Retrieving Stickies text

tj_610 wrote:

It returned nothing. Literally, an empty white box.

I tried typing "open Library/StickiesDatabase" in Terminal. Response was:

"The file ~/Library/StickiesDatabase does not exist."

For Ventura see if your StickiesDatabase is automatically migrated by the operating system:

Finder>Go>GoTo Folder, copy and paste:

~/Library/Containers/Stickies/Data/Library/

or simply

~/Library/Containers/Stickies/

if you can not find what you are looking for see the thread—

Need help Migrating Stickies database fro… - Apple Community

tj_610 wrote:

Hello! I previously posted about Stickies no longer opening on my MacBook after updating to Ventura. I tried many things, to no avail. See this thread:

Stickies won't open since Ventura upgrade - Apple Community

My next ? is - can I, via Terminal app or some other way, retrieve the text/code of my now-inaccessible Stickies? I had several Sticky notes, all with "to-do" lists, that I now cannot access.

You can try from Terminal opening the app and see if you have any luck there...copy & paste:

open -a Stickies

tj_610 wrote:

Thank you. That didn't work; same result as trying to open the Stickies app directly.

Is there a data set or library on my hard drive somewhere that I could potentially access and then read over the code for the text that is in my now-unavailable stickies? The place where the sticky note text is actually stored? I mean, like the string of symbols and letters that shows up when I report the app crash to Apple. Sorry; I don't know the correct jargon for what I am after.

From the Finder>Go>Go To Folder copy & paste:

~/Library/StickiesDatabase

click it open it from there

On Ventura, found mine here:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Stickies/Data/Library/Stickies/

You'll see a series of GUID hashed folder names. Each one is a sticky note. Inside each you will find RTF (Rich Text Format) files and any image files such as PNG, JPG, etc.

How did I locate the files? Well in Activity Viewer I searched for Stickies and clicked on the ⓘ button on the toolbar and then clicked on the Open Files and Ports. That lists all the open files and network ports in use by the running process. Found the location there.

Granted, that won't help when you can't keep the process running. But that's what you have Apple Support Communities for.

So what now? Well I would copy the com.apple.Stickies folder somewhere safe like your Desktop. Then I would delete the ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Stickies entirely. Then launch Stickies and it should create the default Sticky notes. Then you can create blank stickies and copy / paste your notes retrieved from the RTF files.

Alternatively, you probably should consider using Notes instead. Stickies is more of a demonstration App that is tossed in for free with macOS. It's not received many updates and it has rather limited functionality. While Notes is cutting edge and adding excellent features all the time. Reminders is quite good as well. You do lose the floating sticky nature of a note that way. But maybe keep the important stuff in Notes / Reminders and only use Stickies for short term use.