🛡️ 06. Settings & Privacy

Preferences, local sandbox storage, and data governance.
FlashNote adheres strictly to local-first principles. Your intellectual assets belong exclusively to you, completely free of platform lock-in or stealth telemetry.

📑 In This Guide

1. General Preferences & Display Languages
2. Where Data is Stored
3. Backup & Restore
4. Storage & Orphan Resource Cleanup
5. Data Export, Deletion & Privacy

1. General Preferences & Display Languages

Access the “Gear (Settings)” icon in the lower-left corner of the sidebar to fine-tune your workspace:

• Display Languages:
  • Supports English (en), Simplified Chinese (cn), Traditional Chinese (zh), and Japanese (jp);
  • Switching languages updates the UI immediately without restarting the browser;
• Themes:
  • Supports “System Default”, “Minimal Light”, and “Deep Dark”;
  • Dark mode features low-contrast, anti-glare color palettes optimized for OLED screens;
• Default View Preference:
  • Set default opening views (Visual, Split, or Markdown Source);
• Custom Global Shortcut:
  • Rebind the default Command/Ctrl + Shift + F shortcut directly via Chrome Extension Shortcut settings.

2. Where Data is Stored

FlashNote uses a multi-tiered local sandbox storage model:

graph TD
    A[FlashNote Workspace] --> B[Chrome Extension Storage]
    A --> C[Browser IndexedDB]
    B -->|Preferences / Keybindings / Encrypted Keys| D[Lightweight Config Sandbox]
    C -->|Notes / Book Outlines / Directory Trees| E[Structured Metadata]
    C -->|Web Clipped Images / Binary Attachments| F[Local Large Blob Pool]

• Note Content & Book Outlines: Stored inside browser IndexedDB transactional databases, supporting high capacity and instant reads/writes;
• Offline Clipped Images & Attachments: Persisted inside local Blob storage pools, removing any external image host dependencies;
• Configurations & Keys: Encrypted in Chrome Extension Local Storage.

3. Backup & Restore

Even with reliable local storage, regular backups are strongly recommended:

3.1 One-Click Full Archive Export

1. Go to “Settings” -> “Data & Backup”;
2. Click “Export Full Backup (ZIP)”;
3. Generates a ZIP archive containing all Markdown notes, chapter structures, and full-resolution offline image folders;
4. Also supports exporting a “Full JSON Snapshot” for 1:1 state restoration.

3.2 Restore & Data Import

1. In a fresh or reinstalled FlashNote instance, navigate to “Data & Backup”;
2. Click “Restore Backup” and choose your exported ZIP or JSON snapshot;
3. Choose between “Smart Incremental Merge” and “Full Overwrite”:
   • Smart Incremental Merge: Compares timestamps and only imports missing or newer entries without overwriting existing writing;
   • Full Overwrite: Restores the workspace cleanly to match the backup snapshot.

4. Storage & Orphan Resource Cleanup

• Storage Meter: Inspect total note count, image count, and physical disk bytes consumed in the “Data & Backup” tab;
• Orphan Resource Cleanup:
  • When notes containing images are deleted, orphaned image blobs may remain cached;
  • Click “Scan & Clean Unused Resources” to scan for and safely prune orphaned images.

5. Data Export, Deletion & Privacy

5.1 Open Formats, Zero Lock-In

• Export individual notes to .md, plain .txt, or standalone .html with embedded CSS;
• Compile full books into EPUB e-books or structured archives with one click.

5.2 Complete Reset & Wipe

To remove personal notes from a shared or public computer:

• Navigate to “Danger Zone” -> “Wipe All Local Data”;
• Confirm the verification challenge to permanently delete all IndexedDB stores, cached images, and keys from the device.

5.3 Privacy Commitments

• Zero Telemetry: The codebase contains zero analytics tracking scripts or user tracking beacons;
• Data Sovereignty: Notes never leave your device unless you explicitly configure third-party sync or invoke an external AI provider.