GoodNotes lets you search for your notes, simply enable "Searching Indexing" under "Settings". Here is what is being indexed, and therefore can be found:
- handwritten notes (full version only. See GoodNotes In-App Purchase FAQ)
- typed text
- text in PDF documents*
- text in documents you scanned using the GoodNotes scanner feature (requires iPadOS or iOS 13)
- document titles
- folder names
*only PDFs that include an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) layer are searchable. Not all PDFs support that and GoodNotes doesn't perform OCR on imported PDFs subsequently. Usually, PDFs that are created digitally, for example in Word or PowerPoint, include an OCR layer. Some scanners also perform OCR on paper documents.
There are two ways how to search for your notes.
1. Search from Search Tab across all notes
To search across all notes, open the Search tab in the library and type in keywords in the search field. Tapping on a result will take you to the desired spot.
2. Searching in an open document
You can search for keywords in a particular document. Open that document and tap on the magnifying glass in the upper left of the nav bar. Type in your keyword. Tapping on the result will take you to the desired spot.
Setting the right default language
Make sure to set the correct language for searching and converting your notes. This can be done in the user menu under Settings > Handwriting Recognition.