diff --git a/src/services/app_icon.ts b/src/services/app_icon.ts
index 43613e4e5..ef2b5d355 100644
--- a/src/services/app_icon.ts
+++ b/src/services/app_icon.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import log from "./log.js";
 import os from "os";
 import fs from "fs";
 import config from "./config.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron } from "./utils.js";
 
 const template = `[Desktop Entry]
 Type=Application
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Terminal=false
  * We overwrite this file during every run as it might have been updated.
  */
 function installLocalAppIcon() {
-    if (!utils.isElectron()
+    if (!isElectron()
         || ["win32", "darwin"].includes(os.platform())
         || (config.General && config.General.noDesktopIcon)) {
         return;
diff --git a/src/services/auth.ts b/src/services/auth.ts
index b7f183fc4..015c7eae0 100644
--- a/src/services/auth.ts
+++ b/src/services/auth.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import etapiTokenService from "./etapi_tokens.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
 import sqlInit from "./sql_init.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron } from "./utils.js";
 import passwordEncryptionService from "./encryption/password_encryption.js";
 import config from "./config.js";
 import passwordService from "./encryption/password.js";
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ function checkAuth(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
     if (!sqlInit.isDbInitialized()) {
         res.redirect("setup");
     }
-    else if (!req.session.loggedIn && !utils.isElectron() && !noAuthentication) {
+    else if (!req.session.loggedIn && !isElectron() && !noAuthentication) {
         res.redirect("login");
     }
     else {
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ function checkAuth(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
 // for electron things which need network stuff
 //  currently, we're doing that for file upload because handling form data seems to be difficult
 function checkApiAuthOrElectron(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
-    if (!req.session.loggedIn && !utils.isElectron() && !noAuthentication) {
+    if (!req.session.loggedIn && !isElectron() && !noAuthentication) {
         reject(req, res, "Logged in session not found");
     }
     else {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ function checkAppInitialized(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
 }
 
 function checkPasswordSet(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
-    if (!utils.isElectron() && !passwordService.isPasswordSet()) {
+    if (!isElectron() && !passwordService.isPasswordSet()) {
         res.redirect("set-password");
     } else {
         next();
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function checkPasswordSet(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
 }
 
 function checkPasswordNotSet(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) {
-    if (!utils.isElectron() && passwordService.isPasswordSet()) {
+    if (!isElectron() && passwordService.isPasswordSet()) {
         res.redirect("login");
     } else {
         next();
diff --git a/src/services/backend_script_api.ts b/src/services/backend_script_api.ts
index 2c3e0af05..20e68faf8 100644
--- a/src/services/backend_script_api.ts
+++ b/src/services/backend_script_api.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import log from "./log.js";
 import noteService from "./notes.js";
 import sql from "./sql.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { randomString, escapeHtml, unescapeHtml } from "./utils.js";
 import attributeService from "./attributes.js";
 import dateNoteService from "./date_notes.js";
 import treeService from "./tree.js";
@@ -549,9 +549,9 @@ function BackendScriptApi(this: Api, currentNote: BNote, apiParams: ApiParams) {
 
     this.setNoteToParent = treeService.setNoteToParent;
     this.transactional = sql.transactional;
-    this.randomString = utils.randomString;
-    this.escapeHtml = utils.escapeHtml;
-    this.unescapeHtml = utils.unescapeHtml;
+    this.randomString = randomString;
+    this.escapeHtml = escapeHtml;
+    this.unescapeHtml = unescapeHtml;
     this.sql = sql;
     this.getAppInfo = () => appInfo;
 
diff --git a/src/services/blob.ts b/src/services/blob.ts
index 03505075a..0040da189 100644
--- a/src/services/blob.ts
+++ b/src/services/blob.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import becca from "../becca/becca.js";
 import NotFoundError from "../errors/not_found_error.js";
 import protectedSessionService from "./protected_session.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { hash } from "./utils.js";
 import type { Blob } from "./blob-interface.js";
 
 function getBlobPojo(entityName: string, entityId: string, opts?: { preview: boolean }) {
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ function processContent(content: Buffer | string | null, isProtected: boolean, i
 }
 
 function calculateContentHash({blobId, content}: Blob) {
-    return utils.hash(`${blobId}|${content.toString()}`);
+    return hash(`${blobId}|${content.toString()}`);
 }
 
 export default {
diff --git a/src/services/bulk_actions.ts b/src/services/bulk_actions.ts
index 64c180405..eb99f5f2b 100644
--- a/src/services/bulk_actions.ts
+++ b/src/services/bulk_actions.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import log from "./log.js";
 import becca from "../becca/becca.js";
 import cloningService from "./cloning.js";
 import branchService from "./branches.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { randomString } from "./utils.js";
 import eraseService from "./erase.js";
 import BNote from "../becca/entities/bnote.js";
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ const ACTION_HANDLERS: Record<string, ActionHandler> = {
         note.addRelation(action.relationName, action.targetNoteId);
     },
     deleteNote: (action, note) => {
-        const deleteId = `searchbulkaction-${utils.randomString(10)}`;
+        const deleteId = `searchbulkaction-${randomString(10)}`;
 
         note.deleteNote(deleteId);
     },
diff --git a/src/services/code_block_theme.ts b/src/services/code_block_theme.ts
index 603599425..92b3bb192 100644
--- a/src/services/code_block_theme.ts
+++ b/src/services/code_block_theme.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import themeNames from "./code_block_theme_names.json" with { type: "json" }
 import { t } from "i18next";
 import { join } from "path";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron, getResourceDir } from "./utils.js";
 import env from "./env.js";
 
 /**
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ interface ColorTheme {
  * @returns the supported themes, grouped.
  */
 export function listSyntaxHighlightingThemes() {
-    const path = join(utils.getResourceDir(), getStylesDirectory());
+    const path = join(getResourceDir(), getStylesDirectory());
     const systemThemes = readThemesFromFileSystem(path);
 
     return {
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function listSyntaxHighlightingThemes() {
 }
 
 function getStylesDirectory() {
-    if (utils.isElectron() && !env.isDev()) {
+    if (isElectron() && !env.isDev()) {
         return "styles";
     }
 
diff --git a/src/services/consistency_checks.ts b/src/services/consistency_checks.ts
index acbca9715..fe37c7c15 100644
--- a/src/services/consistency_checks.ts
+++ b/src/services/consistency_checks.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import entityChangesService from "./entity_changes.js";
 import optionsService from "./options.js";
 import BBranch from "../becca/entities/bbranch.js";
 import becca from "../becca/becca.js";
-import utils from "../services/utils.js";
+import { hash as getHash, hashedBlobId, randomString } from "../services/utils.js";
 import eraseService from "../services/erase.js";
 import sanitizeAttributeName from "./sanitize_attribute_name.js";
 import noteTypesService from "../services/note_types.js";
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ class ConsistencyChecks {
                         logError(`Unable to recover note ${noteId} since it's content could not be retrieved (might be protected note).`);
                         return;
                     }
-                    const blobId = utils.hashedBlobId(blankContent);
+                    const blobId = hashedBlobId(blankContent);
                     const blobAlreadyExists = !!sql.getValue("SELECT 1 FROM blobs WHERE blobId = ?", [blobId]);
 
                     if (!blobAlreadyExists) {
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ class ConsistencyChecks {
                             dateModified: fakeDate
                         });
 
-                        const hash = utils.hash(utils.randomString(10));
+                        const hash = getHash(randomString(10));
 
                         entityChangesService.putEntityChange({
                             entityName: 'blobs',
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ class ConsistencyChecks {
                     entityChangesService.putEntityChange({
                         entityName,
                         entityId,
-                        hash: utils.randomString(10), // doesn't matter, will force sync, but that's OK
+                        hash: randomString(10), // doesn't matter, will force sync, but that's OK
                         isErased: false,
                         utcDateChanged: entityRow.utcDateModified || entityRow.utcDateCreated,
                         isSynced: entityName !== 'options' || entityRow.isSynced
diff --git a/src/services/content_hash.ts b/src/services/content_hash.ts
index 70a331429..41dc9282a 100644
--- a/src/services/content_hash.ts
+++ b/src/services/content_hash.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 "use strict";
 
 import sql from "./sql.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { hash } from "./utils.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
 import eraseService from "./erase.js";
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ function getEntityHashes() {
 
     for (const entityHashMap of Object.values(hashMap)) {
         for (const key in entityHashMap) {
-            entityHashMap[key] = utils.hash(entityHashMap[key]);
+            entityHashMap[key] = hash(entityHashMap[key]);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/services/encryption/password.ts b/src/services/encryption/password.ts
index 05397cf2a..fe6da1690 100644
--- a/src/services/encryption/password.ts
+++ b/src/services/encryption/password.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import sql from "../sql.js";
 import optionService from "../options.js";
 import myScryptService from "./my_scrypt.js";
-import utils from "../utils.js";
+import { randomSecureToken, toBase64 } from "../utils.js";
 import passwordEncryptionService from "./password_encryption.js";
 
 function isPasswordSet() {
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ function changePassword(currentPassword: string, newPassword: string) {
     sql.transactional(() => {
         const decryptedDataKey = passwordEncryptionService.getDataKey(currentPassword);
 
-        optionService.setOption('passwordVerificationSalt', utils.randomSecureToken(32));
-        optionService.setOption('passwordDerivedKeySalt', utils.randomSecureToken(32));
+        optionService.setOption('passwordVerificationSalt', randomSecureToken(32));
+        optionService.setOption('passwordDerivedKeySalt', randomSecureToken(32));
 
-        const newPasswordVerificationKey = utils.toBase64(myScryptService.getVerificationHash(newPassword));
+        const newPasswordVerificationKey = toBase64(myScryptService.getVerificationHash(newPassword));
 
         if (decryptedDataKey) {
             // TODO: what should happen if the decrypted data key is null?
@@ -48,16 +48,16 @@ function setPassword(password: string) {
         throw new Error("Password is set already. Either change it or perform 'reset password' first.");
     }
 
-    optionService.createOption('passwordVerificationSalt', utils.randomSecureToken(32), true);
-    optionService.createOption('passwordDerivedKeySalt', utils.randomSecureToken(32), true);
+    optionService.createOption('passwordVerificationSalt', randomSecureToken(32), true);
+    optionService.createOption('passwordDerivedKeySalt', randomSecureToken(32), true);
 
-    const passwordVerificationKey = utils.toBase64(myScryptService.getVerificationHash(password));
+    const passwordVerificationKey = toBase64(myScryptService.getVerificationHash(password));
     optionService.createOption('passwordVerificationHash', passwordVerificationKey, true);
 
     // passwordEncryptionService expects these options to already exist
     optionService.createOption('encryptedDataKey', '', true);
 
-    passwordEncryptionService.setDataKey(password, utils.randomSecureToken(16));
+    passwordEncryptionService.setDataKey(password, randomSecureToken(16));
 
     return {
         success: true
diff --git a/src/services/encryption/password_encryption.ts b/src/services/encryption/password_encryption.ts
index de4277d58..fd8269871 100644
--- a/src/services/encryption/password_encryption.ts
+++ b/src/services/encryption/password_encryption.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import optionService from "../options.js";
 import myScryptService from "./my_scrypt.js";
-import utils from "../utils.js";
+import { toBase64 } from "../utils.js";
 import dataEncryptionService from "./data_encryption.js";
 
 function verifyPassword(password: string) {
-    const givenPasswordHash = utils.toBase64(myScryptService.getVerificationHash(password));
+    const givenPasswordHash = toBase64(myScryptService.getVerificationHash(password));
 
     const dbPasswordHash = optionService.getOptionOrNull('passwordVerificationHash');
 
diff --git a/src/services/entity_changes.ts b/src/services/entity_changes.ts
index 892e2a8bc..e15eff4de 100644
--- a/src/services/entity_changes.ts
+++ b/src/services/entity_changes.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import sql from "./sql.js";
 import dateUtils from "./date_utils.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
 import cls from "./cls.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { randomString } from "./utils.js";
 import instanceId from "./instance_id.js";
 import becca from "../becca/becca.js";
 import blobService from "../services/blob.js";
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ function putEntityChange(origEntityChange: EntityChange) {
     delete ec.id;
 
     if (!ec.changeId) {
-        ec.changeId = utils.randomString(12);
+        ec.changeId = randomString(12);
     }
 
     ec.componentId = ec.componentId || cls.getComponentId() || "NA"; // NA = not available
diff --git a/src/services/etapi_tokens.ts b/src/services/etapi_tokens.ts
index 7f8d1cd2f..af20af55f 100644
--- a/src/services/etapi_tokens.ts
+++ b/src/services/etapi_tokens.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import becca from "../becca/becca.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { fromBase64, randomSecureToken } from "./utils.js";
 import BEtapiToken from "../becca/entities/betapi_token.js";
 import crypto from "crypto";
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function getTokenHash(token: crypto.BinaryLike) {
 }
 
 function createToken(tokenName: string) {
-    const token = utils.randomSecureToken(32);
+    const token = randomSecureToken(32);
     const tokenHash = getTokenHash(token);
 
     const etapiToken = new BEtapiToken({
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ function parseAuthToken(auth: string | undefined) {
         // allow also basic auth format for systems which allow this type of authentication
         // expect ETAPI token in the password field, require "etapi" username
         // https://github.com/zadam/trilium/issues/3181
-        const basicAuthStr = utils.fromBase64(auth.substring(6)).toString("utf-8");
+        const basicAuthStr = fromBase64(auth.substring(6)).toString("utf-8");
         const basicAuthChunks = basicAuthStr.split(":");
 
         if (basicAuthChunks.length !== 2) {
diff --git a/src/services/export/opml.ts b/src/services/export/opml.ts
index c67e1378c..b4e4c7f6e 100644
--- a/src/services/export/opml.ts
+++ b/src/services/export/opml.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 "use strict";
 
-import utils from "../utils.js";
+import { getContentDisposition, stripTags } from "../utils.js";
 import becca from "../../becca/becca.js";
 import TaskContext from "../task_context.js";
 import BBranch from "../../becca/entities/bbranch.js";
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ function exportToOpml(taskContext: TaskContext, branch: BBranch, version: string
 
     const filename = `${branch.prefix ? (`${branch.prefix} - `) : ''}${note.title}.opml`;
 
-    res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', utils.getContentDisposition(filename));
+    res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', getContentDisposition(filename));
     res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/x-opml');
 
     res.write(`<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ function prepareText(text: string) {
     const newLines = text.replace(/(<p[^>]*>|<br\s*\/?>)/g, '\n')
         .replace(/&nbsp;/g, ' '); // nbsp isn't in XML standard (only HTML)
 
-    const stripped = utils.stripTags(newLines);
+    const stripped = stripTags(newLines);
 
     const escaped = escapeXmlAttribute(stripped);
 
diff --git a/src/services/export/single.ts b/src/services/export/single.ts
index 5e68de203..7abb99fad 100644
--- a/src/services/export/single.ts
+++ b/src/services/export/single.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import mimeTypes from "mime-types";
 import html from "html";
-import utils from "../utils.js";
+import { getContentDisposition, escapeHtml } from "../utils.js";
 import mdService from "./md.js";
 import becca from "../../becca/becca.js";
 import TaskContext from "../task_context.js";
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function exportSingleNote(taskContext: TaskContext, branch: BBranch, format: "ht
 
     const fileName = `${note.title}.${extension}`;
 
-    res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', utils.getContentDisposition(fileName));
+    res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', getContentDisposition(fileName));
     res.setHeader('Content-Type', `${mime}; charset=UTF-8`);
 
     res.send(payload);
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ function inlineAttachments(content: string) {
         const base64Content = attachmentContent.toString('base64');
         const hrefValue = `data:${attachment.mime};base64,${base64Content}`;
 
-        return `href="${hrefValue}" download="${utils.escapeHtml(attachment.title)}"`;
+        return `href="${hrefValue}" download="${escapeHtml(attachment.title)}"`;
     });
 
     return content;
diff --git a/src/services/export/zip.ts b/src/services/export/zip.ts
index 0cf350102..1c31c2cae 100644
--- a/src/services/export/zip.ts
+++ b/src/services/export/zip.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import path from "path";
 import mimeTypes from "mime-types";
 import mdService from "./md.js";
 import packageInfo from "../../../package.json" with { type: "json" };
-import utils from "../utils.js";
+import { getContentDisposition, escapeHtml } from "../utils.js";
 import protectedSessionService from "../protected_session.js";
 import sanitize from "sanitize-filename";
 import fs from "fs";
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ async function exportToZip(taskContext: TaskContext, branch: BBranch, format: "h
                 if (!noteMeta?.notePath?.length) { throw new Error("Missing note path."); }
 
                 const cssUrl = `${"../".repeat(noteMeta.notePath.length - 1)}style.css`;
-                const htmlTitle = utils.escapeHtml(title);
+                const htmlTitle = escapeHtml(title);
 
                 // <base> element will make sure external links are openable - https://github.com/zadam/trilium/issues/1289#issuecomment-704066809
                 content = `<html>
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ ${markdownContent}`;
         function saveNavigationInner(meta: NoteMeta) {
             let html = '<li>';
 
-            const escapedTitle = utils.escapeHtml(`${meta.prefix ? `${meta.prefix} - ` : ''}${meta.title}`);
+            const escapedTitle = escapeHtml(`${meta.prefix ? `${meta.prefix} - ` : ''}${meta.title}`);
 
             if (meta.dataFileName && meta.noteId) {
                 const targetUrl = getNoteTargetUrl(meta.noteId, rootMeta);
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ ${markdownContent}`;
     const zipFileName = `${branch.prefix ? `${branch.prefix} - ` : ""}${note.getTitleOrProtected()}.zip`;
 
     if (setHeaders && "setHeader" in res) {
-        res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', utils.getContentDisposition(zipFileName));
+        res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', getContentDisposition(zipFileName));
         res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/zip');
     }
 
diff --git a/src/services/host.ts b/src/services/host.ts
index 1324df040..fe5302bf2 100644
--- a/src/services/host.ts
+++ b/src/services/host.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import config from "./config.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron } from "./utils.js";
 
 function getHost() {
     const envHost = process.env.TRILIUM_HOST;
-    if (envHost && !utils.isElectron) {
+    if (envHost && !isElectron) {
         return envHost;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/services/import/enex.ts b/src/services/import/enex.ts
index 543523a92..071b66cdb 100644
--- a/src/services/import/enex.ts
+++ b/src/services/import/enex.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import sax from "sax";
 import stream from "stream";
 import { Throttle } from 'stream-throttle';
 import log from "../log.js";
-import utils from "../utils.js";
+import { md5, escapeHtml, fromBase64 } from "../utils.js";
 import sql from "../sql.js";
 import noteService from "../notes.js";
 import imageService from "../image.js";
@@ -291,10 +291,10 @@ function importEnex(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote): Pr
             }
 
             if (typeof resource.content === "string") {
-                resource.content = utils.fromBase64(resource.content);
+                resource.content = fromBase64(resource.content);
             }
 
-            const hash = utils.md5(resource.content);
+            const hash = md5(resource.content);
 
             // skip all checked/unchecked checkboxes from OneNote
             if (['74de5d3d1286f01bac98d32a09f601d9',
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ function importEnex(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote): Pr
 
                 taskContext.increaseProgressCount();
 
-                const resourceLink = `<a href="#root/${resourceNote.noteId}">${utils.escapeHtml(resource.title)}</a>`;
+                const resourceLink = `<a href="#root/${resourceNote.noteId}">${escapeHtml(resource.title)}</a>`;
 
                 content = (content || "").replace(mediaRegex, resourceLink);
             };
diff --git a/src/services/import/single.ts b/src/services/import/single.ts
index a1308a807..3791b6ea1 100644
--- a/src/services/import/single.ts
+++ b/src/services/import/single.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import imageService from "../../services/image.js";
 import protectedSessionService from "../protected_session.js";
 import markdownService from "./markdown.js";
 import mimeService from "./mime.js";
-import utils from "../../services/utils.js";
+import { getNoteTitle } from "../../services/utils.js";
 import importUtils from "./utils.js";
 import htmlSanitizer from "../html_sanitizer.js";
 import { File } from "./common.js";
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function importFile(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote) {
 }
 
 function importCodeNote(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote) {
-    const title = utils.getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
+    const title = getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
     const content = file.buffer.toString("utf-8");
     const detectedMime = mimeService.getMime(file.originalname) || file.mimetype;
     const mime = mimeService.normalizeMimeType(detectedMime);
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ function importCodeNote(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote)
 }
 
 function importPlainText(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote) {
-    const title = utils.getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
+    const title = getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
     const plainTextContent = file.buffer.toString("utf-8");
     const htmlContent = convertTextToHtml(plainTextContent);
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ function convertTextToHtml(text: string) {
 }
 
 function importMarkdown(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote) {
-    const title = utils.getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
+    const title = getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
 
     const markdownContent = file.buffer.toString("utf-8");
     let htmlContent = markdownService.renderToHtml(markdownContent, title);
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ function importHtml(taskContext: TaskContext, file: File, parentNote: BNote) {
     // Try to get title from HTML first, fall back to filename
     // We do this before sanitization since that turns all <h1>s into <h2>
     const htmlTitle = importUtils.extractHtmlTitle(content);
-    const title = htmlTitle || utils.getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
+    const title = htmlTitle || getNoteTitle(file.originalname, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces);
 
     content = importUtils.handleH1(content, title);
 
diff --git a/src/services/import/zip.ts b/src/services/import/zip.ts
index 15d60482b..aa5a5822d 100644
--- a/src/services/import/zip.ts
+++ b/src/services/import/zip.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 "use strict";
 
 import BAttribute from "../../becca/entities/battribute.js";
-import utils from "../../services/utils.js";
+import { removeTextFileExtension, newEntityId, getNoteTitle } from "../../services/utils.js";
 import log from "../../services/log.js";
 import noteService from "../../services/notes.js";
 import attributeService from "../../services/attributes.js";
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ async function importZip(taskContext: TaskContext, fileBuffer: Buffer, importRoo
         }
 
         if (!noteIdMap[origNoteId]) {
-            noteIdMap[origNoteId] = utils.newEntityId();
+            noteIdMap[origNoteId] = newEntityId();
         }
 
         return noteIdMap[origNoteId];
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ async function importZip(taskContext: TaskContext, fileBuffer: Buffer, importRoo
         }
 
         if (!attachmentIdMap[origAttachmentId]) {
-            attachmentIdMap[origAttachmentId] = utils.newEntityId();
+            attachmentIdMap[origAttachmentId] = newEntityId();
         }
 
         return attachmentIdMap[origAttachmentId];
@@ -152,13 +152,13 @@ async function importZip(taskContext: TaskContext, fileBuffer: Buffer, importRoo
 
         // in case we lack metadata, we treat e.g. "Programming.html" and "Programming" as the same note
         // (one data file, the other directory for children)
-        const filePathNoExt = utils.removeTextFileExtension(filePath);
+        const filePathNoExt = removeTextFileExtension(filePath);
 
         if (filePathNoExt in createdPaths) {
             return createdPaths[filePathNoExt];
         }
 
-        const noteId = utils.newEntityId();
+        const noteId = newEntityId();
 
         createdPaths[filePathNoExt] = noteId;
 
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ async function importZip(taskContext: TaskContext, fileBuffer: Buffer, importRoo
             return;
         }
 
-        const noteTitle = utils.getNoteTitle(filePath, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces, noteMeta);
+        const noteTitle = getNoteTitle(filePath, !!taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces, noteMeta);
         const parentNoteId = getParentNoteId(filePath, parentNoteMeta);
 
         if (!parentNoteId) {
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ async function importZip(taskContext: TaskContext, fileBuffer: Buffer, importRoo
             content = content.toString("utf-8");
         }
 
-        const noteTitle = utils.getNoteTitle(filePath, taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces || false, noteMeta);
+        const noteTitle = getNoteTitle(filePath, taskContext.data?.replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces || false, noteMeta);
 
         content = processNoteContent(noteMeta, type, mime, content, noteTitle || "", filePath);
 
diff --git a/src/services/instance_id.ts b/src/services/instance_id.ts
index 047325e6c..31e620a8f 100644
--- a/src/services/instance_id.ts
+++ b/src/services/instance_id.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { randomString } from "./utils.js";
 
-const instanceId = utils.randomString(12);
+const instanceId = randomString(12);
 
 export default instanceId;
diff --git a/src/services/keyboard_actions.ts b/src/services/keyboard_actions.ts
index ecf659041..00f5764c8 100644
--- a/src/services/keyboard_actions.ts
+++ b/src/services/keyboard_actions.ts
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 
 import optionService from "./options.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron as getIsElectron } from "./utils.js";
 import { KeyboardShortcut } from './keyboard_actions_interface.js';
 import { t } from "i18next";
 
 const isMac = process.platform === "darwin";
-const isElectron = utils.isElectron();
+const isElectron = getIsElectron();
 
 function getDefaultKeyboardActions() {
     if (!t("keyboard_actions.note-navigation")) {
diff --git a/src/services/migration.ts b/src/services/migration.ts
index 27d0308f2..b4db32410 100644
--- a/src/services/migration.ts
+++ b/src/services/migration.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import backupService from "./backup.js";
 import sql from "./sql.js";
 import fs from "fs-extra";
 import log from "./log.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { crash } from "./utils.js";
 import resourceDir from "./resource_dir.js";
 import appInfo from "./app_info.js";
 import cls from "./cls.js";
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ async function migrate() {
     if (currentDbVersion < 214) {
         log.error("Direct migration from your current version is not supported. Please upgrade to the latest v0.60.4 first and only then to this version.");
 
-        await utils.crash();
+        await crash();
         return;
     }
 
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ async function migrate() {
                 log.error(`error during migration to version ${mig.dbVersion}: ${e.stack}`);
                 log.error("migration failed, crashing hard"); // this is not very user-friendly :-/
 
-                utils.crash();
+                crash();
                 break; // crash() is sometimes async
             }
         }
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ async function migrateIfNecessary() {
     if (currentDbVersion > appInfo.dbVersion && process.env.TRILIUM_IGNORE_DB_VERSION !== 'true') {
         log.error(`Current DB version ${currentDbVersion} is newer than the current DB version ${appInfo.dbVersion}, which means that it was created by a newer and incompatible version of Trilium. Upgrade to the latest version of Trilium to resolve this issue.`);
 
-        await utils.crash();
+        await crash();
     }
 
     if (!isDbUpToDate()) {
diff --git a/src/services/notes.ts b/src/services/notes.ts
index 73ec387fa..193dde4d6 100644
--- a/src/services/notes.ts
+++ b/src/services/notes.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import eventService from "./events.js";
 import cls from "../services/cls.js";
 import protectedSessionService from "../services/protected_session.js";
 import log from "../services/log.js";
-import utils from "../services/utils.js";
+import { newEntityId, isString, unescapeHtml, quoteRegex, toMap } from "../services/utils.js";
 import revisionService from "./revisions.js";
 import request from "./request.js";
 import path from "path";
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ function findRelationMapLinks(content: string, foundLinks: FoundLink[]) {
 const imageUrlToAttachmentIdMapping: Record<string, string> = {};
 
 async function downloadImage(noteId: string, imageUrl: string) {
-    const unescapedUrl = utils.unescapeHtml(imageUrl);
+    const unescapedUrl = unescapeHtml(imageUrl);
 
     try {
         let imageBuffer: Buffer;
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ async function downloadImage(noteId: string, imageUrl: string) {
 const downloadImagePromises: Record<string, Promise<void>> = {};
 
 function replaceUrl(content: string, url: string, attachment: Attachment) {
-    const quotedUrl = utils.quoteRegex(url);
+    const quotedUrl = quoteRegex(url);
 
     return content.replace(new RegExp(`\\s+src=[\"']${quotedUrl}[\"']`, "ig"), ` src="api/attachments/${attachment.attachmentId}/image/${encodeURIComponent(attachment.title)}"`);
 }
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ function updateNoteData(noteId: string, content: string, attachments: Attachment
     note.setContent(newContent, { forceFrontendReload });
 
     if (attachments?.length > 0) {
-        const existingAttachmentsByTitle = utils.toMap(note.getAttachments({includeContentLength: false}), 'title');
+        const existingAttachmentsByTitle = toMap(note.getAttachments({includeContentLength: false}), 'title');
 
         for (const {attachmentId, role, mime, title, position, content} of attachments) {
             if (attachmentId || !(title in existingAttachmentsByTitle)) {
@@ -886,7 +886,7 @@ async function asyncPostProcessContent(note: BNote, content: string | Buffer) {
         return;
     }
 
-    if (note.hasStringContent() && !utils.isString(content)) {
+    if (note.hasStringContent() && !isString(content)) {
         content = content.toString();
     }
 
@@ -1035,7 +1035,7 @@ function getNoteIdMapping(origNote: BNote) {
 
     // pregenerate new noteIds since we'll need to fix relation references even for not yet created notes
     for (const origNoteId of origNote.getDescendantNoteIds()) {
-        noteIdMapping[origNoteId] = utils.newEntityId();
+        noteIdMapping[origNoteId] = newEntityId();
     }
 
     return noteIdMapping;
diff --git a/src/services/options_init.ts b/src/services/options_init.ts
index a48de12e3..2c86fd933 100644
--- a/src/services/options_init.ts
+++ b/src/services/options_init.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 import optionService from "./options.js";
 import type { OptionMap } from "./options.js";
 import appInfo from "./app_info.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { randomSecureToken } from "./utils.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
 import dateUtils from "./date_utils.js";
 import keyboardActions from "./keyboard_actions.js";
 import { KeyboardShortcutWithRequiredActionName } from './keyboard_actions_interface.js';
 
 function initDocumentOptions() {
-    optionService.createOption('documentId', utils.randomSecureToken(16), false);
-    optionService.createOption('documentSecret', utils.randomSecureToken(16), false);
+    optionService.createOption('documentId', randomSecureToken(16), false);
+    optionService.createOption('documentSecret', randomSecureToken(16), false);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/services/port.ts b/src/services/port.ts
index ffb2e2bf2..0fffc7c24 100644
--- a/src/services/port.ts
+++ b/src/services/port.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import config from "./config.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron } from "./utils.js";
 import env from "./env.js";
 import dataDir from "./data_dir.js";
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ let port: number;
 
 if (process.env.TRILIUM_PORT) {
     port = parseAndValidate(process.env.TRILIUM_PORT, "environment variable TRILIUM_PORT");
-} else if (utils.isElectron()) {
+} else if (isElectron()) {
     port = env.isDev() ? 37740 : 37840;
 } else {
     port = parseAndValidate(config['Network']['port'] || '3000', `Network.port in ${dataDir.CONFIG_INI_PATH}`);
diff --git a/src/services/request.ts b/src/services/request.ts
index 3fa70e5e7..2273c9dff 100644
--- a/src/services/request.ts
+++ b/src/services/request.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 "use strict";
 
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron } from "./utils.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
 import url from "url";
 import syncOptions from "./sync_options.js";
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ async function getProxyAgent(opts: ClientOpts) {
 async function getClient(opts: ClientOpts): Promise<Client> {
     // it's not clear how to explicitly configure proxy (as opposed to system proxy),
     // so in that case, we always use node's modules
-    if (utils.isElectron() && !opts.proxy) {
+    if (isElectron() && !opts.proxy) {
         return (await import('electron')).net as Client;
     } else {
         const {protocol} = url.parse(opts.url);
diff --git a/src/services/script_context.ts b/src/services/script_context.ts
index 313c6fcc7..cf016b492 100644
--- a/src/services/script_context.ts
+++ b/src/services/script_context.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { toObject } from "./utils.js";
 import BackendScriptApi from "./backend_script_api.js";
 import BNote from "../becca/entities/bnote.js";
 import { ApiParams } from './backend_script_api_interface.js';
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ class ScriptContext {
     constructor(allNotes: BNote[], apiParams: ApiParams) {
         this.allNotes = allNotes;
         this.modules = {};
-        this.notes = utils.toObject(allNotes, note => [note.noteId, note]);
-        this.apis = utils.toObject(allNotes, note => [note.noteId, new BackendScriptApi(note, apiParams)]);
+        this.notes = toObject(allNotes, note => [note.noteId, note]);
+        this.apis = toObject(allNotes, note => [note.noteId, new BackendScriptApi(note, apiParams)]);
     }
 
     require(moduleNoteIds: string[]) {
diff --git a/src/services/search/expressions/note_content_fulltext.ts b/src/services/search/expressions/note_content_fulltext.ts
index 9ede1a44a..d81f42dcd 100644
--- a/src/services/search/expressions/note_content_fulltext.ts
+++ b/src/services/search/expressions/note_content_fulltext.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import log from "../../log.js";
 import becca from "../../../becca/becca.js";
 import protectedSessionService from "../../protected_session.js";
 import striptags from "striptags";
-import utils from "../../utils.js";
+import { normalize } from "../../utils.js";
 import sql from "../../sql.js";
 
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ class NoteContentFulltextExp extends Expression {
     }
 
     preprocessContent(content: string | Buffer, type: string, mime: string) {
-        content = utils.normalize(content.toString());
+        content = normalize(content.toString());
 
         if (type === 'text' && mime === 'text/html') {
             if (!this.raw && content.length < 20000) { // striptags is slow for very large notes
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ class NoteContentFulltextExp extends Expression {
             const topicsString = topicsArray.join(", ");
             
         
-            content = utils.normalize(topicsString.toString());
+            content = normalize(topicsString.toString());
           } 
         else if (type === 'canvas' && mime === 'application/json') {
             interface Element {
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ class NoteContentFulltextExp extends Expression {
                 .filter((element: Element) => element.type === 'text' && element.text) // Filter for 'text' type elements with a 'text' property
                 .map((element: Element) => element.text!); // Use `!` to assert `text` is defined after filtering
 
-            content =utils.normalize(texts.toString())
+            content = normalize(texts.toString())
           }
 
 
diff --git a/src/services/search/expressions/note_flat_text.ts b/src/services/search/expressions/note_flat_text.ts
index 3bd101005..17363a91c 100644
--- a/src/services/search/expressions/note_flat_text.ts
+++ b/src/services/search/expressions/note_flat_text.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import SearchContext from "../search_context.js";
 import Expression from "./expression.js";
 import NoteSet from "../note_set.js";
 import becca from "../../../becca/becca.js";
-import utils from "../../utils.js";
+import { normalize } from "../../utils.js";
 import beccaService from "../../../becca/becca_service.js";
 
 class NoteFlatTextExp extends Expression {
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ class NoteFlatTextExp extends Expression {
             }
 
             for (const attribute of note.getOwnedAttributes()) {
-                const normalizedName = utils.normalize(attribute.name);
-                const normalizedValue = utils.normalize(attribute.value);
+                const normalizedName = normalize(attribute.name);
+                const normalizedValue = normalize(attribute.value);
 
                 for (const token of remainingTokens) {
                     if (normalizedName.includes(token) || normalizedValue.includes(token)) {
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class NoteFlatTextExp extends Expression {
             }
 
             for (const parentNote of note.parents) {
-                const title = utils.normalize(beccaService.getNoteTitle(note.noteId, parentNote.noteId));
+                const title = normalize(beccaService.getNoteTitle(note.noteId, parentNote.noteId));
                 const foundTokens = foundAttrTokens.slice();
 
                 for (const token of remainingTokens) {
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ class NoteFlatTextExp extends Expression {
                 }
 
                 for (const attribute of note.ownedAttributes) {
-                    if (utils.normalize(attribute.name).includes(token)
-                        || utils.normalize(attribute.value).includes(token)) {
+                    if (normalize(attribute.name).includes(token)
+                        || normalize(attribute.value).includes(token)) {
 
                         foundAttrTokens.push(token);
                     }
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ class NoteFlatTextExp extends Expression {
             }
 
             for (const parentNote of note.parents) {
-                const title = utils.normalize(beccaService.getNoteTitle(note.noteId, parentNote.noteId));
+                const title = normalize(beccaService.getNoteTitle(note.noteId, parentNote.noteId));
                 const foundTokens = foundAttrTokens.slice();
 
                 for (const token of this.tokens) {
diff --git a/src/services/search/services/parse.ts b/src/services/search/services/parse.ts
index 21187e112..d83f4fd39 100644
--- a/src/services/search/services/parse.ts
+++ b/src/services/search/services/parse.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import OrderByAndLimitExp from "../expressions/order_by_and_limit.js";
 import AncestorExp from "../expressions/ancestor.js";
 import buildComparator from "./build_comparator.js";
 import ValueExtractor from "../value_extractor.js";
-import utils from "../../utils.js";
+import { removeDiacritic } from "../../utils.js";
 import TrueExp from "../expressions/true.js";
 import IsHiddenExp from "../expressions/is_hidden.js";
 import SearchContext from "../search_context.js";
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import { TokenData, TokenStructure } from "./types.js";
 import Expression from "../expressions/expression.js";
 
 function getFulltext(_tokens: TokenData[], searchContext: SearchContext) {
-    const tokens: string[] = _tokens.map(t => utils.removeDiacritic(t.token));
+    const tokens: string[] = _tokens.map(t => removeDiacritic(t.token));
 
     searchContext.highlightedTokens.push(...tokens);
 
diff --git a/src/services/search/services/search.ts b/src/services/search/services/search.ts
index 1b941adda..663851325 100644
--- a/src/services/search/services/search.ts
+++ b/src/services/search/services/search.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import SearchResult from "../search_result.js";
 import SearchContext from "../search_context.js";
 import becca from "../../../becca/becca.js";
 import beccaService from "../../../becca/becca_service.js";
-import utils from "../../utils.js";
+import { normalize, escapeHtml, escapeRegExp } from "../../utils.js";
 import log from "../../log.js";
 import hoistedNoteService from "../../hoisted_note.js";
 import BNote from "../../../becca/entities/bnote.js";
@@ -403,8 +403,8 @@ function highlightSearchResults(searchResults: SearchResult[], highlightedTokens
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if (highlightedTokens.find(token => utils.normalize(attr.name).includes(token)
-                || utils.normalize(attr.value).includes(token))) {
+            if (highlightedTokens.find(token => normalize(attr.name).includes(token)
+                || normalize(attr.value).includes(token))) {
 
                 result.highlightedNotePathTitle += ` "${formatAttribute(attr)}'`;
             }
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ function highlightSearchResults(searchResults: SearchResult[], highlightedTokens
 
         for (const result of searchResults) {
             // Reset token
-            const tokenRegex = new RegExp(utils.escapeRegExp(token), "gi");
+            const tokenRegex = new RegExp(escapeRegExp(token), "gi");
             let match;
 
             // Find all matches
@@ -449,15 +449,15 @@ function highlightSearchResults(searchResults: SearchResult[], highlightedTokens
 
 function formatAttribute(attr: BAttribute) {
     if (attr.type === 'relation') {
-        return `~${utils.escapeHtml(attr.name)}=…`;
+        return `~${escapeHtml(attr.name)}=…`;
     }
     else if (attr.type === 'label') {
-        let label = `#${utils.escapeHtml(attr.name)}`;
+        let label = `#${escapeHtml(attr.name)}`;
 
         if (attr.value) {
             const val = /[^\w-]/.test(attr.value) ? `"${attr.value}"` : attr.value;
 
-            label += `=${utils.escapeHtml(val)}`;
+            label += `=${escapeHtml(val)}`;
         }
 
         return label;
diff --git a/src/services/session_secret.ts b/src/services/session_secret.ts
index 36e5d53af..a536ebaaa 100644
--- a/src/services/session_secret.ts
+++ b/src/services/session_secret.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import fs from "fs";
 import dataDir from "./data_dir.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js"
+import { randomSecureToken } from "./utils.js"
 
 const sessionSecretPath = `${dataDir.TRILIUM_DATA_DIR}/session_secret.txt`;
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ let sessionSecret: string;
 const ENCODING = "ascii";
 
 if (!fs.existsSync(sessionSecretPath)) {
-    sessionSecret = utils.randomSecureToken(64).slice(0, 64);
+    sessionSecret = randomSecureToken(64).slice(0, 64);
 
     log.info("Generated session secret");
 
diff --git a/src/services/setup.ts b/src/services/setup.ts
index 2f38cc0ac..757444709 100644
--- a/src/services/setup.ts
+++ b/src/services/setup.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import optionService from "./options.js";
 import syncOptions from "./sync_options.js";
 import request from "./request.js";
 import appInfo from "./app_info.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { timeLimit } from "./utils.js";
 import becca from "../becca/becca.js";
 import { SetupStatusResponse, SetupSyncSeedResponse } from './api-interface.js';
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ async function sendSeedToSyncServer() {
 async function requestToSyncServer<T>(method: string, path: string, body?: string | {}): Promise<T> {
     const timeout = syncOptions.getSyncTimeout();
 
-    return await utils.timeLimit(request.exec({
+    return await timeLimit(request.exec({
         method,
         url: syncOptions.getSyncServerHost() + path,
         body,
diff --git a/src/services/sql_init.ts b/src/services/sql_init.ts
index 0bcf77002..44c4a4043 100644
--- a/src/services/sql_init.ts
+++ b/src/services/sql_init.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import log from "./log.js";
 import fs from "fs";
 import resourceDir from "./resource_dir.js";
 import sql from "./sql.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron, deferred } from "./utils.js";
 import optionService from "./options.js";
 import port from "./port.js";
 import BOption from "../becca/entities/boption.js";
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import becca_loader from "../becca/becca_loader.js";
 import password from "./encryption/password.js";
 import backup from "./backup.js";
 
-const dbReady = utils.deferred<void>();
+const dbReady = deferred<void>();
 
 function schemaExists() {
     return !!sql.getValue(`SELECT name FROM sqlite_master
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ function isDbInitialized() {
 async function initDbConnection() {
     if (!isDbInitialized()) {
         log.info(`DB not initialized, please visit setup page` +
-            (utils.isElectron() ? '' : ` - http://[your-server-host]:${port} to see instructions on how to initialize Trilium.`));
+            (isElectron() ? '' : ` - http://[your-server-host]:${port} to see instructions on how to initialize Trilium.`));
 
         return;
     }
diff --git a/src/services/sync.ts b/src/services/sync.ts
index 9d62b2fc0..0c1518023 100644
--- a/src/services/sync.ts
+++ b/src/services/sync.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import log from "./log.js";
 import sql from "./sql.js";
 import optionService from "./options.js";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { hmac, randomString, timeLimit } from "./utils.js";
 import instanceId from "./instance_id.js";
 import dateUtils from "./date_utils.js";
 import syncUpdateService from "./sync_update.js";
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ async function doLogin(): Promise<SyncContext> {
     const timestamp = dateUtils.utcNowDateTime();
 
     const documentSecret = optionService.getOption('documentSecret');
-    const hash = utils.hmac(documentSecret, timestamp);
+    const hash = hmac(documentSecret, timestamp);
 
     const syncContext: SyncContext = { cookieJar: {} };
     const resp = await syncRequest<SyncResponse>(syncContext, 'POST', '/api/login/sync', {
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ async function doLogin(): Promise<SyncContext> {
 async function pullChanges(syncContext: SyncContext) {
     while (true) {
         const lastSyncedPull = getLastSyncedPull();
-        const logMarkerId = utils.randomString(10); // to easily pair sync events between client and server logs
+        const logMarkerId = randomString(10); // to easily pair sync events between client and server logs
         const changesUri = `/api/sync/changed?instanceId=${instanceId}&lastEntityChangeId=${lastSyncedPull}&logMarkerId=${logMarkerId}`;
 
         const startDate = Date.now();
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ async function pushChanges(syncContext: SyncContext) {
         const entityChangesRecords = getEntityChangeRecords(filteredEntityChanges);
         const startDate = new Date();
 
-        const logMarkerId = utils.randomString(10); // to easily pair sync events between client and server logs
+        const logMarkerId = randomString(10); // to easily pair sync events between client and server logs
 
         await syncRequest(syncContext, 'PUT', `/api/sync/update?logMarkerId=${logMarkerId}`, {
             entities: entityChangesRecords,
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ async function syncRequest<T extends {}>(syncContext: SyncContext, method: strin
 
     let response;
 
-    const requestId = utils.randomString(10);
+    const requestId = randomString(10);
     const pageCount = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(body.length / PAGE_SIZE));
 
     for (let pageIndex = 0; pageIndex < pageCount; pageIndex++) {
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ async function syncRequest<T extends {}>(syncContext: SyncContext, method: strin
             proxy: proxyToggle ? syncOptions.getSyncProxy() : null
         };
 
-        response = await utils.timeLimit(request.exec(opts), timeout) as T;
+        response = await timeLimit(request.exec(opts), timeout) as T;
     }
 
     return response;
diff --git a/src/services/utils.ts b/src/services/utils.ts
index 887abde0b..b4155bc33 100644
--- a/src/services/utils.ts
+++ b/src/services/utils.ts
@@ -13,23 +13,23 @@ import { dirname, join } from "path";
 
 const randtoken = generator({source: 'crypto'});
 
-function newEntityId() {
+export function newEntityId() {
     return randomString(12);
 }
 
-function randomString(length: number): string {
+export function randomString(length: number): string {
     return randtoken.generate(length);
 }
 
-function randomSecureToken(bytes = 32) {
+export function randomSecureToken(bytes = 32) {
     return crypto.randomBytes(bytes).toString('base64');
 }
 
-function md5(content: crypto.BinaryLike) {
+export function md5(content: crypto.BinaryLike) {
     return crypto.createHash('md5').update(content).digest('hex');
 }
 
-function hashedBlobId(content: string | Buffer) {
+export function hashedBlobId(content: string | Buffer) {
     if (content === null || content === undefined) {
         content = "";
     }
@@ -46,47 +46,47 @@ function hashedBlobId(content: string | Buffer) {
     return kindaBase62Hash.substr(0, 20);
 }
 
-function toBase64(plainText: string | Buffer) {
+export function toBase64(plainText: string | Buffer) {
     return Buffer.from(plainText).toString('base64');
 }
 
-function fromBase64(encodedText: string) {
+export function fromBase64(encodedText: string) {
     return Buffer.from(encodedText, 'base64');
 }
 
-function hmac(secret: any, value: any) {
+export function hmac(secret: any, value: any) {
     const hmac = crypto.createHmac('sha256', Buffer.from(secret.toString(), 'ascii'));
     hmac.update(value.toString());
     return hmac.digest('base64');
 }
 
-function isElectron() {
+export function isElectron() {
     return !!process.versions['electron'];
 }
 
-function hash(text: string) {
+export function hash(text: string) {
     text = text.normalize();
 
     return crypto.createHash('sha1').update(text).digest('base64');
 }
 
-function isEmptyOrWhitespace(str: string) {
+export function isEmptyOrWhitespace(str: string) {
     return str === null || str.match(/^ *$/) !== null;
 }
 
-function sanitizeSqlIdentifier(str: string) {
+export function sanitizeSqlIdentifier(str: string) {
     return str.replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9_]/g, "");
 }
 
-function escapeHtml(str: string) {
+export function escapeHtml(str: string) {
     return escape(str);
 }
 
-function unescapeHtml(str: string) {
+export function unescapeHtml(str: string) {
     return unescape(str);
 }
 
-function toObject<T, K extends string | number | symbol, V>(array: T[], fn: (item: T) => [K, V]): Record<K, V> {
+export function toObject<T, K extends string | number | symbol, V>(array: T[], fn: (item: T) => [K, V]): Record<K, V> {
     const obj: Record<K, V> = {} as Record<K, V>; // TODO: unsafe?
 
     for (const item of array) {
@@ -98,11 +98,11 @@ function toObject<T, K extends string | number | symbol, V>(array: T[], fn: (ite
     return obj;
 }
 
-function stripTags(text: string) {
+export function stripTags(text: string) {
     return text.replace(/<(?:.|\n)*?>/gm, '');
 }
 
-function union<T extends string | number | symbol>(a: T[], b: T[]): T[] {
+export function union<T extends string | number | symbol>(a: T[], b: T[]): T[] {
     const obj: Record<T, T> = {} as Record<T, T>; // TODO: unsafe?
 
     for (let i = a.length-1; i >= 0; i--) {
@@ -124,11 +124,11 @@ function union<T extends string | number | symbol>(a: T[], b: T[]): T[] {
     return res;
 }
 
-function escapeRegExp(str: string) {
+export function escapeRegExp(str: string) {
     return str.replace(/([.*+?^=!:${}()|\[\]\/\\])/g, "\\$1");
 }
 
-async function crash() {
+export async function crash() {
     if (isElectron()) {
         (await import("electron")).app.exit(1);
     } else {
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ async function crash() {
     }
 }
 
-function sanitizeFilenameForHeader(filename: string) {
+export function sanitizeFilenameForHeader(filename: string) {
     let sanitizedFilename = sanitize(filename);
 
     if (sanitizedFilename.trim().length === 0) {
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ function sanitizeFilenameForHeader(filename: string) {
     return encodeURIComponent(sanitizedFilename);
 }
 
-function getContentDisposition(filename: string) {
+export function getContentDisposition(filename: string) {
     const sanitizedFilename = sanitizeFilenameForHeader(filename);
 
     return `file; filename="${sanitizedFilename}"; filename*=UTF-8''${sanitizedFilename}`;
@@ -160,24 +160,24 @@ const STRING_MIME_TYPES = [
     "image/svg+xml"
 ];
 
-function isStringNote(type: string | undefined, mime: string) {
+export function isStringNote(type: string | undefined, mime: string) {
     // render and book are string note in the sense that they are expected to contain empty string
     return (type && ["text", "code", "relationMap", "search", "render", "book", "mermaid", "canvas"].includes(type))
         || mime.startsWith('text/')
         || STRING_MIME_TYPES.includes(mime);
 }
 
-function quoteRegex(url: string) {
+export function quoteRegex(url: string) {
     return url.replace(/[.*+\-?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&');
 }
 
-function replaceAll(string: string, replaceWhat: string, replaceWith: string) {
+export function replaceAll(string: string, replaceWhat: string, replaceWith: string) {
     const quotedReplaceWhat = quoteRegex(replaceWhat);
 
     return string.replace(new RegExp(quotedReplaceWhat, "g"), replaceWith);
 }
 
-function formatDownloadTitle(fileName: string, type: string | null, mime: string) {
+export function formatDownloadTitle(fileName: string, type: string | null, mime: string) {
     if (!fileName) {
         fileName = "untitled";
     }
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ function formatDownloadTitle(fileName: string, type: string | null, mime: string
     }
 }
 
-function removeTextFileExtension(filePath: string) {
+export function removeTextFileExtension(filePath: string) {
     const extension = path.extname(filePath).toLowerCase();
 
     switch (extension) {
@@ -227,13 +227,13 @@ function removeTextFileExtension(filePath: string) {
         case ".markdown":
         case ".html":
         case ".htm":
-            return filePath.substr(0, filePath.length - extension.length);
+            return filePath.substring(0, filePath.length - extension.length);
         default:
             return filePath;
     }
 }
 
-function getNoteTitle(filePath: string, replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces: boolean, noteMeta?: { title?: string }) {
+export function getNoteTitle(filePath: string, replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces: boolean, noteMeta?: { title?: string }) {
     if (noteMeta?.title) {
         return noteMeta.title;
     } else {
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ function getNoteTitle(filePath: string, replaceUnderscoresWithSpaces: boolean, n
     }
 }
 
-function timeLimit<T>(promise: Promise<T>, limitMs: number, errorMessage?: string): Promise<T> {
+export function timeLimit<T>(promise: Promise<T>, limitMs: number, errorMessage?: string): Promise<T> {
     if (!promise || !promise.then) { // it's not actually a promise
         return promise;
     }
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ interface DeferredPromise<T> extends Promise<T> {
     reject: (reason?: any) => void
 }
 
-function deferred<T>(): DeferredPromise<T> {
+export function deferred<T>(): DeferredPromise<T> {
     return (() => {
         let resolve!: (value: T | PromiseLike<T>) => void;
         let reject!: (reason?: any) => void;
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ function deferred<T>(): DeferredPromise<T> {
     })();
 }
 
-function removeDiacritic(str: string) {
+export function removeDiacritic(str: string) {
     if (!str) {
         return "";
     }
@@ -300,11 +300,11 @@ function removeDiacritic(str: string) {
     return str.normalize("NFD").replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, "");
 }
 
-function normalize(str: string) {
+export function normalize(str: string) {
     return removeDiacritic(str).toLowerCase();
 }
 
-function toMap<T extends Record<string, any>>(list: T[], key: keyof T): Record<string, T> {
+export function toMap<T extends Record<string, any>>(list: T[], key: keyof T): Record<string, T> {
     const map: Record<string, T> = {};
 
     for (const el of list) {
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ function toMap<T extends Record<string, any>>(list: T[], key: keyof T): Record<s
     return map;
 }
 
-function isString(x: any) {
+export function isString(x: any) {
     return Object.prototype.toString.call(x) === "[object String]";
 }
 
diff --git a/src/services/ws.ts b/src/services/ws.ts
index 9bb56cfbf..9993062a9 100644
--- a/src/services/ws.ts
+++ b/src/services/ws.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import WebSocket from "ws";
-import utils from "./utils.js";
+import { isElectron, randomString } from "./utils.js";
 import log from "./log.js";
 import sql from "./sql.js";
 import cls from "./cls.js";
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ if (env.isDev()) {
     const debounce = (await import("debounce")).default;
     const debouncedReloadFrontend = debounce(() => reloadFrontend("source code change"), 200);
     chokidar
-        .watch(utils.isElectron() ? 'dist/src/public' : 'src/public')
+        .watch(isElectron() ? 'dist/src/public' : 'src/public')
         .on('add', debouncedReloadFrontend)
         .on('change', debouncedReloadFrontend)
         .on('unlink', debouncedReloadFrontend);
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ function init(httpServer: Server, sessionParser: SessionParser) {
     webSocketServer = new WebSocket.Server({
         verifyClient: (info, done) => {
             sessionParser(info.req, {}, () => {
-                const allowed = utils.isElectron()
+                const allowed = isElectron()
                     || (info.req as any).session.loggedIn
                     || (config.General && config.General.noAuthentication);
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ function init(httpServer: Server, sessionParser: SessionParser) {
     });
 
     webSocketServer.on('connection', (ws, req) => {
-        (ws as any).id = utils.randomString(10);
+        (ws as any).id = randomString(10);
 
         console.log(`websocket client connected`);