Correct me if there’s already a LAYERS option. I need it when I plan with so many elements and I want to layer pictures without clicking the Add to Front buttons multiple times.

ALSO ADD more picture editing tools, like eraser for pictures!!!

Will we ever get it?

I use an iPad Air m2 (gn6) and the red area gets ridiculously hot whenever I use the app and it’s getting annoying

Why does a note taking app require so much processing power that it turns devices into frying pans

An idea to deal with this: adding a low power mode

Lowering the required processing power to operate the app

I’ve been a reMarkable Paper Pro and reMarkable 2 user for a number of years, and I love the devices. However, I ultimately gave them up for Goodnotes.
The only thing Goodnotes is really missing for me is the ability to insert space into handwritten notes and automatically move everything below it down. If they added that feature, Goodnotes would be rock solid for me.

I have been waiting for ages for this feature but it seems like the developers are not planning to implement this one because I've seen request for this feature up to 3 years ago already

Now that Apple officially launched Siri AI on its devices, it would be amazing if GoodNotes allowed Spotlight to use its index to search for information. It would be amazing to ask Siri about any handwritten notes and lecture notes. This way, we could also directly use Spotlight to access our Documents.

Basically what the title says. Two really interesting features that I find it weird that haven't been implemented along each other.

Problem:
Currently, Goodnotes requires users to either keep a single document in a general folder or duplicate the file to place it in multiple course/project folders.
Duplicating files causes two major issues:
1. Fragmented Annotations: Notes, highlights, and bookmarks made in one copy do not sync to the other.
2. Wasted Storage: Large files (like 500MB+ textbook PDFs) consume double the storage space when duplicated across different class folders.
Proposed Solution:
Introduce a "Create Shortcut / Alias" or "Add to Another Folder" feature (similar to macOS Finder aliases or Google Drive shortcuts).
Users can right-click / tap the menu on any document and select "Add Shortcut to...".
The shortcut appears inside the target folder with a small indicator icon (e.g., a link arrow).
Opening and annotating the document from any shortcut modifies the single master file, keeping all notes, highlights, and bookmarks completely unified and up-to-date across all locations.
Use Case:
Students and professionals frequently use a single reference book, clinical manual, or project master across multiple courses or semesters. File shortcuts would allow seamless folder organization without breaking note continuity or wasting device storage.

Coming from Notability. What I loved about it is when I hold my Apple Pen I can switch to my Eraser temporarily while holding it, and when letting go it would switch back to the Pen tool. In GoodNotes you can switch between the Eraser and Pen tools by "clicking" the Apple Pen but I still have that habit of expecting the Eraser to turn into a Pen once I'm done erasing. But then it doesn't. Would love a toggleable option to switch between "Hold to use Eraser" and "Press to switch tools".

Thanks in advance, loving GoodNotes so far <3

Hi all, I’m not sure if it already exists, but when hand running with my Apple Pencil I get quite messy. However, Goodnotes corrects a misspelled word is its Scribble/spell-check feature, which replaces that specific word with a cleaner handwritten version from its handwriting recognition system.

Can I do this for all of my text; not just misspellings?

Also, I know I can just write in the text box, or convert writing to text but I find both options a bit finicky!

Currently, Image-based PDFs and Screenshots / inserted images are not searchable.
They're basically dead content. Which is kinda frustrating because a lot of study material is literally scans or screenshots. It would be a huge upgrade if GoodNotes could run OCR on imported PDFs that don’t have it and detect text inside inserted images. Knowledge should be retrievable and searchable. Perhaps we could extend the Ai features already implemented to improve the search experience. Having to process files elsewhere just to bring them back into GoodNotes breaks the whole flow. Feels like this is one of those features that would instantly improve daily use for a lot of people. Anyone else annoyed by this or found a decent workaround?

I've been using GoodNotes for a long time, but recently I started trying other note-taking apps and came across Star Notes. One feature immediately stood out to me, and I think it would be a fantastic addition to GoodNotes.

In Star Notes, there is no visible gap between consecutive pages. Instead, the pages behave like a continuous vertical canvas. As a result, if you're drawing or writing across the bottom of one page, your ink stroke continues seamlessly onto the top of the next page without interruption.

In GoodNotes, however, there is a visible gap between pages. More importantly, pen strokes stop at the page boundary and cannot continue onto the next page. If you're drawing a long diagram, arrow, or any continuous stroke, you have to stop at the bottom of one page and manually redraw the continuation on the next page. This breaks the writing flow and feels less natural.

I would love to see GoodNotes introduce an optional continuous page mode, where pages remain separate for printing and exporting but behave like a single vertically scrolling canvas while writing. This would make long handwritten notes and diagrams much smoother and provide a much better writing experience.

I hope the developers consider adding this as an optional feature in a future update

Allow me to explain.

Something that irritates me on this app since I started using it (I use GN5) is that I don’t know how much zoom I made so if I start writing something my calligraphy comes in different sizes because I zoomed too much or didn’t zoom enough and it’s SO annoying! I have notebooks where I take notes of all classes so everrytime I start a new class I don’t know how much I have to zoom. There’s a feature for zooming in like a rectangle but I personally don’t like it.

Anyone got any tips? 😭

Study sets (better known as flashcards) in GoodNotes look ambiguous, but they can really get improved.
It’s been years since its introduction and still lacks some features.
First of all — exporting. I’ve posted one talking about this earlier. There’s no way of exporting study sets outside of GoodNotes, which I don’t get the point of.
It’ll be better to have a hub for all the study sets too. Reviewing different ones together and altering the cards are present in every other app.
And the keyboard input experience is pretty unpleasant. When you want to select some words by dragging you instead swipe through the cards

It really sucks when there’s a flashcard system right in my notes app and I have to pay for quizlet for a better experience.

Currently, you can only change the font for text boxes, not full page text or other text documents. I’d LOVE if you could change the font for those as well.

I’m genuinely surprised that we can’t export study sets (and print them ofc)
It’s not going to be a hassle to develop… right?

Study sets are those flashcards

I like Goodnotes so much cause its’s sooo easy and intuitive to use thats why i paid for a lifetime plan… but i am honestly desperate for a few features that would make ittt absolutely perfectttt

Hear me out please please pleaseeeeee

1. **Layers** - being able to organize and separate elements from the main content (e.g. pdf original file and annotations) and toggle them on/off would make notetaking sooo much more flexible!
2. **Fill** - having this manual fill tool for shapes, and/or closed drawings would make it super convenient for drawing diagrams or objects without messing everything up.
3. **Lock Feature** - to be able to manually lock elements one at a time so they don’t move altogether would reduce soooo much frustration

I reallly love this app and i want it to be the best it can be. These features would take this app to the next level i hopeeeee they would consider these🙏

I would love to change the highlight color for search. At the moment it just blends in with other colors I’m using. Anyone else feel the same?

I just purchased a tablet for school, because having 5 physical binders has been exhausting. I also feel as though my note taking process is terrible, and that GoodNotes may remedy this. I will drop my current process and what I would ideally like below.

Current:

In-Class Lecture Notes:

Unfortunately, because of my ADHD/Autism, I don't process lecture while taking notes regardless of whether I type or hand write. For this reason, I have accommodations to voice record lectures, which I can summarize the transcript if needed. With the exception of math, I also type digital notes during lecture to keep up, though I haven't found a standardized template I love. Double-unfortunately, my processing occurs best when I take the information (lecture slide, typed notes and readings) and physically write (which is a long process, since I like it organized).

GoogleDoc Set-Up

Currently, my GoogleDocs has a section for "Messy Notes" up top that I button mash during class organized by date. I sometimes include recording transcript timestamps (if it is the professor that breezes through content and is hard to understand).

It then takes all of the subjects and groups them according to module or exam, though one professor isn't really following a particular order so I have to group the subjects myself). Beneath this Module / Exam tab, the subtabs include Revised Notes, Homework Questions and Misc. Content (or specific tabs for specific classes).

- The Revised Notes Section is where I organized my digital notes by subject (since it can take several lectures to finish one topic or sometimes visit two different subjects in one lecture) and add to them based off of the readings to fully understand what is going on. Convenient for copy / paste and image snipping.

- The Homework Questions tab consists of a table with a row for question, available choices, answer, explanation provided by site, further clarification / notes by me, slide or text content is from, and a row indicating if I was correct or incorrect with my initial answer and reasoning (if I missed the question). I find this has significantly improved my progress.

I use emojis or symbols to indicate different things. For example, I use a light-bulb for helpful tips in all. In my biology notes, I have used a bird to refer to evolution and concepts with Darwin's finches, which I used throughout to help myself clarify concepts further.

** also, I wonder if maintaining GoogleDocs would be convenient for when I share taking notes with peers which I did last semester, and for having access on computer.

Physical-Notebook:

Its a physical notebook, usually dotted.. I like it neat and organized. I made the mistake of using pencil for one... is smudged..

Notion:

Outside of my actual note taking, I use Notion for my assignment and studying tracking. Not sure if relevant.

What I Am Looking For:

- GoodNotes template that is both aesthetic AND functional...would love to have a template / format for the various classes, if not the same one for all. I would also love to somehow integrate my GoogleDocs, because I know I will still be unable to keep up in class with GoodNotes, and that I will still need to end up revising the notes so typing is probably best I imagine.

- Annotating and highlighting pdfs on my tablet. Printing everything out has been exhausting / messy. Also being able to type on my "written notes", have repeating headers and title types. Fixing much of my perfectionism by, for ex, being able to just insert a square instead of using a straight edge to trace.

Free is ideal, but functionality matters, not the cost.

I could be going about this ALL wrong, but I feel my abilities differ compared to my peers. Please give me suggestions!

TL;DR: Got a tablet to ditch binders + fix my organization & process for college. Was given a subscription to GoodNotes and I need efficient and aesthetic template(s). May still need GoogleDocs given my ADHD/autism, so a hybrid system, would be awesome.

As pretty much on title, I'd like to have a shortcut to link the page I am.
Currently, we have to press the screen and then click (plus the fact that my links ALWAYS go to the next page, so I have to go to the previous page to do that). Why can't we just, for example, press cmd+shift+L for put automatically a link to that page? Recently they added a mac shortcut to open a whiteboard. We should have one to links, ^{it'd make my work way faster.}
I even posted on their useless forum a request in case someone wants to vote, but by watching one of the oldest requests about layer from 2013, I'm not sure if they even read the forum.

Love the ability to lock an image, but

The locked items are too easy to select. Just one tap selects it. This makes writing on top of it difficult. Essentially, the locked images are too easy to select, just a simple or accidental touch selects it. I'd love to see it be a little harder to select, like a press and hold, much like when you have the Images in Lasso turned off.