Notes

In the Notes app, you can add links to webpages or sections in a note. You can also link to related notes, like a trip itinerary and a list of recommended restaurants.

When you add street and email addresses, phone numbers, and dates, they automatically become underlined text that you can act on. There’s even a quick typing shortcut for linking to another note by its title, right in the note body.

Link to a webpage

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. In the note where you want to insert a link, select the text or tap to place the insertion point.
3. Tap the Forward button and tap Add Link. Enter the URL to specify the link destination.
4. Optionally, you can add a name for the link.
5. Tap the Done button.

Link to a note or section of a note

First, organize a note with sections if you want to link to a section of it.

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. In the note where you want to add a link, select the text or tap to place the insertion point.
3. Tap the Forward button and tap Add Link. Do any of the following:
   • Link to a section in the same note: Tap Link to Section, then select a section. To customize the link name, turn on Use Section Title or enter a custom link name. Note: If the title of a linked note or section changes, any link that uses the note or section title as its name is updated automatically.
   • Link to another note: Start typing the title of the target note and then select it. To customize the link name, turn on Use Note Title or enter a custom link name. Tip: To quickly link to another note, type “>>” in the note body, then enter the title of the target note. You can then link to a section in that note by typing “/,” then selecting a section.
   • Link to a section in another note: Link to another note, tap Link to Section. Then select a section.
4. Tap the Done button. To edit or remove the link, touch and hold the link. Choose an action.

Take action on addresses, phone numbers, dates, and more

In your notes, an underline appears below text that’s recognized as a street or email address, phone number, date, or other data. Tap the underlined text to take action on it. For example, you can see a street address in Maps, compose an email, call a phone number, add a calendar event, or convert units and currency. Note: Data detection is available when the system language of your iPhone is set to a supported language in Settings > General > Language & Region.

You can change how your notes appear in the Notes app. Add lines or grids to your notes, view your notes as a list or a gallery, and see all the attachments in one place.

You can show lines or grids in an existing note, or in all new notes, in the style you choose. And from the notes list, you can switch between list and gallery views whenever you like.

Show lines or grids in notes

• In an existing note: Tap the Note Actions button, tap Lines & Grids, then choose a style.
• In all new notes: Go to the Settings app , tap Apps, then tap Notes. Tap Lines & Grids, then choose a style.

View notes as a list or gallery

In the notes list, tap the Folder Actions button, then tap View as List or View as Gallery.

View all attachments

In the notes list, tap the Folder Actions button, then tap View Attachments.

In the Notes app, you can lock notes to protect your sensitive information. You can access your locked notes using your device passcode or a custom password. If you have multiple Notes accounts, you choose the locking method for each account, for example, for your iCloud account.

The device passcode is the simpler option. You don’t have to create and remember a separate password, and you can use Face ID or Touch ID to open your locked notes.

Lock notes with your device passcode

With your device passcode, there’s no separate password to create and remember, so you’re less likely to lose access to your locked notes, and Face ID or Touch ID works, too. On each device where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account, you unlock notes with that device’s passcode, or the login password on a Mac. Notes locked with a device passcode require iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, or later, and you won’t be able to access them on devices with an earlier version of the OS.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
3. Tap Password.
4. If you have multiple accounts, choose the account you want to set a password for.
5. Tap Use Device Passcode.
6. For added convenience, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID.

Lock notes with a custom password

A custom password for locked notes can provide additional security, but you may lose access to your locked notes if you forget it. Your custom password works on every device where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account. With multiple iCloud accounts or an “On My iPhone” account, each one can have a different custom password. Notes locked with a custom password require iOS 9.3 or later, iPadOS 13 or later, or OS X 10.11.4 or later, and you won’t see them on devices with an earlier version of the OS.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
3. Tap Password.
4. If you have multiple accounts, choose the account you want to set a password for.
5. Tap Use Custom Password.
6. For added convenience, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID. Don’t rely on Face ID or Touch ID as the only means of unlocking your notes. If you update your Face ID or Touch ID settings, or want to change your Notes password, you have to reenter your Notes password. Important: If you forget your custom password, and you can’t use Face ID or Touch ID to access your locked notes, Apple can’t help you regain access to those notes. You can reset your custom password, but this doesn’t give you access to previously locked notes. The new custom password applies to all notes you lock from now on. Go to the Settings app, tap Apps, tap Notes, tap Password, then tap Reset Password.

Change the locking method

You can switch from a custom password to your device passcode. Once you change your locking method, notes you accessed with the previous method start using the new one.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
3. Tap Password, choose an account (if you have more than one), and then choose a password method.

Lock a note

You can lock only notes on your device and notes in iCloud. Notes with video, audio, PDF, or file attachments, notes with tags, and notes that use features from a newer version of Notes can’t be locked. The same goes for Quick Notes, notes that sync with other accounts, and notes shared in iCloud.

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. Open the note and tap the Note Actions button.
3. Tap Lock. When a note is locked, the title remains visible in the notes list. To remove a lock from a note, tap the Note Actions button, then tap Remove.

Open your locked notes

When you open one locked note, all your locked notes in the same account open for several minutes, so it’s easy to copy and paste information from other apps or jump into another note.

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the locked note and tap the Lock button or View Note.
3. To open the note, use Face ID, Touch ID, your device passcode, or your Notes password. To lock your notes again, do any of the following: Tap the Unlock button. Tap Lock Now at the top of the notes list.

In the Notes app, you can easily search and filter your notes across folders using Smart Folders. A Smart Folder can be created when viewing a list of tagged notes, or you can convert a folder, and its notes move to the Notes folder, tagged with the name of the Smart Folder.

Create a Smart Folder

1. Start the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the New Folder button, choose an account (if you have more than one) and enter a name. Tap Make Into Smart Folder.
3. Choose one or more filters and then choose to include notes matching any or all of the selected filters. You can filter by tags, dates, mentions, and more. You can also create a Smart Folder when viewing a list of tagged notes. Tap the Folder Actions button and then tap Create Smart Folder.

Convert a folder to a Smart Folder

When viewing the folder you want to convert, tap the Folder Actions button, then tap Convert to Smart Folder. When you convert a folder, its notes are moved to the Notes folder and tagged with the name of the Smart Folder. Note: You can’t convert a shared folder, a folder with a subfolder, or a folder that contains locked notes.

Edit or delete a Smart Folder

There are two ways to edit or delete a Smart Folder:

• In the folders list, tap Edit, tap the Folder Actions button, then choose an option. Tap the Done button.
• Touch and hold a Smart Folder, then tap Edit Smart Folder or Delete. When editing a Smart Folder, you can change the name or filters.

In the Notes app, you can attach, view, edit, and collaborate on PDFs, including documents you scanned into a note. You can also annotate or sketch directly on PDFs and scanned documents in your note.

You can even preview multiple PDFs in the same note, and change the viewing size. You can attach one from an app such as Files or Mail, too.

Here’s how to work with PDFs in Notes on iPhone.

Attach a PDF to a note

To attach a PDF from an app like Files or Mail, do either of the following:

• Drag the file into a note.
• Touch and hold the file, tap the Share button, tap Notes, choose a note, then tap Save.

View and edit a PDF in a note

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. In the note with the PDF, tap the Menu button. Then do any of the following:
   • Change the viewing size: Tap View As and choose Small, Medium, or Large.
   • View in full screen: Tap Quick Look.
   • Copy, share, rename, or delete the PDF: Choose an action.
3. When using the Medium or Large preview size, you can also do any of the following:
   • Show or hide thumbnails: Tap the Thumbnails button.
   • Zoom in and see more: Pinch the screen or swipe right to see more pages.
   • Edit a page: Tap the thumbnail for the page, tap the More button, and choose an action such as Rotate Left, Rotate Right, Filters, Crop Page, or Insert Blank Page. (Filters and Crop Page are supported only in scanned documents.)

Annotate a PDF in a note

• Small preview size: Tap the PDF to open it, then tap the Handwriting Tools button.
• Medium and large preview sizes: Tap the Handwriting Tools button.

Collaborate with others

When you collaborate on a note with other people, updates come through in real time. Mark up a document, draw a diagram, or add a sticker, and the people you share with see the changes on their devices.