One of the most natural expectations when picking up a Supernote for the first time is that it should behave like a paper notebook. Open it, write on it, set it down, and come back to find your notes exactly where you left them. So it can be genuinely frustrating to discover that when your Supernote goes to sleep, it replaces your current note with a screensaver image instead of simply leaving the page displayed.
This is intentional behaviour, but it’s also one of the most requested features to change in the Supernote community.
Here’s what’s going on, what your options are right now, and what Supernote has said about it.
Why Does Supernote Replace the Note When It Sleeps?
The reason is security. When the device goes to sleep, the current page is replaced with a screensaver to prevent anyone who picks up your Supernote from immediately seeing what you were working on. It’s a privacy-first design decision, particularly relevant for users who keep sensitive notes for work or personal use.
The logic is reasonable, but it clashes with one of the most appealing things about e-ink devices: that they’re supposed to feel like paper. A real notebook just sits there showing the last page you wrote on. Your Supernote doesn’t. That gap between expectation and reality trips up a lot of users.
Can You Keep Your Note Displayed During Sleep?
At the time of writing, there is no direct setting to keep your current note displayed when the device sleeps. The screensaver will replace your page as designed.
However, there are a couple of workarounds worth knowing about.
Option 1: Disable Sleep Mode Entirely
You can turn off sleep mode in your Supernote’s display settings, which means the screen will remain on and your note will stay visible indefinitely. The obvious downside is battery drain. Sleep mode exists precisely because it dramatically extends battery life on e-ink devices.
That said, e-ink screens are exceptionally power-efficient when static. If you’re in a situation where you’re frequently glancing back at a reference note throughout the day (a to-do list, meeting notes, a workflow checklist), and your Supernote is somewhere nearby, disabling sleep and running with the screen always on is a more practical compromise than it might first appear. Many users report battery life remaining reasonable even without sleep, particularly on the Manta.
Option 2: Use Underclocking Instead of Full Sleep
Some Supernote models include a low-power mode that underclocks the processor when the device is idle, reducing power consumption without triggering the screensaver or locking the display. This isn’t quite the same as sleep mode in terms of battery savings, but it’s a middle ground worth exploring in your device settings if battery life is the primary concern.
What Has Supernote Said About This?
This is a feature request that has come up repeatedly in the Supernote community, and Supernote’s own team has acknowledged it directly. In response to community posts on this topic, a Supernote representative confirmed that the team is “re-evaluating this request with renewed focus.” This suggests that a setting to display the last note during sleep is something they are actively considering for a future firmware update.
Competitors like reMarkable have implemented a version of this. The reMarkable displays the current note during sleep but overlays a banner indicating the device is sleeping. Community feedback on that implementation has been mixed. Some users find the banner distracting, particularly when it covers part of the note, but it does at least solve the core problem of keeping your work visible.
The ideal implementation for many Supernote users would be the note displayed in full with no overlay, with a button press required to wake. That’s the “paper notebook” experience the device otherwise comes so close to delivering.
What You Can Do Right Now
| Goal | Approach |
|---|---|
| Keep note visible all day | Disable sleep mode in display settings |
| Balance visibility and battery | Try underclocking / low-power idle mode |
| Use note as quick reference | Set a short auto-lock time and manually wake with the power button |
| Get notified when this changes | Watch for Supernote firmware update announcements |
Final Thoughts
The good news is that this isn’t a malfunction. Your Supernote is working as designed. The less good news is that the current design doesn’t match what many users expect from a device that’s supposed to replicate the notebook experience. It’s one of the few areas where the software doesn’t quite match the hardware’s potential.
With Supernote’s team having acknowledged the request, a firmware update adding a “display note during sleep” option seems plausible. In the meantime, disabling sleep entirely is the most reliable workaround if you need your notes visible throughout the day.
Got more questions about your Supernote’s display or settings? Browse our full e-ink troubleshooting guides for more.