Get started with Notes on Mac

With Notes, capture quick thoughts or use longer notes to save checklists, images, web links and more. You can create, collaborate, stay organised and access your notes from all your Apple devices.

Open Notes for me

[The same note in the Notes app on Mac, iPhone and iPad. On the left, the Notes app on Mac shows the Notes window with several notes in the users iCloud account. The user is currently looking at a note titled Urban planner. On the right, the same note is displayed on an iPhone and iPad. The note has drawings.]

Use iCloud Notes

Use iCloud notes to see notes on all of your devices, and get the most up-to-date features including additional formatting, and the use of checklists, tables and media from your iPhone or iPad. On your Mac, choose Apple menu [] > System Settings, click your name at the top of the sidebar, then click iCloud. Click See All next to Saved to iCloud, click Notes, then turn on Sync this Mac.

[A cropped Notes app window on Mac showing a note and the Create a note button in the Notes toolbar.]

Create or edit a note

To get started with Notes, start writing your first note. Click [the Create a note button] in the Notes toolbar.

[A Notes app window on Mac showing a close up of the Notes toolbar specifically the Format Text, Make a Checklist, Add a Table, Record Audio and Add Media buttons.]

Use the toolbar to format and add content

Format text and add content using the buttons in the toolbar. Click [the Format Text button] to apply a paragraph style or format text, [the Checklist button] to add a checklist, [the Add table button] to add a table, [the Record Audio button] to record audio, and [the Add Media button] to add files, media and more.

[The close up of the Share menu in the Notes app on Mac. The user is choosing someone to collaborate on a note named Pizza. Family and friends appear in the suggested recipients at the top. The different sharing options below, from top to bottom, include Add to Reading List, AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Open in News, Invite with Link, Freeform, Reminders and Open in Pages. There is also an option to copy the note or edit extensions.]

Collaborate on a note

You can send an invitation to collaborate on a list in Messages or Mail, or share the link. Click [the Share button] in the toolbar, choose either Collaborate or Send Copy in the pop-up menu, then select Messages, Mail or Invite with Link. After youve invited others to join, you can track activity and manage collaboration.

[A Notes app window on Mac. The user has clicked the Search button to start a search in Notes. The search field remains blank. Suggested Searches appear, including Shared Notes, Locked Notes, Notes with Checklists, Notes with Tags, Notes with Drawings, Notes with Scanned Documents and Notes with Attachments.]

Search your notes

You can search for specific text or images to easily find the note you want when you need it. Click [the Search button] in the toolbar to show the search field, type what youre looking for, then press Return.

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Notes User Guide