Notes: Capture, Process, and Organize

1. Capture

Write a QuickNote from anywhere in the app. The note bar is always visible — at the top on a computer, at the bottom above the tabs on a phone. Don't think about where it goes — just write it down. See QuickNotes for all capture methods (typing, photos, offline, T+ shortcuts).

2. Inbox

Your note lands in the Inbox. The Inbox is a holding space — it's not the final destination. Notes wait here until you decide what to do with them.

3. Process

Each note has four sort buttons: Keep as note (keep for reference), Keep to publish (something you want to write — it enters your publishing flow), Task (something to do) and To journal (something that happened). The ⋯ menu holds the rest: Merge, Copy, Copy link, Pin, Create linked task (keep the note and add an action), Publication (publish it right away), and Delete. The full guide: The Inbox: sort your quick notes.

Task

If the note is something you need to do, convert it into a task: the task panel opens pre-filled with its text, contacts and pages. Choose a due date, ASAP or Someday. Once saved, the note leaves the Inbox and becomes a task in your task list. Want to keep the note too? Choose Create linked task in the ⋯ menu instead.

To journal

If the note describes something that happened — a call, a meeting, an observation — convert it into a dated entry. Pick its type, check the contacts, and it joins their history.

Keep as note

If the note is useful reference material but doesn't require action, keep it as a note. It leaves the Inbox and joins your Notes, where you can search and filter it anytime.

Pin

If you need a note to stay visible for a while — a hotel room number, a reservation code, an idea you're working on — pin it. Pinned notes sit at the top of your Inbox and don't count toward your unread total.

Delete

If a note is no longer relevant, delete it. It goes to the trash and stays there for 30 days, so you can recover it if needed.

On contact profiles

If a note mentions a contact with @, it appears on that contact's profile. This builds a history of everything related to that person — notes, entries, and tasks, all in one place. See Contact Profiles.

On pages

If a note uses #page# or [[page]] syntax, it appears on the corresponding page alongside related entries, tasks, and contacts. See Tags & Pages.

In the Notes view

The notes you keep live in the Notes view, accessible from the sidebar. You can search by content and filter by page or contact to find what you need — and the publishing flow bar at the top shows your notes stage by stage, including those published to your Keepsake Page. A Sort button lets you order notes by creation, modification, publication or archive date, ascending or descending — your choice is remembered.

In the Inbox

Unprocessed and pinned notes stay in the Inbox until you decide what to do with them.

Open a note's page

Click on any note in your Notes to open its dedicated page. The page auto-saves as you type — no save button needed. And if you create a note then close it empty, it isn't kept — no clutter in your Notes.

Rich text editing

Format your text with bold, italic, lists, and headings using the floating toolbar. Type # or [[ to autocomplete pages, and @ for contacts, inline.

Write full screen

On desktop, the ⤢ button clears everything away — sidebar, pages, metadata — leaving just your text, the table of contents, and the capture bar (because ideas strike precisely when you're writing). Press Escape or the corner button to come back.

A table of contents on long notes

When a note has two or more headings, thin marks appear along the right edge — one per heading. Hover to unfold the full outline, click to jump to a section. It follows your edits live as you write. (Desktop only.)

Manage pages and contacts

Add or remove pages and contacts directly from the note page. The note will appear on the corresponding pages and contact profiles.

Copy, print, share

The Copy content menu grabs the note's text in the format you need (plain text, Markdown, HTML). The Print button opens a clean layout ready for paper. And each note has a permanent URL you can copy, bookmark, or jump to from Cmd+K search.

From the Linked notes section

Below every note, a Linked notes section gathers all connected notes. Click + Link a note to search for a note and connect it on the spot.

Several at once, from the Notes view

Click Select in the Notes view, tick several notes and click Link: they're all linked together in one action.

Right inside the text

Copy a note's link and paste it into another note's text: it becomes a clickable link showing the beginning of the target note. Remove it like any text; links created this way disappear when you edit them out.

From the note

A Tasks section below the note gathers all linked tasks. Create new ones there (they inherit the note's pages), check them off, snooze them or open them without leaving your note — with a progress ring showing how many are done.

From the task

A task created from a note keeps a visible link back to it — the context is always one click away, in your task lists and in the Today view.

From the Inbox

The ⋯ menu of a QuickNote offers "Create linked task" — unlike the "Task" button, your note is kept and the new task points back to it.

A note is something to keep

Ideas, drafts, reference material, checklists, quotes, procedures. Notes are about information — things you want to remember or use later. They're not tied to a specific moment.

An entry is something that happened

A phone call, a meeting, a lunch, a milestone. Entries are about events — things that occurred on a specific date. They build a chronological timeline on contact profiles and in the Journal.

When in doubt

Ask yourself: "Is this about something that happened on a specific day?" If yes, it's an entry. If it's information to keep or an idea to develop, it's a note. And don't worry too much — you can always reorganize later.

Capture immediately

The moment an idea crosses your mind, write it down. Even a few words are enough. The QuickNote bar is designed for this — zero friction, instant save.

Link to people and projects

Use @mentions and #pages# in your notes. A note that says "Book recommendation from @Sarah@: Deep Work" is far more useful than one that just says "Deep Work". Six months from now, you'll find it on Sarah's profile.

Process regularly

Don't let notes pile up. A quick Inbox review once a day — even just 2 minutes — keeps everything flowing. Keep what's worth keeping, turn into tasks what needs action, delete what's done.

Use the Notes view

The Notes view is not a graveyard — it's a library. Put reference material there: procedures, meeting prep, ideas you've already explored. It's searchable and filterable, so you'll find things fast.