Recent updates refined note search, expanded handwriting tools with expressive pens like the Reed pen, and made Notes more accessible by bringing it to the Apple Watch. AI-powered features introduced with Apple Intelligence continue to enhance how users write, edit, and manage content - offering summaries, rewrites, voice transcription, and visual creation tools on supported devices.
Here are 10 Apple Notes features in 2026 that can help you work faster and stay organized.
1. Capture Ideas Instantly With Quick Notes
When you need to write something down immediately, Quick Notes are the fastest option. Once enabled in Control Center, a simple swipe down from the top-right corner lets you start typing without opening the app. Your note saves automatically.
Quick Notes also work inside other apps. Whether you’re browsing a webpage, reading an article, or selecting text, the Share menu lets you save content directly to a note along with your own thoughts.
2. Protect Private Notes
For notes that contain sensitive information, Apple offers built-in security. You can lock individual notes using your device passcode, Face ID, Touch ID, or a custom password. Locked notes remain hidden until you authenticate, adding an extra layer of privacy.
3. Browse Notes in Gallery View
If you work with images, sketches, or scanned documents, Gallery View offers a more visual way to browse your notes. Instead of a text-heavy list, notes appear as thumbnail cards that preview images and key text, making it easier to find what you’re looking for.
4. Find Attachments Faster
Notes can store photos, PDFs, scans, and other files. Rather than searching note by note, you can view all attachments in one place. This feature is especially useful if you treat Notes as a document archive.
5. Keep Things Tidy With Subfolders
Notes supports nested folders, allowing you to create subfolders for projects, work categories, or personal topics. Simply drag one folder into another to keep related notes grouped together. Individual notes can also be moved between folders with ease.
6. Sort Notes to Match Your Workflow
Every folder in Notes can be sorted differently. You can organize notes by date edited, date created, or title, and choose whether they appear in ascending or descending order. This flexibility helps Notes adapt to how you actually work.
7. Collaborate With Shared Notes and Folders
Notes makes collaboration simple. You can share a single note or an entire folder with others and choose whether they can edit or just view the content. This is useful for shared to-do lists, travel planning, or team brainstorming.
8. Organize With Tags
Tags allow you to label notes using hashtags such as #ideas, #work, or #research. Once tags are in use, Notes creates a dedicated Tags section where you can instantly filter notes by topic. Tags can also be applied to multiple notes at once.
9. Automate Organization With Smart Folders
Smart folders automatically gather notes that match specific rules, like containing a certain tag. Once created, these folders update on their own as you add new notes, reducing the need for manual organization.
10. Share Notes With Other Apps
When you need to move content elsewhere, Notes lets you send a copy of any note to another app - such as cloud storage, email, or messaging platforms. The shared copy remains separate, so your original note stays unchanged.
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