CherryTree is a hierarchical note-taking application that organizes notes as a tree of nested nodes and supports rich text, syntax-highlighted code, images, tables, and embedded files in one document. It suits people who keep long-lived reference material.
CherryTree keeps notes in a hierarchy, so a single document can hold everything from a project index down to individual meeting records. You create nodes, nest them as deeply as the subject requires, and drag them around when the structure changes. Each node accepts rich text with headings, colors, and lists, or switches to a syntax-highlighted code view when the content is source code. Notes can also carry images, tables, LaTeX equations, and attached files, so reference material stays beside the text that discusses it. Because everything lives in one document, opening CherryTree means opening the whole knowledge base at once rather than a folder of scattered files.
Search is scoped rather than global-only: you can look inside the current node, the current node plus its subnodes, or the entire tree, and the same three scopes apply to replacements and repeated formatting. Headings generate a table of contents that collapses, print and PDF output work at selection, node, branch, or document level, and export to HTML or plain text follows the same pattern. Importers cover a long list of older note tools, which makes migration realistic for anyone with a decade of notes. Someone who prefers long-form reading over nested outlines can pair the two habits, moving finished chapters into Amazon Kindle while keeping the working tree here.
CherryTree pays off when notes have to stay useful for years rather than a week. A hierarchy gives every topic a permanent home, so retrieval becomes a matter of walking the tree instead of guessing at search terms, and dragging nodes keeps that structure honest as a project evolves. Rich text and syntax-highlighted code coexist in the same file, which means a developer's API notes, configuration snippets, and design rationale no longer live in three unrelated tools. Images, tables, LaTeX equations, and attached files sit beside the prose that explains them, so a note is self-contained. Scoped search and replace, a generated table of contents, and PDF, HTML, or plain-text export cover both quick lookups and handing material to someone else. Password protection on single-file documents adds a layer of privacy. Importers for a long list of legacy note formats make switching practical without retyping years of work.
Every note is a node, and nodes nest without a fixed depth limit, so a subject can be broken down as finely as it needs. Drag and drop moves whole branches when a project is reorganized, and the tree panel shows the full structure at a glance.
Formatting covers foreground and background colors, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, six heading levels, monospace, subscript, and superscript, so a page can mix prose, emphasis, and technical text. Codeboxes hold plain or syntax-highlighted code inside a rich text node, and that code can be executed from the note itself.
Pictures can be inserted into the text and then resized or rotated without leaving the application, and any image can be saved back out as a png file. Simple tables support row cut, copy, and paste plus CSV import and export, while embedded files travel inside the document.
Bulleted, numbered, and to-do lists are all supported and can be converted between each other, with multiline items written using shift plus enter. Text, images, tables, and codeboxes can each be aligned left, centered, right, or filled, which keeps reference pages readable when they mix several content types.
Hyperlinks can be attached to text or images and pointed at web pages, other nodes, a precise anchor inside a node, files, or folders. Typing a URL in CherryTree creates a link automatically, wrapping a name in double square brackets links to the matching node, and pasting a list of files from the file manager turns it into a set of links.
Search can be limited to the selected node, extended to that node and all of its subnodes, or run across every node in the document, and node names can be searched too. Replacements follow the same scopes, and the most recent find, replace, or formatting action can be repeated with one keystroke.
Printing and saving to PDF work on a selection, a single node, a node with its subnodes, or the whole tree, and HTML and plain-text export mirror those choices. Headings h1 through h6 can generate a table of contents in which the sections between headers collapse, useful for long reference documents.
Documents can be pulled into CherryTree from HTML, plain text, folders of either, and a long list of discontinued note applications, so an existing archive does not have to be rebuilt by hand. A single-file document can also be locked behind a password, and spelling is checked as you type.
CherryTree suits structured, long-lived material such as technical documentation, research notes, project knowledge bases, and study outlines. If the content naturally splits into topics and subtopics that you will return to and reorganize over time, the node tree keeps it navigable as it grows.
Each CherryTree document is a single file that holds every node along with its formatting, images, tables, and embedded attachments. That file can be protected with a password, so the tree cannot be opened until the password is entered.
Yes. CherryTree provides syntax highlighting for a range of programming languages, and code can live in a codebox inside a rich text node or in a node dedicated entirely to code. Code nodes and codeboxes can be run from within the application, with the interpreter command configured in preferences.
Images can be inserted into the text, resized, rotated, and saved back out as png files, and LaTeX math equations are rendered in place. Simple tables with CSV import and export, plus embedded files, mean one node can carry all the supporting material a topic needs.
All export options in CherryTree work at four levels: a selection, one node, a node with its subnodes, or the entire tree. The same choices apply to print and PDF output, and headings can generate a collapsible table of contents for the resulting document.
Yes. CherryTree has been translated into many languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. Spell checking runs as you type while you write.
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