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Improved Collaboration

What’s New with Collaboration?

  • Turbo Syncing for Shared Docs
    • Shared documents now sync changes noticeably faster than before. This means near real-time updates when collaborating!
  • Real-Time Collaboration
    • When you and others are working on the same shared document, you’ll see their pen strokes, laser pointers, and lasso selections moving around instantly—just as if you were all in the same room. For details, see Real-time collaboration in shared documents.
  • Private Document Sharing
    • You can now share your docs securely and privately, choosing exactly who can access them. You can now collaborate with up to 50 people at once—perfect for teams, classes, or group projects.

Turbo Syncing & Real-Time Collaboration

  • No special switch needed!
    • Turbo syncing and real-time collaboration kick in automatically when you share the document with another tester and start working together.
  • Group testing:
    1. Make sure both you and your collaborator are using the latest Goodnotes version.
    2. Open the same shared document.
    3. Each try drawing on the same page —notice how quickly changes sync to everyone’s view! Also, you’ll see edits live, including pen, laser, and lasso actions.

What if I lose connection and work offline?

Basic editing works offline on all devices. AI features and real-time collaboration require an internet connection. When you come back online, your document changes will be synced and you can use AI features and collaboration again.

Private Document Sharing

This feature ensures that only those you invite can access your shared documents.

Share and Accept a Document Privately

  1. Open the document you want to share > Share & Export.
  2. Turn off Shareable Link, since you want to restrict access to invited users only.
  3. Under Invite Collaborators, enter a valid email address of each collaborator and choose Invite to send them an invitation to work on the document.
  4. The invitees visit their respective one-time link that was sent to their email address. They will be taken to the Goodnotes app.
  5. The invitees log in to Goodnotes to access the shared document.

Tip: All documents that you share or that others share with you can be found in the Shared tab in the Library View.

Manage Access

As a document owner, you can see who has access to your shared documents and manage the access:

  1. Open a document that you’re sharing.
  2. Under the People with Access section, choose the dropdown list next to a collaborator.
  3. Choose a desired access permission or action for the collaborator.

Leave a Shared Document

As a collaborator, you can leave a shared document:

  1. Open the shared document you want to leave.
  2. Open the Share & Export menu > Leave Shared Document.

Once you leave, you'll no longer have access to the document unless you're re-invited by the owner.