Before you begin
Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS or iPadOS, and your Mac to the latest macOS.
Text file formats that you can import
Mar 24, 2019 When looking at the best note-taking app for the Mac, the factors that are important for me are: ability to organize in folders/tags, speed of search, and ease of adding new notes.
On your Mac, you can import many different types of text files into Notes. When you import files, each text file is converted to a new note.
Notes can import the following file types:
- .txt
- .rtf
- .rtfd
- .html
Importing from Evernote
On your Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you can import Evernote Export files (.enex files). Each .enex file can include one or many notes. When you import an .enex file, each note from Evernote is converted to a new note in Notes.
If your files have an attachment or feature in Evernote notes that the Notes app doesn't support, it's removed during the import.
Import notes on your Mac
When you import text files or .enex files, you can add them to your iCloud notes account or your On My Mac account. If you store them in iCloud, you can automatically see all of your notes on any device where you’re signed in with your Apple ID.
- Open your Notes app.
- From the Notes sidebar, choose to store your notes in iCloud or On My Mac by clicking a folder in the account that you want to use.
- From the menu bar, choose File > Import to Notes.
- Select the file or folder that you want to import. If the notes that you're importing are organized in folders, make sure that 'Preserve folder structure on import' is selected. If you don't see this setting, click Options in the lower-left corner.
- Click Import. When you see a confirmation message, click Import again.
After your files import, you'll see a new folder in the Notes app called Imported Notes. Then you can organize them into any Notes folder that you want.
Import notes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
You can import Evernote Export files (.enex files) to Notes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Each .enex file can include one or many notes.
When you import an .enex file, each note from Evernote will be converted to a new note in Notes. Before you import to your Notes app, send yourself the .enex file via email or save it to iCloud Drive from your computer.
Use Mail
- Open your Mail and tap the email with the file that you want to import to Notes.
- Touch and hold the file, tap Share, then tap Notes.
- After your file downloads, you'll see a confirmation message. Tap Import Notes.
Use the Files app
- Open the Files app and go to the file that you want to import to Notes.
- Touch and hold the file, tap Share, then tap Notes.
- After your file downloads, you'll see a confirmation message. Tap Import Notes.
When you open the Notes app and select your iCloud notes, you'll see a new folder called Imported Notes. If you're not using Notes with iCloud, you see the new folder in the On My Device notes.
If you don't use iCloud and you don't have On My Device available, you get an alert when you tap Add to Notes.
Learn more
- Use Notes on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
- Keep your notes secure with password-protection.
Notes is a versatile way to save information, from a quick thought to a shopping list. You can also keep those notes secure, locking the ones you select behind a password so that only you can see them. And thanks to iCloud and other services, you can keep your notes in sync between your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Here's how to use Notes for Mac!
How to start a new note
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Finder.
- Click the New Note button (looks like a pencil on a square). Alternatively, click File in the menu bar at the top of your screen and select New Note.
- Write your note.
How to make a checklist
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Finder.
- Click the New Note button (looks like a pencil on a square). Alternatively, click File in the menu bar and select New Note.
- Click the checklist button (looks like a checkmark in a circle).
- Enter your first item.
- Hit Return on your keyboard to automatically begin a new checklist item.
How to make a bulleted, dashed, or numbered list and headings
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Finder.
- Click the New Note button (looks like a pencil on a square). Alternatively, click File in the menu bar at the top of your screen and select New Note.
- Click Format in the menu bar.
- Click Heading to turn your next line in the note into a heading.
- Click Bulleted List, Dashed List, or Numbered List to choose which of the list types you'd like to create.
- Hit Return while on a blank list item to stop writing in a list.
How to view note attachments
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Finder.
- Click the Attachments button in the toolbar (looks like four squares).
- Click on the different tabs, like Photos & Videos, Sketches, and Audio to view your attachments.
How to set a password for locked notes
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Finder.
- Click Notes in the menu bar at the top of your screen and select Preferences.
- Click Set Password.
- Enter a new password.
- Enter your new password again under Verify.
- Optionally, leave a password hint for yourself.
- Click Set Password.
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How to lock a note
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Finder.
- Click on the Note you want to lock.
- Click the Lock icon in the toolbar (looks like a padlock).
How to sign in to iCloud
- Launch System Preferences from the Dock or by clicking the menu button on the top left of your screen and clicking System Preferences.
- Click iCloud.
- Sign in with your iCloud credentials.
- Make sure that the checkbox next to Notes is checked in the iCloud menu after you've signed in.
And don't forget to follow the steps here to sign into iCloud on your iPhone or iPad so that your notes sync across all of your devices.
How to invite others to collaborate on a note
In order to collaborate on a note, the people that you invited need to be using a Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
- Launch Notes from your Dock or the Finder.
- Click the Add People button in the toolbar (looks like a silhouette with a '+' button).
- Click a sharing method (Mail, Message, a link, etc.).
- Enter the email address or phone number of the person or people you'd like to share the note with.
- Click Share.
How to send a note to another person or app
- Launch Notes from your Dock or the Finder.
- Click on the note you want to share.
- Click the share button on the toolbar (looks like a square with an arrow pointing out of it).
- Click the app you'd like to use to share your note.
Notes in macOS Catalina
There aren't a lot of updates coming to Notes in macOS Catalina. Most of them are small interface tweaks (the attachment button, for instance, now resembles an object with a paper clip attached to it). But there are a couple of new ways of doing things.
How to sync notes to iCloud in macOS Catalina
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- Launch System Preferences from the Dock or by clicking the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen and clicking System Preferences.
- Click Apple Account.
- Sign in to your iCloud account if you need to.
- Click iCloud.
- Click the checkbox next to Notes if it's unchecked. If the box is already checked, leave it alone because you're good to go.
How to invite others to collaborate on a note or folder in macOS Catalina
In macOS Catalina, not only can you invite people to collaborate on notes, but you can also invite them to collaborate on entire folders within the Notes app.
- Launch Notes from your Dock or Applications folder.
- Open the Note to which you'd like to add people.
- Click the Add People button in the toolbar (looks like a silhouette with a '+' button).
- Click either Note '[note name] or Folder '[folder name] to share the note or folder.
- Click a sharing method (Mail, Message, a link, etc.).
- Click the permission drop-down to decide what people you invite can do with the note, either read or make changes.
- Click Share.
- Enter the email address, or phone number of the person with whom you wish to share the note or folder.
- Click Send.
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How to view notes in a gallery
macOS Catalina adds a gallery view to Notes, which lets you view your notes in a more visually dynamic fashion.
- Launch Notes from your Dock or your Applications folder.
- Open the folder you'd like to set to Gallery view.
- Click the gallery button in the top-left of the toolbar.
- Click the list button to change the folder back to a list view.
How to reorder checklist notes in macOS Catalina
- Launch Notes from your Dock or your Applications folder.
- Open the checklist you want to re-order.
- Click and hold on the checkbox of a checklist item that you want to move.
- Drag the checklist item to its new position. Repeat as many times as necessary until the list is ordered to your liking.' />
Questions?
Let us know in the comments below!
Updated June 2019: Added information about notes in macOS Catalina.
macOS Catalina
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