Xournal++: Free Handwritten Note-Taking with PDF Annotation

TL;DR

• Xournal++ is a free, open-source handwriting and note-taking app with first-class PDF annotation, written in C++ with GTK3 and running on Linux, Windows and macOS.
• It is built for pen and stylus input, supporting pressure-sensitive devices such as Wacom, Huion and XP-Pen tablets, with input stabilization for smoother strokes.
• Beyond freehand notes it does PDF markup, text highlighting over background PDFs, shape drawing, LaTeX equations, audio recording synced to notes, and Lua plugins.
• Installation is broad: official binaries, an AppImage, a FlatHub Flatpak, and packages for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, openSUSE and more.
• Licensed under the GNU GPL-2.0 and maintained by an active community under the xournalpp GitHub organization (~15k stars, latest release v1.3.5).

A note on this page: Xournal++ is an independent open-source project built and maintained by the Xournal++ community, not by Navanem. This article is an editorial spotlight written by the Navanem team to help readers discover a useful tool. We did not create Xournal++ and are not affiliated with its maintainers. All credit for the software belongs to its authors and contributors.

What is Xournal++?

Xournal++ is a handwriting note-taking program with PDF annotation support. It is a from-scratch C++ rewrite inspired by the original Xournal, with the stated targets of flexibility, functionality and speed. It keeps compatibility with its predecessor: its stroke recognizer and several other parts are based on the original Xournal code.

The application runs natively on GNU/Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Fedora, openSUSE and others), Windows 10 and macOS, and uses the GTK3 toolkit for its interface. It is designed first and foremost for people who write and draw with a digital pen rather than a mouse, which sets it apart from a typical PDF reader or text editor.

Files are saved in the .xopp format, a gzipped XML file; background PDFs are linked rather than embedded, so the original PDF must stay in place. Xournal++ can also read and export the older .xoj format used by Xournal. The project is developed in the open under the xournalpp GitHub organization, has roughly 15,000 stars, ships frequent releases (latest tagged v1.3.5), and is translated into more than 20 languages via Crowdin.

What can it do?

Xournal++ covers a wide range of note-taking and document-markup tasks. According to its README, the headline capabilities include:

• Handwritten note-taking with pressure-sensitive styluses and digital pen tablets (Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen and similar), input stabilization for smoother strokes, and paper backgrounds for notes, scratch paper or whiteboarding.
• PDF annotation: draw on top of existing PDFs, select the background PDF's text to copy, highlight, underline or strike it through, and follow links in the PDF. Because you can add text and drawings over any page and export, this also serves to fill and sign PDFs.
• Drawing and precision tools: pen and highlighter, stroke styles (solid, dotted), shapes (line, arrow, circle, rectangle, spline) with fill, resizing and rotation, plus set-square and compass tools and grid snapping for alignment. A shape recognizer inherited from Xournal snaps freehand shapes to clean geometry, alongside a text tool, image insertion and a configurable eraser.
• LaTeX support (with a working LaTeX installation) including a customizable template and a resizable editor with syntax highlighting.
• Audio recording and playback alongside handwritten notes, so spoken context is captured next to what you write.
• A flexible workspace: a sidebar with page previews, advanced page sorting, PDF bookmarks and editable layers; customizable toolbars; custom .gpl color palettes; stylus/mouse button mapping; export to SVG, PNG and PDF from the GUI and command line; auto-save and auto-backup; and Lua scripting plugins.

How do you install it?

Xournal++ is widely packaged. Official releases provide binaries for Debian, Ubuntu, macOS and Windows on the GitHub Releases page, and for other Linux distributions the team ships an AppImage that is binary-compatible with distributions released around or after Ubuntu 22.04. An unstable automated nightly release carries the latest features.

On Debian (bookworm and sid) and on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy and later, the stable package is in the official repositories:

sudo apt install xournalpp

Fedora has it in the main repository (sudo dnf install xournalpp), openSUSE Tumbleweed via sudo zypper in xournalpp, Arch Linux in the [extra] repository, and Solus via sudo eopkg it xournalpp.

The Xournal++ team also officially supports a Flatpak on FlatHub, which works across distributions:

flatpak install flathub com.github.xournalpp.xournalpp

For LaTeX support inside the Flatpak you additionally install the TeX Live extension (org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.texlive).

On Windows you can use the official release from the GitHub Releases page, the Microsoft Store, Scoop, or winget:

winget install -e --id Xournal++.Xournal++

On macOS, releases are on the Releases page, though Apple policies may require you to clear the quarantine attribute and ad-hoc codesign the app before it will run, as documented in the README.

Who is it for?

Xournal++ is aimed at anyone who prefers to think and work by hand on a screen. Students taking lecture notes, researchers marking up papers, and engineers sketching diagrams all benefit from its pen-first design and PDF annotation. Because it can highlight, underline and strike through real PDF text and then export to PDF, it doubles as a practical way to fill and sign documents without proprietary software.

It is a particularly strong fit for Linux users who want a capable, native note-taking tool that respects open formats and runs on a tablet-equipped laptop or convertible. Its cross-platform reach means notes made on one operating system open on another, and its GPL-2.0 license and active community make it a dependable, no-cost choice for the long term.

If you are evaluating tools in this space, it features in our roundup of the best open-source PDF editors, and you can find more no-install utilities in our collection of free browser-based IT tools.

FAQ

Is Xournal++ free?

Yes. Xournal++ is free and open-source software released under the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL-2.0). You can download, use, study and modify it at no cost.

What platforms does Xournal++ run on?

It runs natively on GNU/Linux (including Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Fedora and openSUSE), Windows 10 and macOS. An AppImage and a FlatHub Flatpak cover Linux distributions that are not packaged directly.

Can Xournal++ annotate and sign PDFs?

Yes. You can draw, write and add text over any PDF, and select the background PDF's text to highlight, underline or strike it through. Because you can then export to PDF, it works well for annotating and signing documents by hand.

Does Xournal++ support styluses and drawing tablets?

Yes. It supports pressure-sensitive styluses and digital pen tablets such as Wacom, Huion and XP-Pen, with input stabilization for smoother strokes. Tool and color mappings can be assigned to stylus and mouse buttons.

Is Xournal++ made by Navanem?

No. Xournal++ is an independent open-source project created and maintained by the Xournal++ community on GitHub. Navanem did not build it and is not affiliated with the project. This page is an editorial spotlight to help readers discover it.