Use TextEdit as a plain-text scratchpad on Mac

TextEdit is already on every Mac, opens instantly, and asks nothing of you — which makes it a perfect scratchpad for phone numbers, code snippets, half-formed paragraphs, and things you paste to strip. The trick is to set it to plain text by default, so every new window is a clean, distraction-free space instead of a formatted "document."

Set every new window to plain text

A scratchpad should never ask you about fonts. Tell TextEdit to skip rich text entirely:

1. Open TextEdit and choose TextEdit → Settings.
2. On the New Document tab, set Format to Plain text.
3. Close Settings and press Cmd+N — a blank, monospace-free text window with no ruler, no styling, nothing to configure.

One line in Terminal does the same thing, with its reverse underneath:

# Open new TextEdit windows as a plain-text scratchpad
defaults write com.apple.TextEdit RichText -int 0

# Undo — restore the rich-text default
defaults write com.apple.TextEdit RichText -int 1

Relaunch TextEdit once so it takes effect. This holds on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia.

Tune it to feel like a notepad

A couple of small settings make plain-text TextEdit far nicer to live in:

• Wrap to window. Choose Format → Wrap to Window so text follows the window's edge instead of an imaginary page width. Resize the window narrow and it behaves like a sticky note; drag it wide and it's a full editor.
• Pick a comfortable font. In Settings → Font, set the Plain text font to whatever you like reading — the size sticks for every new window without affecting saved files' contents.
• Skip the save prompt while thinking. A scratchpad you never save is fine; just leave the window open. When something's worth keeping, Cmd+S writes a normal .txt file.

Keep it one keystroke away

The value of a scratchpad is that it's faster to reach than the thought is to lose. Right-click TextEdit in the Dock and choose Options → Keep in Dock, or drag it there. Then a single click plus Cmd+N gives you a fresh window. If you want it even closer, add it to your login items or trigger it from Spotlight by typing "textedit" and pressing Return.

Scratchpad, or something stickier?

TextEdit shines for a throwaway window you close without a thought. If you want notes that float on the desktop and survive restarts, Stickies is the built-in alternative — and when you paste into any editor, Paste and Match Style keeps the incoming text as plain as your scratchpad.