Digital note-taking has revolutionized how we capture and organize information, with Notability standing out as one of the most powerful tools available for students, professionals, and creatives alike.
As a feature-rich app designed specifically for iPad, iPhone, and Mac users, Notability combines the flexibility of handwritten notes with the convenience of digital organization.
However, many users barely scratch the surface of what this powerful application can do.
Whether you’re a longtime user or just getting started, mastering these ten time-saving tips and tricks will transform your note-taking experience, helping you work smarter rather than harder.
From leveraging keyboard shortcuts to utilizing advanced organization features, these strategies will help you maximize your productivity and create more effective, accessible notes.
Let’s find out more.
1. Master the Quick Note Feature
The Quick Note feature in Notability is a game-changer for capturing sudden ideas or important information without disrupting your workflow.
Instead of creating a full new note or navigating through folders, simply enable this feature in your settings and use the designated gesture or button to instantly open a small notepad.
These quick notes automatically save to a dedicated section, making them easy to find later. This approach is particularly valuable during meetings or lectures when you need to jot down a key point without losing focus on the ongoing discussion.
Later, you can easily convert these quick thoughts into full notes or merge them with existing documents.
By incorporating Quick Notes into your routine, you’ll ensure no valuable idea goes unrecorded, regardless of what you’re doing in the app at that moment.
2. Utilize Auto-Backup to Cloud Services
Nothing is more devastating than losing hours of meticulously crafted notes due to an app crash or device failure.
Notability’s auto-backup feature provides essential protection against such disasters by automatically syncing your notes to cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud.
To set this up, navigate to the settings menu and configure your preferred cloud service. You can customize how frequently backups occur and whether they happen only on Wi-Fi to conserve mobile data.
With auto-backup enabled, your notes remain accessible across all your devices and protected from loss.
This feature also facilitates seamless transitions between devices—begin notes on your iPad during a meeting and continue refining them later on your Mac without any manual file transfers.
Taking a few minutes to configure this setting now can save you from potentially catastrophic data loss in the future.
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3. Leverage the Multi-Note Feature
The multi-note feature allows you to view and work on two notes simultaneously, dramatically improving your efficiency when referencing material or compiling information from multiple sources.
To activate this split-screen functionality, use the designated icon in the top navigation bar or the relevant gesture on your device.
You can adjust the split ratio to prioritize one note over the other based on your current needs. This feature proves invaluable when comparing lecture slides with your own notes, referencing source material while writing summaries, or transferring information between documents.
Students find it particularly useful when studying for exams, as they can have their study guide open alongside their comprehensive notes.
By eliminating the constant switching between documents, the multi-note feature can significantly reduce the time spent on complex note-taking tasks while improving the quality and comprehensiveness of your final notes.
4. Master Keyboard Shortcuts
For Mac and iPad users with external keyboards, Notability offers an extensive array of keyboard shortcuts that can dramatically speed up your note-taking process.
Instead of interrupting your flow to tap through menus, simple key combinations can instantly format text, add multimedia elements, or navigate between pages.
Common shortcuts include Command+B for bold text, Command+I for italics, and Command+F for the search function.
More advanced shortcuts allow you to quickly insert shapes, images, or web clips without lifting your hands from the keyboard.
A particularly useful but often overlooked shortcut is Command+Option+T, which quickly creates a new table. Taking the time to memorize even a handful of these shortcuts will noticeably improve your efficiency.
Consider printing a small reference card with your most frequently used shortcuts until they become muscle memory.
For those who regularly type rather than handwrite their notes, these shortcuts can reduce the time spent on formatting by up to 40%.
Also Read: Goodnotes vs Notability
5. Customize Your Tool Palette
Notability’s default tool arrangement works for general purposes, but customizing the tool palette to reflect your personal note-taking style can save considerable time.
Access the customization options in settings to rearrange tools, set preferred pen sizes and colors, and create custom highlighter options.
The app allows you to save multiple palette configurations, enabling you to switch between different setups for various types of notes—perhaps one optimized for math with equation tools prominently displayed, another for language studies with translation and dictionary tools at the forefront, and a third for visual subjects with drawing tools easily accessible.
Pay particular attention to organizing your most frequently used tools at the top of the palette to minimize scrolling and searching.
Many power users create color-coded systems with consistent pen colors for headings, subpoints, and annotations.
This thoughtful organization of your tools eliminates the constant interruptions caused by hunting for the right pen or highlighter, allowing you to remain focused on the content rather than the interface.
6. Use Audio Recordings Synchronized with Notes
One of Notability’s most powerful features is its ability to record audio while you take notes, then synchronize that recording with your written content.
This proves invaluable in lectures, meetings, or interviews where capturing every verbal detail is crucial. To use this feature, simply tap the microphone icon before beginning your note-taking session.
As you write, draw, or type, the app records audio and links it to the specific points in your notes. Later, when reviewing, tap any part of your written notes to hear the corresponding audio from that exact moment—perfect for clarifying confusing concepts or filling in details you missed.
This feature transforms how you approach complicated material, as you can focus on capturing key concepts rather than frantically writing every word.
For language learners, recording native speakers while taking vocabulary notes creates an invaluable pronunciation reference.
Medical and law students particularly benefit from this feature, as it allows them to revisit complex explanations verbatim while studying.
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7. Take Advantage of the Search Function
As your collection of notes grows, finding specific information can become increasingly challenging.
Notability’s powerful search function helps you instantly locate exactly what you need across all your notebooks.
The search capability extends beyond typed text to include handwritten notes (thanks to handwriting recognition technology) and even text within PDF documents and images.
To use this feature effectively, tap the search icon and enter your keyword or phrase. Results will highlight all instances across your notes, allowing you to jump directly to relevant pages.
For maximum efficiency, develop a habit of using consistent terminology for important concepts and consider adding searchable tags or keywords at the beginning or end of notes on key topics.
This search functionality transforms your entire note library into an instantly accessible knowledge base.
Instead of flipping through digital pages, you can retrieve any piece of information in seconds, making review sessions and project research significantly more efficient.
8. Use Templates for Consistent Note Formatting
Creating notes with consistent formatting not only looks professional but saves substantial time on repetitive setup tasks.
Notability allows you to save and reuse custom templates for different purposes, ensuring each new note begins with your preferred paper style, margins, headings, and organizational structure.
To create a template, design a note with your desired formatting, then save it as a template through the appropriate menu option.
For maximum efficiency, consider developing specific templates for different contexts—perhaps one for meeting notes with sections for action items and decisions, another for lecture notes with space for questions and summaries, and a third for project planning with integrated task lists and timelines.
Some users even create daily journal templates with prompts for reflection or weekly planning templates with time blocks.
By starting each note with an appropriate template, you eliminate the need to recreate formatting and structure repeatedly, allowing you to focus immediately on content rather than setup.
9. Master the Lasso Tool for Content Reorganization
The lasso tool is perhaps the most versatile yet underutilized feature in Notability’s arsenal.
This powerful tool allows you to select, move, resize, and transform handwritten notes, drawings, and typed text with remarkable precision.
To use the lasso, select the tool and draw around the content you wish to manipulate. Once selected, you can drag content to new positions, adjust its size, copy it to other sections, or even convert handwritten math equations to typed format.
This flexibility proves invaluable when reorganizing notes after a session, creating more logical groupings, or emphasizing important information.
For example, you might lasso all related concepts scattered throughout your notes and consolidate them into a single coherent section, or select key points and enlarge them for emphasis during review.
The lasso tool also enables you to create cleaner, more organized notes by adjusting spacing and alignment after the initial note-taking phase.
By mastering this tool, you transform your notes from a chronological record into a logically structured document optimized for study and reference.
10. Create Hyperlinked Subject Indexes
For complex subjects or lengthy course notes, creating a hyperlinked index dramatically improves navigation efficiency. Start by creating a dedicated index page at the beginning of your notebook.
List all major topics, concepts, and sections you’ll cover. Then, use Notability’s hyperlink feature to connect each index entry to its corresponding page within your notes.
To create these links, select the text you want to link, choose the hyperlink option, and select the destination page. As you continue taking notes, regularly update your index with new topics.
This approach proves particularly valuable for semester-long classes, research projects, or any subject with interconnected concepts.
When studying, you can instantly jump to specific topics rather than scrolling through hundreds of pages. More advanced users can create bidirectional links, adding return links from each section back to the index.
Some users extend this concept by creating concept maps with multiple interconnected topics, essentially building a personal wiki within their notebooks.
This systematic organization transforms linear notes into an interactive knowledge network, significantly reducing the time needed to review and synthesize information.
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Conclusion
From utilizing cloud backups and audio recordings to creating hyperlinked indexes and custom templates, you’ll not only save valuable time but also produce higher quality, better organized notes that serve you long after they’re created.
The true power of Notability emerges when you move beyond basic functionality to leverage these advanced features in combination, creating a personalized system that complements your unique learning or working style.
As with any productivity tool, the key lies in consistent application. Start by incorporating one or two of these techniques into your workflow, then gradually expand as they become second nature.
With practice, these time-saving strategies will become intuitive habits, allowing you to focus more energy on the content of your notes rather than the mechanics of taking them.
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