Open Stickies and select the note you want to recolor

Stickies is built into every Mac. Find it by opening Spotlight (Command + Space), typing "Stickies," and pressing Enter. Once the app opens, click on the sticky note you want to change — the note must be active (in focus) before you can alter its color.

If you have multiple notes open, make sure the one you're working with is the frontmost window. You'll know it's selected when the title bar is highlighted and the note responds to your clicks. A note that is minimized or hidden behind other windows won't let you change its color until you bring it to the front.

Key Takeaways

  • Stickies comes pre-installed on every Mac and requires no read or setup.
  • You change a note's color through the Color menu at the top of your screen, not through a right-click or settings panel.
  • Each note can be a different color, and the color choice is saved automatically when you close the app.
  • The seven color options are yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, gray, and white.
  • New notes always start as yellow, so you must change the color manually for each new note you create.

Use the Color menu to pick a new shade

With your note selected, look at the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click on "Color" — it appears between "Edit" and "Window" when Stickies is active. A dropdown menu will show seven color options: yellow (the default), blue, green, purple, pink, gray, and white.

Click the color you want. The note changes when ready. There's no confirmation step or dialog box — the change takes effect as soon as you click. The entire background of the note shifts to your chosen color while the text remains black.

Understand what happens to color when you close and reopen notes

Stickies saves the color you choose automatically. When you close the app and open it again, your notes will be the same colors you left them. The color is tied to that individual note, not to all notes in the app, so each note keeps its own color setting permanently.

If you create a new note, it will start as yellow (the default color) regardless of what color your other notes are. You'll need to change each new note's color separately if you want it to be something other than yellow. This happens every time you create a fresh note, even if you've been using other colors for months.

Change colors for multiple notes one at a time

There is no way to change the color of all notes at once. If you have ten notes and want them all blue, you must click each note, open the Color menu, and select blue. This takes about ten seconds per note, so the process scales with how many notes you have.

A practical approach: organize your notes by purpose (work, personal, reminders) and assign each category a color. Then when you create a new note for that purpose, change it to the matching color right away. This way you build your color system as you go rather than trying to reorganize everything at the end.

Troubleshoot if the Color menu doesn't appear

The Color menu only shows up when Stickies is the active app and a note is selected. If you don't see it, click directly on the note window to make sure it's in focus, then look at the menu bar again. The menu bar changes depending on which app is active, so switching to a different program will make the Color option disappear.

If Stickies is running but minimized or hidden behind other windows, click the Stickies icon in the Dock to bring it forward. Then select the note you want to recolor and try the Color menu again. You can also use Command + Tab to cycle through open apps until Stickies is active.

Use color to organize your workflow

Many people use Stickies colors as a visual system: yellow for urgent tasks, blue for reference information, green for completed items, and so on. Because the color choice sticks with the note permanently, you can glance at your desktop and when ready see which notes matter most without reading the text.

You can also use color to separate work from personal notes, or to mark notes that need action versus notes that are just reminders. The system works best when you decide on your color scheme once and stick to it. Over time, your brain learns to associate each color with a type of task, making your notes faster to scan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I create custom colors or use colors other than the seven options?

No. Stickies offers only seven preset colors, and there is no way to create or import custom colors. The options are yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, gray, and white. If none of these work for your system, consider using a third-party notes app instead.

What happens to a note's color if I sync it across devices?

Stickies does not sync between Mac, iPhone, or iPad. Each device has its own separate set of notes. If you want the same note on multiple devices, you would need to recreate it, and you can set a different color on each device independently.

Can I change the color of text inside a sticky note?

No. The Color menu changes the background color of the entire note, not the text color. Text in Stickies is always black on any background color you choose. You cannot format individual words or change font colors.

Does changing a note's color affect how it prints?

Yes. When you print a sticky note, the background color prints along with the text. If you print a blue note, it will print with a blue background. You can print individual notes through File > Print while that note is selected.

Will my notes stay colored if I restart my Mac?

Yes. Stickies saves all color choices to your Mac's storage, so restarting does not affect the colors. Your notes will open with the same colors the next time you launch Stickies, even if weeks have passed since you last used the app.