Notion desktop app or a Pake app: which to use
Notion ships its own desktop app for Mac and Windows, and for most people that is the one to install. A Pake app is for narrower cases: one page as its own app, a second account kept in a separate app, a notes window that stays on top, or a Linux desktop.
What Notion's official apps offer
Notion's desktop help describes a downloadable app for Mac and PC, available from notion.com/desktop, with builds for Apple silicon and Intel Macs and for x64 and Arm Windows. Its system requirements are macOS 12 or later and Windows 10 version 21H2 or later. The same help page answers the Linux question directly: "We don't have a Linux app at the moment."
The official app already covers more than people expect. Notion's workspace help lets you sign in to several accounts at once through Add another account in its workspace switcher, so a second account alone is not a reason to look elsewhere.
What the official app has that a web window does not
These come from Notion's pages, and a Pake app has none of them:
| Feature | What Notion describes |
|---|---|
| Command Search | Search or ask Notion AI from a keyboard shortcut, the Mac menu bar or the Windows taskbar, without bringing the app forward (desktop help) |
| Offline pages | View, edit and create pages offline in the desktop or mobile app, after turning on Available offline for them (offline guide) |
| Tabs and new-tab search | Tabs inside one window, with a search window on each new tab (desktop help) |
| Links open in the app | Links to Notion pages can open in the desktop app instead of the browser (desktop help) |
| Push notifications | Mentions, assigned tasks and reminders (desktop help) |
If you depend on any of these, keep the official app. A Pake app only loads the website, so it has no offline copy: a page you need on a plane has to come from the official app or the phone.
When a Pake app helps
A single page can be its own app. A team wiki, a daily journal or a project board can get its own Dock or Start menu icon. Copy that page's address and paste it into Search apps or paste a web address. The window reopens at the page you last viewed, so if you wander through the workspace, the home address you set is only where the app starts the first time.
A second account can live in a separate app. Notion's switcher keeps all accounts in one app. If you would rather keep work and personal in two apps with separate sign-ins and site data, open the first app's ⋯ menu in My Apps and choose Add Another Account. Pake opens a copy of its settings and icon under a new name such as Notion 2, signed out, and creating it counts as a new app. Two accounts on one website explains the pattern.
For notes beside other work, turn on Always on top so a small notes window stays above your editor or a call. Set a compact Size (Window size on Windows) to go with it, and see Keep a web app always on top for the usual snags. If you want the notes app one click away, Menu bar icon on Mac or Tray icon on Windows adds an icon, as A website in the menu bar or tray describes; it opens your Pake window, not Notion's Command Search.
Then there is Linux. Pake's desktop app covers only Mac and Windows, but the Pake CLI builds on Linux, which Notion does not cover:
pake https://app.notion.com --name Notion --always-on-topOn Linux the page runs in WebKitGTK, so test sign-in and the pages you use most before relying on it. ChatGPT and Claude on Linux walks through installing the package.
Make it from the gallery
On the Create tab, type Notion into Search apps or paste a web address, or open Work, and click the Notion tile. If the tile is missing, paste the address instead. The gallery entry has only the address, name and icon. Leave Incognito off so the app keeps your sign-in, set Always on top or Hide on close if you like, and click Create App. If you already made a Notion app, Pake opens that app's page instead, and Save Changes there keeps your sign-in.
Shortcuts: what carries over
Every Pake app has back and forward on Cmd [ and Cmd ] (Ctrl [ and Ctrl ] on Windows), reload on Cmd R, and zoom on Cmd =, Cmd - and Cmd 0, as the shortcut list shows. Notion's shortcut page lists Cmd P or Cmd K for search, Cmd [ and Cmd ] for back and forward, and marks Cmd N for a new page, Cmd T for a new tab and Cmd Shift N for a new window as desktop-app shortcuts. Test those three in your Pake app before relying on them. In Pake, Cmd N opens a new window only when Multiple windows is on, and Notion's tabs belong to the official app. Find in page adds Pake's own Cmd F search, separate from Notion's search.
How the window works
The Pake app is a native shell around the system web view, WKWebView on Mac and Microsoft Edge WebView2 on Windows, loading Notion's website. The website and its cookies live in the Pake app's own storage, apart from your browser, so being signed in at notion.com in Safari does not sign in the app. Notion changes appear when the page loads; Pake's own update only changes the shell, and Update available in My Apps keeps the name, icon and sign-in (Updates).
Links that leave Notion
By default, links that stay on the site open in the app and others open in your browser. Internal URL regex under Advanced changes that rule. Notion's help also has a setting for opening Notion links in the desktop app or the browser, but that setting belongs to Notion's own app.
Move the setup to another computer
Once your Notion apps are tuned, export them from My Apps with ⋯ then Export Settings…, or all apps at once with File then Export All Settings… on Mac. The .pake file holds names, addresses, window options and icons, never sign-ins, so you sign in again after Import Settings… on the other Mac or PC. Import and export settings has the details, and Moving web apps between computers covers a full move.
When something goes wrong
- Signed out at every start. Check whether Incognito is on; if it is, edit the app, turn it off and save. If it is already off, check whether the site has expired the session or requires sign-in again.
- Notion's own apps notify, yours does not. That is the gap listed above, so keep the official app for notifications.
FAQ
Can I run Notion on Linux?
Notion says it has no Linux app. The Pake CLI can package the website for Linux, running in WebKitGTK.
Can I have a different app per workspace?
You can make one app per page or address, and a second app signed in to another account with Add Another Account.
Do I lose anything by leaving the official app?
Offline pages, Command Search, tabs and push notifications, as the table above lists.