How it works
This is the five-year diary as one page per date. Write a line about today, and the same page shows what you wrote on this date in earlier years, oldest at the top, the way Chronicle Books' One Line a Day book stacks five years on each page. After five years, the latest five stay on the page and older ones fold under "Earlier years".
A line is up to 200 characters, our guess at what fits in the book's space for one year. Lines save as you type and stay in this browser on this device.
The day turns at 3 AM unless you change it, so a line written just after midnight goes on the evening you're writing about. You can go back and write a day you missed, or fix any line.
February 29 gets its own page in leap years. In the other years, its lines appear on February 28's page.
Search finds any word in any year. Download everything as Markdown or plain text, grouped by date like the book, or print it.
Questions people ask
- How does a five-year diary work?
- Each page is one date, with a short space for each year, so when you write today's line you see what you wrote on the same date in earlier years. Chronicle Books' One Line a Day book puts five years on each pocket-sized page; here the page keeps every year you've written, with the latest five on top.
- Can I start on any day?
- Yes: start today. The page for today shows this year's row, and every later year adds a row above the new one. Archer and Olive's guide suggests starting at the beginning of a month, but nothing here depends on it.
- What if I miss a day?
- Leave it blank or go back and write it. Any day up to today can be written or changed. The empty row stays empty, with no streak and no reminder.
- What happens on February 29?
- In a leap year it has its own page, showing earlier leap days. In other years, your leap-day lines show on February 28's page under "Leap days", so they don't wait four years to come round.
- How long can a line be?
- Up to 200 characters, about what fits in the book's space for one year. That limit is our rule of thumb; the point is a line you'll actually write every night.
- Is it private?
- Your lines are saved only in this browser on this device, never sent anywhere. Download them as Markdown or text, print them, or keep a JSON backup from Settings.