When launching the app for the first time, you’ll be greeted with a Welcome page. To start using the app, you will need a Microsoft account. Here’s how to sign in to and out of GoodNotes for Windows.

Sign in

1. Choose Sign in with Microsoft.
2. Enter the login details of your Microsoft account. If successful, you’ll be shown your GoodNotes library.

Sign out

1. Tap your avatar in or near the top-right corner.

   

   The avatar in the library view

   

   The avatar in the document view

2. Choose Sign out. You’ll be taken back to the Welcome page.

 

Get to know the main interface

GoodNotes has a clean and intuitive interface to help you take notes as efficiently as possible. Familiarize yourself with the following interface elements before embarking on your GoodNotes journey.

 

The Library View

The Library is home to your valuable notes. It's what you see after launching the app and logging into your Microsoft account. Initially, the library is empty, but as you work with GoodNotes, you'll see all your creations here.

 

 

The Document View

The Document View refers to the view where you take notes, using several editing tools at your disposal. It's what you see when you tap to open a document from the Library View.

 

The Nav Bar

The Nav Bar houses buttons that help you perform common tasks on the current page/document.

• Library View takes you back to the library, where you can see your documents.
• Thumbnail View lets you manage the pages of the current document.
• Document Details shows details of the current document.
• Edit Mode enables editing the document.
• More lists additional tasks you can do.
• Your Account allows access to your account details, including signing out.
• Zoom Controls allow you to zoom in/out or to fit the document to the screen height.

The Toolbar

The Toolbar contains a variety of editing tools to help you take good notes.

• Undo and Redo make it easy to rectify mistakes.
• Pen, Eraser, Highlighter, and Lasso Tools let you draw, erase, highlight, select notes, respectively.
• Contextual Section shows the relevant properties of the selected tool.

Create your first notebook

You're invited to learn to use the app by playing with it right away. Simply follow these steps.

Step 1: Create a new notebook

1. Launch the app and choose the New Notebook button:

   

2. Customize your notebook:

   

   1. Set the paper size: Select a size from the dropdown list.

   2. Set the layout: Select either icon:

      • Portrait: The page will be vertical.
      • Landscape: The page will be horizontal.

   3. Set the cover: Select a cover from the scrollable list underneath.

   4. Set the paper template: Choose Paper underneath Cover in the left panel and similarly select a paper template from the scrollable list underneath.

      Note: These properties will be saved as defaults for the next notebook you create.

3. Name your notebook in the Title field and choose Create Notebook.

Congratulations! You've just created your first notebook!

Step 2: Take notes!

Enable Edit Mode

By default, a document is opened for viewing. To start editing it, however, you’ll need to enter Edit Mode by tapping the Edit Mode icon near the top-right corner on the Nav Bar:

Use the note-taking tools

Although GoodNotes ships with a variety of tools to suit the user's diverse note-taking needs, you actually need to know just one handy tool or two for your simple notes. For more details about these tools, please check out the corresponding articles linked to the tool names below.

The Pen Tool: Select it and write on the page with your finger/mouse or Surface Pen (recommended) just as you would with a pen on paper.

• Set the color and thickness: Choose a slot in the contextual section on the right.
• Customize the selected color: Tap the slot again.

The Highlighter Tool: Use it to highlight noteworthy details in your notes.

The Eraser Tool: Use it to erase handwriting and highlighting.

• Set the erasing circle: Choose a slot in the contextual section on the right.

The Lasso Tool: Use this tool to draw a loop around some content to select it for moving, copying, deleting, and so on.

Add a new page

1. Open the Sidebar and scroll to the bottom.

2. Tap the Add page button:

   

💡 Alternatively, you can insert a page at a precise location in the notebook by tapping the … icon under the thumbnail of an existing page and choosing Add Page Before or Add Page After as appropriate.

 

Zoom, Pan, Scroll

For precise notes, it's often helpful to get a closer look of the minute details on the page.

Zoom in

• Spread two fingers on the page, or use the + button of the Zoom Controls in the top-right corner.

Zoom out

• Pinch two fingers on the page, or use the - button of the Zoom Controls in the top-right corner.

Pan a zoomed-in page

• Drag on the page in any direction with one finger in Read-only Mode or two in Edit Mode.

Scroll through pages

• Swipe up or down with one finger in Read-only Mode or two in Edit Mode.

  💡 For large documents, you can drag the scrollbar that stays along the right edge up or down to quickly scroll through pages.

Jump to a page

• Tap the Document Details icon (the down arrow next to the notebook title) > Go to Page, then type a page number to jump to: