Starting with digital note-taking can feel exciting… and honestly, a little overwhelming too. You open Goodnotes for the first time, see dozens of tools, folders, pen settings, templates, and suddenly you wonder if everyone else magically knows how to make aesthetic notes except you.

A friendly, no-stress guide to start using GoodNotes. If you’re new to Goodnotes and feeling a little overwhelmed, you’re not alone. GoodNotes is an incredibly powerful note-taking and planning app, but when you open it for the first time, all the tools, menus, and options can feel confusing. The good news? Once you understand the basics, Goodnotes becomes one of the easiest and most satisfying apps to use for digital planning, note-taking, journaling, and studying.

In this complete beginner walk-through, we’ll guide you step by step through everything you need to know to get started with GoodNotes, from setting up your first notebook to understanding the difference between Goodnotes Essential and Goodnotes Pro, and how the app works across iOS, Android, and Windows.

Whether you’re using an iPad, tablet, or computer, this guide will help you feel confident using GoodNotes from day one.

If you’ve just downloaded Goodnotes and feel a little overwhelmed, take a deep breath — you’re not doing anything wrong. GoodNotes is a very powerful app, but the goal is not to learn everything at once. The goal is to start simple and build your system little by little.

In this beginner-friendly walkthrough, you’ll learn how GoodNotes works, what each tool is for, and how to start taking notes without stress or confusion.

GoodNotes works on iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android, Windows, and the web, so you can access your notes wherever you are. It’s especially popular on iPad when used with the Apple Pencil, because it feels just like writing on paper — but better.

Whether you’re a student, a professional, or someone who loves digital planners and handwritten notes, GoodNotes can help you stay organized and focused in a very natural way.

Videos explaining how the Goodnotes app works for beginners:

What is GoodNotes?

Goodnotes is a digital note-taking app designed to replicate the feeling of writing on paper, while giving you all the advantages of digital organization. You can write by hand, type, draw, highlight, import PDFs, use planners, and fully customize your notes.

GoodNotes is widely used for:

• Digital planning and digital planners
• Handwritten notes and study notes
• Bullet journaling
• Digital journals and diaries
• Annotating PDFs and documents

Originally available only on Apple devices, Goodnotes is now also available on Android and Windows, making it more accessible than ever.

Goodnotes plans explained (simple version)

GoodNotes now offers different plans, so you can choose what fits you best.

• Free version: includes 3 free notebooks, perfect for beginners.
• GoodNotes Essential: unlimited notebooks, core tools, handwriting, PDF annotation, and whiteboards.
• GoodNotes Pro: everything in Essential, plus AI tools, collaboration, and cross-platform syncing.

You can start free and upgrade only if you really need it. No pressure.

1. Getting Started with Goodnotes

Downloading and opening the app

1. Open the App Store, Google Play, or Microsoft Store
2. Search for GoodNotes
3. Download and install the app
4. Open it and you’re ready to go

You can create an account to sync your notes across devices, or skip this step and use GoodNotes locally. Both options work fine.

Navigating the Interface

• Home Screen: The home screen of GoodNotes 6 displays your notebooks and documents. You’ll see options for creating new notebooks, folders, or importing documents.
• Toolbar: At the top of the screen, you’ll find the toolbar with options like “Search,” “Favorites,” and “Settings.”
• Notebooks and Folders: Organize your notes by creating notebooks and folders. You can create a new folder by tapping on the “+” icon and selecting “Folder.”

2. Creating and organizing notebooks

Creating a new notebook

• Tap on the “+” Icon: On the home screen, tap the “+” icon and select “Notebook.”
• Choose a Cover and Template: GoodNotes 6 offers a variety of covers and templates (e.g., lined paper, graph paper, dotted paper). Choose the one that suits your needs.
• Name Your Notebook: After selecting the cover and template, name your notebook and tap “Create.”

Organizing notebooks into folders

• Create a Folder: Tap the “+” icon and select “Folder.” Name the folder and tap “Create.”
• Move Notebooks: To move a notebook into a folder, tap “Edit” on the home screen, select the notebook(s) you want to move, tap “Move,” and choose the destination folder.

3. Writing and annotating notes

Using the pen tool

• Select the Pen Tool: Tap the pen icon on the toolbar to start writing.
• Choose Pen Options: GoodNotes 6 offers different pen types (fountain, ballpoint, brush) and colors. Tap the pen icon again to adjust these settings.
• Writing Notes: Use your Apple Pencil to write on the screen just as you would on paper. You can adjust the thickness and color of the pen as needed.

Using the highlighter tool

• Select the Highlighter: Tap the highlighter icon on the toolbar.
• Highlight Text: Choose your desired color and thickness, then swipe over the text you want to highlight.

Using the eraser tool

• Select the Eraser: Tap the eraser icon on the toolbar.
• Erase Content: Swipe over the content you want to erase. You can adjust the eraser size or choose to erase entire strokes.

Adding shapes and text boxes

• Shapes Tool: Tap the shapes icon to draw perfect circles, squares, lines, etc. GoodNotes 6 will automatically recognize and straighten your shapes.
• Text Tool: Tap the text icon to create a text box. You can type using the on-screen keyboard or an external keyboard.

4. Importing and annotating documents

Importing PDFs and images

• Import Files: Tap the “+” icon and select “Import Document” to bring in PDFs, images, or other file types from your device, cloud storage, or other apps.
• Organize Imported Files: Once imported, files can be organized into notebooks or folders.

Annotating PDFs

• Pen and Highlighter: Use the pen and highlighter tools to mark up your PDF just as you would with notes.
• Text and Shapes: Add text boxes and shapes to your PDFs for additional annotations.
• Sticky Notes: Tap the sticky note icon to add a note to your document. These can be moved around and edited as needed.

5. Using the search and OCR features

Search your notes

• Universal Search: Tap the search icon on the toolbar. GoodNotes 6 can search through your handwritten notes, typed text, and even text within PDFs.
• Search Within a Notebook: Open a notebook, tap the search icon, and enter your query. The app will highlight all matching results.

Optical character recognition (OCR)

• Handwriting to Text: GoodNotes 6 includes OCR functionality that can convert your handwritten notes into typed text. To use this, tap and hold on a handwritten note, then select “Convert” to change it to text.
• Copy and Paste Converted Text: After converting your handwriting, you can copy and paste the text into other apps or documents.

6. Organizing and sharing notes

Organizing notes

• Move Pages: Tap the “Thumbnail” icon to view all pages in a notebook. You can drag and drop pages to reorder them.
• Duplicate or Delete Pages: From the thumbnail view, tap “Edit,” select the pages you want to duplicate or delete, and choose the appropriate option.

Sharing notes

• Export as PDF or Image: Tap the export icon, select the format (PDF, image), and choose the pages you want to export.
• Share via Email or Apps: Once exported, you can share your notes via email, cloud storage, or other apps directly from GoodNotes 6.

7. Backup and syncing

iCloud Sync

• Enable iCloud Sync: Go to Settings > iCloud, and enable syncing to keep your notes backed up and accessible across all your Apple devices.

Manual backups

• Export Backups: Regularly export your notebooks as PDFs or GoodNotes files to ensure you have a backup outside of iCloud.

8. Customizing your Goodnotes experience

Change themes and settings

• Dark Mode: Enable dark mode through the app settings for a darker interface that’s easier on the eyes in low light.
• Customize Toolbar: You can customize the toolbar by adding or rearranging tools to suit your workflow.

Gestures and shortcuts

• Two-Finger Scroll: Use two fingers to scroll through pages without switching tools.
• Double-Tap: If you have an Apple Pencil (2nd generation), double-tap on the pencil to switch between the current tool and the eraser.

9. Advanced features

Linking and bookmarking pages

• Add Links: GoodNotes 6 allows you to create links within your notes to other pages or documents. Tap and hold on text, select “Add Link,” and choose the destination.
• Bookmarks: Add bookmarks to important pages by tapping the bookmark icon. This makes it easy to navigate large notebooks.

Using templates

• Custom Templates: Import or create custom templates that you can use across multiple notebooks. This is useful for consistency in layouts or forms.

10. Getting help and support

In-App Help

• Help Center: Access the in-app help center by going to Settings > Help. Here you’ll find tutorials, FAQs, and tips for using GoodNotes 6.

In the Goodnotes 6 app we can both make notes directly, plan a digital planner and use all the tools and functions that this iPad notes app has.

Now let’s review each of the tools that we will find in the main menu of the app.

–Laser pointer: Great for pointing out things if you’re presenting.

–Text box: Where you can add, format, and edit text (including fonts, size, allignment, color, etc.)

–Image: Click on this to add images to your page, or to move images on your page.

–Elements: This tool will save you time! It allows you to save images/other elements into folders for easy access.

–Lasso: Select objects to move them or long press on objects you’ve lassoed to cut, copy, delete, resize, take screenshots, or add as an element.

–Shape: Use this tool to automatically create perfect shapes.

–Highlight: Use it to highlight with your choice of color or pen thickness.

–Eraser: Erase with the eraser size of your choice.

–Pen: Write/draw with your choice of color/pen thickness.

–Undo: The backwards arrow above the grey toolbar, this allows you to do undo actions.

A very popular course for improving handwriting on iPad

If your goal is improving your digital handwriting specifically on tablet, one very popular option is the HardPeach Improve your Handwriting on Tablet course.

A lot of people assume neat handwriting is something you’re simply born with, but handwriting on iPad is actually a skill you can train. Courses like this focus on:

• letter consistency
• spacing
• pressure control
• writing posture
• Apple Pencil techniques
• exercises designed specifically for tablets

And honestly, practicing with guidance usually helps much faster than endlessly changing pen settings hoping your handwriting magically improves.

Final thoughts: Is Goodnotes worth It for beginners?

Absolutely. While Goodnotes may feel intimidating at first, it’s one of those apps that gets easier and more enjoyable the more you use it. Starting with GoodNotes Essential is a great way to learn the basics, and upgrading to Pro later feels natural once you understand the workflow.

With availability on iOS, Android, and Windows, GoodNotes is no longer limited to one ecosystem. It’s a flexible, powerful tool that grows with you—whether you’re planning your year, taking notes, or building a full digital journal.

Take your time, experiment with the tools, and most importantly, enjoy the process. Digital note-taking should feel fun, creative, and personal—and GoodNotes delivers exactly that.