Last updated: August 24, 2026
This End User License Agreement ("Agreement") is a binding contract between you and Nir Nagar ("we", "us", "our") for the FolderNotes software and its updates ("the App"). By installing or using the App, you agree to this Agreement. If you do not agree, do not install or use the App.
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the App on devices you own or control, for your personal or internal business use, subject to this Agreement. You must be old enough to form a binding contract in your jurisdiction to use the App. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.
Except to the extent the applicable law or the store terms below permit otherwise, you agree not to:
The App is distributed through the Microsoft Store. Your acquisition and use are also governed by the Microsoft Standard Application License Terms and the Microsoft Store Terms of Sale. If there is any conflict between this Agreement and those terms with respect to the store transaction, the Microsoft terms control for that transaction. Purchases, billing, and refunds are handled by Microsoft under its policies; we do not process payments and cannot issue refunds directly.
You understand and agree that the App:
.foldernote.json inside any folder for which you create a
note, set a status, importance, or due date, pin a file, or enable hiding. That file lives in your own
folder, so it travels with the folder - into cloud-synced folders, copies, backups, archives, and
version-control repositories - and uninstalling the App does not remove it;%USERPROFILE%\.foldernotes. That location is deliberately outside the app package:
Windows does not delete it when you uninstall the App or use Settings > Apps >
Reset, and the folders you have hidden stay flagged as hidden;%APPDATA%\FolderNotes. That location is inside the app package, and Windows
deletes it on uninstall or reset. Older versions also kept the note index and the passphrase hash
there; those copies are read once so your data carries forward, and then left alone;The App contains no networking code. It has no accounts, no server, and no telemetry, analytics, or
crash reporting; it does not check for updates itself, and nothing you write in it is transmitted anywhere.
The only action that leaves your device is a link you click yourself - the FAQ from the Welcome guide, and
the FAQ, feedback, Privacy Policy, and Terms links in Settings - each of which hands a fixed
hearth-software.com address to your default browser. Those addresses are literals in the App:
nothing you have written and no folder name is ever added to one, and the feedback link adds only the App's
version number. Any error log stays on your device. Updates reach you through the Microsoft Store, not from
the App. See the Privacy Policy for details.
The "hide folder" / curtain feature is a visual privacy screen that operates only while the App is running. It is not encryption, access control, or a security measure. Your files are not encrypted, not moved, and not permission-changed; the App draws a cover over File Explorer windows showing a hidden folder, and over its own Workspace browser. It can be bypassed by stopping the App - while a passphrase is set the App's own Exit asks for it, but ending the process by other means does not - by using another program or a command prompt, by reading the drive from another operating system, or by accessing the files directly. Unlocking it, whether by passphrase or Windows Hello, only lifts the visual screen and does not encrypt or otherwise protect the files. Do not use it to protect confidential or sensitive information. You are solely responsible for protecting sensitive data by appropriate means such as real encryption.
The privacy-curtain passphrase is stored only as a salted, one-way (PBKDF2-SHA256) hash, in
%USERPROFILE%\.foldernotes\config.json. The passphrase itself is never written anywhere, and
neither we nor the App can recover it or tell you what it was.
You can change it in Settings ("Change passphrase..."), which first requires your current passphrase or a successful Windows Hello check. If you have forgotten it, Settings also offers "Forgot it? Reset...", which sets a new passphrase without the old one. A reset reveals nothing: every folder you have hidden stays hidden, any unlock still standing over a hidden folder is withdrawn, and only the new passphrase - or Windows Hello - opens them again. While a passphrase is set, opening Settings and quitting the App from its tray icon each require that passphrase or Windows Hello.
Deleting config.json by hand also clears the passphrase, but it recovers nothing and it is
not a substitute for the reset: with no passphrase on file the App hides nothing at all, so every folder you
had hidden becomes plainly visible.
If your device supports Windows Hello, you may optionally unlock with your face, fingerprint, or PIN; Windows performs that verification and the App never receives or stores your biometric data.
.foldernote.json file from every folder listed in the App's index and clears that index;
the hidden %USERPROFILE%\.foldernotes folder can then be deleted by hand. An uninstall
removes neither. Two things stay out of the App's reach even then: a .foldernote.json in a
folder its index does not list - including any copy that has already travelled into a backup, a synced
folder, or a repository - and %APPDATA%\FolderNotes, which keeps your settings, your
attention-time history, and the error log until you uninstall the App or delete that folder
yourself.The App, its design, and all related intellectual property are owned by us and are protected by law. This Agreement grants you a license to use the App; it does not transfer any ownership to you.
THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE APP WILL BE ERROR-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR THAT IT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, AND YOU USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA, LOSS OF FILES, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, OR LOSS OF PRIVACY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE APP OR THIS AGREEMENT, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE THE APP READS AND WRITES FILES ON YOUR DEVICE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING BACKUPS OF YOUR DATA. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE APP SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID FOR THE APP OR FIVE US DOLLARS (US$5.00).
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your misuse of the App or your breach of this Agreement.
The App relies on Microsoft Windows, File Explorer, Windows Hello, and related components that we do not control. We are not responsible for the behavior, availability, or changes of the operating system or other third-party software, including how Windows lists recently used files in Quick access.
Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits any rights you have under the mandatory consumer-protection laws of your country of residence that cannot be waived by agreement. Where such laws apply, this Agreement is read to give the maximum protection to us that those laws allow.
We may release updates that add, change, or remove features. This Agreement applies to updates unless an update is accompanied by separate terms. We may also update this Agreement itself; the current version will be posted at this address with a new "Last updated" date, and your continued use of the App after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Agreement. If you do not agree, stop using and uninstall the App.
This license ends automatically if you breach this Agreement. You may end it at any time by uninstalling the App. Sections that by their nature should survive (including 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 16) survive termination.
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Israel, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and subject to Section 13. The competent courts located in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or related to this Agreement or the App, except where applicable mandatory consumer-protection law provides otherwise. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in full effect, and the unenforceable provision is limited to the minimum extent necessary. This Agreement, together with the Privacy Policy and the Microsoft terms referenced above, is the entire agreement between you and us regarding the App.
If you choose to send us suggestions, ideas, bug reports, or other feedback about the App, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free right to use, modify, and incorporate that feedback for any purpose, without any obligation, attribution, or compensation to you, and we are equally free not to use it.
The App is a consumer application intended for ordinary home use. It is not designed, tested, certified, or licensed for use in any high-risk or safety-critical environment or activity, including medical or life-support systems, emergency services, aviation, nuclear facilities, or any other setting in which a failure, error, or delay of the App could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical, property, or environmental damage. You must not use the App in any such environment, and, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we accept no responsibility or liability for any such use.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any claim arising out of or relating to the App or this Agreement must be brought within twelve (12) months after the event giving rise to the claim first occurred; otherwise, the claim is permanently barred. Where the law that applies to you does not permit such a limitation, the shortest limitation period that it does permit applies instead.
This Agreement was drafted in English. Translations, including the German version, are provided for convenience only. To the extent permitted by applicable law, if there is any inconsistency between the English version and a translation, the English version prevails.
This Agreement is between you and us only, and creates no rights for, and may not be enforced by, any other person. Microsoft and other platform, store, or component providers are not parties to this Agreement and owe you no obligations under it. We will not be liable for any failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
Nir Nagar, support@hearth-software.com or iam@nirnagar.com