to keeping notes in Obsidian and links and articles in Karakeep (self-hosted).

    https://karakeep.app/

    One of many things that I like about Karakeep is that when you save a link it captures both a screenshot and text from the page, and uses AI to create tags and a summary for the link. Basically it automatically categorizes everything that you save.

  • throwaway5465 23 hours ago
    Tools: Zettlr for notes. user?weird_tentacles explained the concept of zellelkasten. These are synced to a cloud folder so I have access to them on the move.

    Blog: Compiling notes into 'new' knowledge is challenging and interesting. I try to keep on doing what I did in postgrad research.

    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 22 hours ago
      Zettlr is underrated. When you're compiling notes into something new - how do you find the right notes to pull together? Do you browse, search, or does the linking do the work?
      [-]
      • throwaway5465 16 hours ago
        Memory, notes hierarchy and filename (I tend to keep notes conceptually atomic and not just the date/time as a filename), tag search, free text search, citation backsearch; I have a bibtex library linked but that's mainly focused on maintaining references to published work- I use JabRef but IMHO that's really too heavy for what I use it for.
  • gagik_co 15 hours ago
    I’m also a “text myself” kind of person. I’m using my own chat-based notes app called tetrify, which is now adopting the Matrix protocol for sync.
    [-]
    • Arathorn 11 hours ago
      ooh, that's cool - come tell us about it in matrix.to/#/#twim:matrix.org when it's ready :)
  • agcat 6 hours ago
    I use chrome bookmarks and sublime app
    [-]
    • agcat 6 hours ago
      Also, whatsapping myself
      [-]
      • a_protsyuk 5 hours ago
        Chrome bookmarks + WhatsApp to self - classic combo. When you need to find a bookmark from months ago, do you actually find it or just google the thing again?
  • longitudinal93 18 hours ago
    I pin "Note To Self" in Signal and drop important stuff there. For less important stuff I have a Matrix room on my own server.
  • adelowo 2 hours ago
    Matter!
  • sandreas 16 hours ago
    I use a selfhosted flatnotes install with a cronjob commiting the changes to a private github repository.

    Works pretty well

  • theMezz315 1 day ago
    Google Keep CherryTree - which is much nicer than the web site portrays https://www.giuspen.net/cherrytree/
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 1 day ago
      CherryTree looks interesting - hierarchical nodes. Do you split notes between Keep and CherryTree by type, or is there a different logic?
  • choutos 1 day ago
    LogSeq, with the "brain" shared across devices using Koofr over webdav
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 22 hours ago 

        LogSeq with WebDAV - nice setup. Do you use it mostly for linked notes/graph, or more as a daily journal?
  • HardwareLust 1 day ago
    I'm lazy, so I use Google Keep and will probably regret it someday.
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 21 hours ago
      "Will probably regret it someday" - what's the thing you're most worried about losing?
      [-]
      • HardwareLust 7 hours ago
        Google isn't exactly famous for maintaining their products. They'll kill it eventually, just a question of when.
  • JohnFen 1 day ago
    I keep all that stuff on a Wiki that I run in my house.
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 23 hours ago
      Self-hosted wiki - what software? And do you access it on mobile when you're out, or is it strictly home network?
      [-]
      • JohnFen 4 hours ago
        I use Dokuwiki: https://www.dokuwiki.org/

        I access it when I'm out and about, but do so through a VPN that I also run from my home. The wiki is not accessible except through the VPN.

        Organizationally, I have a different section for general aspects of my life (household, programming, and hardware projects as well as hobbies such as camping, etc.). The front page is a general catch-all where I temporarily drop things that don't already have a home. I then organize them more formally later.

        I make pretty heavy use of inter-page links to help organization of related things that aren't in the same "world". A lot like note-taking apps.

  • LetsAutomate 1 day ago
    Notion — good for linking related notes
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 21 hours ago
      Does the linking actually pay off when you need to find something, or do you mostly just search?
      [-]
  • journal 1 day ago
    in md files in the file system.
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 21 hours ago
      Do you organize into folders, or just dump everything flat and rely on search?
  • ZYZ64738 1 day ago
    ...sending myself an email
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 21 hours ago
      Email as inbox - do you ever actually process it, or does it just pile up with everything else?
  • snowhale 1 day ago
    [dead]
    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 1 day ago
      The "low friction = actually use it" insight is real. When grep fails you - topic you don't remember the exact words for - what's the fallback?
  • weird_tentacles 1 day ago
    The core idea of Zettelkasten:

    1. ONE (shared) dump-pile of all new notes. Your 2,600 pile should do fine

    2. REGULAR 'cleaning' of the new notes: a) Each note gets one or many tags (#urban-decay #gaming #assets) b) Each note is trimmed down to its essence, ready to be used for reasonable purposes. (e.g further writing)

    3. 'cleaned' notes are moved to your golden store, ready to be found by searching (search "#urban-decay")

    You have 1. You need 2. It's slightly work-y, but interesting and ... fun. Rediscovering and polishing forgotten dust-rubies.

    [-]
    • a_protsyuk 1 day ago
      That's a solid workflow. The "cleaning" step is where most people fall off though - how long does it take you to process a batch, and how often do you actually sit down to do it?
      [-]