How to Use Quick Notes on iPad in iPadOS 15

With iPadOS 15, Apple introduced a new productivity feature called Quick Notes to streamline the note-taking experience on the iPad. As its name implies, Quick Notes makes taking notes from anywhere quick and easy—quicker than creating notes from the lock screen—to save you the hassle of having to open the Notes app each time you need to make a note of something.

If you use the Notes app for all your note-taking needs, you may want to start using Quick Notes on your iPad right away. Here’s an in-depth guide on using Quick Notes on iPad in iPadOS 15 to get you started.

Quick Notes on iPadOS 15: What Does It Offer?

On iPadOS 15, Apple offers a bunch of different options for Quick Notes. For instance, you can write down notes using the Apple Pencil or the keyboard (software and hardware both), add website links to bookmark them for later, add links to apps you open simultaneously, and format the contents of your notes to your preference.

How to Create a Quick Note on iPad

Quick Notes works best with an Apple Pencil. It makes it easier to bring up the Quick Note window to the screen and lets you handwrite or draw notes in it. However, if you don’t have an Apple Pencil, you can still use the Quick Notes feature on your iPad for taking notes.

Here are four ways to create a Quick Note on an iPad running iPadOS 15:

Method 1. Create a Quick Note Using Apple Pencil

If you own an Apple Pencil or any other supported third-party stylus, swipe diagonally inward from the bottom right corner of the screen—from any app or Home Screen—to bring up the Quick Note window. Once the Quick Note window is open, you can use the Apple Pencil or the stylus to jot down your notes. Alternatively, you can also draw on this window if you wish to do so.

Besides, you can pinch in and out on the Quick Note window to change its size or drag it around to any part of the screen to prevent it from obscuring the screen’s content.

After you’ve finished writing the note, hit the Done button on the top-left corner of the window to save it. If you’d like to dock the Quick Note window, click-drag it to either the left or right edge of the screen and drop it there. Then, when you want to access it, hit the reveal bar to expand the window.

Method 2. Create a Quick Note Using Finger Gesture

For those who don’t own an Apple Pencil or a compatible stylus, you can perform the same gesture (swipe diagonally inward from the bottom-right hot corner of the screen) using your fingers to pull up the Quick Note window.

When the Quick Note window is up, you can tap anywhere on the note to bring up the keyboard and start entering your information. Or, you can hit the Markup icon at the bottom to get the drawing tools.

Related Read: 13 Best iPad Apps for Writers

Method 3. Create a Quick Note Using Keyboard Shortcut

Apple offers a bunch of keyboard shortcuts in iPadOS 15 to help you perform actions efficiently on your iPad. Creating a Quick Note also happens to have a dedicated keyboard shortcut that quickly brings up the window to help you jot down information instantly.

If you use one of the iPad keyboard cases or any other iPad-supported keyboards or any other supported external keyboard with the Globe key, you can simply hit the Globe+Q keyboard shortcut to get the Quick Note window. Once it pops up, you can then move it on the screen using your fingers/Apple pencil and feed in your information.

Method 4. Create a Quick Note Using Control Center

Control Center is home to various quick action toggles. On iPadOS 15, Apple has added Quick Notes to help you quickly launch the Quick Notes window for instant note-taking.

For this, you first need to add the Quick Note action to the Control Center. To do this, go to Settings > Control Center. Here, scroll down to the MORE CONTROLS section and hit the green (+) button beside Quick Note. Additionally, make sure the Access Within Apps option is enabled so you can access the Control Center controls from any app.

Now, whenever you want to create a Quick Note, bring up the Control Center by performing a swipe-down action from the top right corner of the screen. Then, hit the Quick Note button and feed your information in this window.

Hit Done to save the note.

How to View All Your Quick Notes on iPad

All Quick Notes you take on your iPad are saved inside a dedicated folder in the Notes app. To access them, you have two options.

If you have the Quick Note window open, you can hit the square quadrant icon on the top right hand of the screen to view all your Quick Notes. Or, if you want to view your Quick Notes later—after you’ve finished creating a Quick Note—open the Notes app and tap on the Quick Notes folder to view them.

Choose Default Action for Quick Notes

By default, the Quick Notes feature is set to resume the last Quick Note every time you pull up the Quick Note window. As a result, if you need to create a new Quick Note, you’ll have to hit the New Note icon on the top-right corner of the screen to do so.

Even though this can be useful at times, it isn’t ideal, as this would require you to click on the New Note button each time you want to create a new Quick Note. Thus, adding an extra step to your workflow.

To avoid this, the best you can do is disable this option. For this, open Settings and go to Notes. Here, toggle off the button next to Resume Last Quick Note under QUICK NOTES.

Now, every time you pull up the Quick Note window, it will take you to a new Quick Note window.

Other Quick Notes Actions You Can Perform

As we mentioned initially, in addition to jotting down notes or sketching, you can also format your note, share it directly with others, delete it, and save links to apps and websites in your Quick Note for later reference.

1. Formatting a Quick Note

Starting with the formatting options, you can perform pretty much all sorts of formatting on your Quick Note as you’d do with a regular note. This includes everything from creating lists, adding images, and creating tables to indenting text, adding headings, and stylizing text.

To do any of this, hit the Edit key on the Quick Note window to bring up the keyboard. Then, based on what formatting option you want, hit the appropriate action key on the keyboard to bring up its options.

When you’ve finished formatting the note, hit Done to save it.

2. Deleting and Sharing Quick Note

If you’d wish to delete a Quick Note you’ve just created, hit the ellipsis button on the top right corner of the screen and select Delete. This deleted note goes into the Recently Deleted folder, and you can recover it within 30 days of deletion.

At times you may want to share a Quick Note that you’ve just created instantly or save it to another app. To simplify this, Apple gives you the freedom to perform either operation right from the Quick Note window.

For this, simply hit the ellipsis button in the Quick Note window and select Share. Then, on the following screen, select the app through which you want to share the Quick Note or the action you want to use to save your Quick Note.

3. Adding a Link

Quick Notes is a great way to save links to apps or websites that you might need later. To save a link for an app, open the app (and the item you want to save) and bring up the Quick Note window. As soon as you do this, you’ll see an Add Link button followed by the link title for the app you want to save. Click on this button to save its link to your Quick Note.

Similarly, if you’re browsing a website on Safari, you can also bookmark it using Quick Note. For this, be sure you’ve opened the website in the normal browsing mode (and not the Private mode) and pull up the Quick Note window.

Here, you’ll see the link to the website you’ve just opened. Tap on it to save it.

Besides, if you want to save the link with some of the website text, select the text, tap on it, and hit Add to Quick Note.

It will then save your text, along with the website link in your note. Hit Done to save the Quick Note.

Afterward, you can simply click on the links in your Quick Note to access its content.

iPad Note-Taking Simplified With Quick Notes

Quick Notes is a handy productivity feature in iPadOS 15 that offers a quick and easy way to take notes on your iPad without having to jump back and forth into the Notes app.

If Notes is your default note-taking app of choice, this guide will help you master the Quick Notes feature so you can take notes from anywhere on your iPad effortlessly. And just like regular notes, you can perform all sorts of operations on your Quick Notes and access them on any of your devices (iPad, iPhone, or Mac) anytime.