diff --git a/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/component/markdown/MarkdownEditor.kt b/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/component/markdown/MarkdownEditor.kt
index 4b3cb9d2..5598b9e3 100644
--- a/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/component/markdown/MarkdownEditor.kt
+++ b/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/component/markdown/MarkdownEditor.kt
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@ package de.mm20.launcher2.ui.component.markdown
 import androidx.activity.compose.BackHandler
 import androidx.compose.foundation.clickable
 import androidx.compose.foundation.interaction.MutableInteractionSource
+import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
 import androidx.compose.foundation.text.BasicTextField
 import androidx.compose.material3.LocalContentColor
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
+import androidx.compose.material3.ProvideTextStyle
 import androidx.compose.material3.Typography
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
+import androidx.compose.runtime.CompositionLocalProvider
 import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
 import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf
@@ -24,7 +27,6 @@ import androidx.compose.ui.text.buildAnnotatedString
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.input.OffsetMapping
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.input.TransformedText
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.input.VisualTransformation
-import org.intellij.markdown.ast.ASTNode
 import org.intellij.markdown.flavours.gfm.GFMFlavourDescriptor
 import org.intellij.markdown.parser.MarkdownParser
 
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ fun MarkdownEditor(
     value: String,
     onValueChange: (String) -> Unit,
     modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
+    placeholder: (@Composable () -> Unit)? = null
 ) {
     val typography = MaterialTheme.typography
     val delimiterColor = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.secondary
@@ -69,16 +72,35 @@ fun MarkdownEditor(
         )
 
     } else {
-        MarkdownText(
-            value,
-            modifier = modifier.clickable(
-                indication = null,
-                interactionSource = remember { MutableInteractionSource() },
+        if (placeholder != null && value.isBlank()) {
+            Box(
+                modifier = modifier.clickable(
+                    indication = null,
+                    interactionSource = remember { MutableInteractionSource() },
+                ) {
+                    focused = true
+                },
             ) {
-                focused = true
-            },
-            onTextChange = onValueChange,
-        )
+                ProvideTextStyle(MaterialTheme.typography.bodyMedium) {
+                    CompositionLocalProvider(
+                        LocalContentColor provides MaterialTheme.colorScheme.secondary
+                    ) {
+                        placeholder()
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            MarkdownText(
+                value,
+                modifier = modifier.clickable(
+                    indication = null,
+                    interactionSource = remember { MutableInteractionSource() },
+                ) {
+                    focused = true
+                },
+                onTextChange = onValueChange,
+            )
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/launcher/widgets/notes/NotesWidget.kt b/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/launcher/widgets/notes/NotesWidget.kt
index 0077609d..edd91d6c 100644
--- a/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/launcher/widgets/notes/NotesWidget.kt
+++ b/app/ui/src/main/java/de/mm20/launcher2/ui/launcher/widgets/notes/NotesWidget.kt
@@ -5,14 +5,17 @@ import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.padding
 import androidx.compose.foundation.text.BasicTextField
 import androidx.compose.material3.LocalContentColor
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
+import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
 import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
 import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
 import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.SolidColor
+import androidx.compose.ui.res.stringResource
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.input.TextFieldValue
 import androidx.compose.ui.unit.dp
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.compose.viewModel
+import de.mm20.launcher2.ui.R
 import de.mm20.launcher2.ui.component.markdown.MarkdownEditor
 import de.mm20.launcher2.widgets.NotesWidget
 
@@ -30,5 +33,8 @@ fun NotesWidget(widget: NotesWidget) {
         value = text,
         onValueChange = { viewModel.setText(it) },
         modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().padding(16.dp),
+        placeholder = {
+            Text(stringResource(R.string.notes_widget_placeholder))
+        }
     )
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/i18n/src/main/res/values/strings.xml b/core/i18n/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
index b55af7a9..e8ada5c1 100644
--- a/core/i18n/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/core/i18n/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@
     <string name="widget_add_widget">Add widget</string>
     <!-- Add a third party widget (=a standard Android app widget) -->
     <string name="widget_add_external">More</string>
+    <string name="notes_widget_placeholder">Write a note…</string>
     <!-- Indicates to which app a shortcuts belongs. %1$s: the name of the app -->
     <string name="shortcut_summary">By %1$s</string>
     <!-- Progress of the installation of another app. %1$s: the formatted percentage of the installation progress -->