Use Samsung Notes features and settings

S22 with Samsung Notes screen

Everyone relies on their phone and their personal notes. Well, you can get the best of both with the Samsung Notes app on the  phone. It lets you take notes on your phone whenever you want, and it also has some important features and settings that you should know about.

Create a note

You can start a new note in Samsung Notes whenever you need to. Images and files can be added to your note as well.

  1. Open the Samsung Notes app, and then tap Add (the pencil icon in the bottom right corner) to create a new note.

  2. Select your desired Page style by choosing Individual pages or Infinite scrolling page

  3. Tap Next, and then select a Layout and Scroll direction. Tap Done.

  4. Tap Title to enter a title for your note. Then, begin typing out your note using the keyboard. 

    Note: You can also write using the S Pen on compatible models.

  5. You can insert items or images, too. Tap Insert (the paper clip icon at the top), and then select your desired option. For this example, tap Image.

    Edit List Component on Galaxy phone
  6. You can select an image from Gallery, My Files, or a cloud option. For this example, tap Gallery, and then find the image you’d like to add to your note. Tap Done.

  7. The image will appear in your note; you can drag the edges of the image to resize it, or use one of the options in the pop-up menu above the image.

  8. Then, finish writing your note. Your note will automatically save when you tap Back!

Samsung Notes features and settings

If you’ve taken tons of notes on your phone, Samsung Notes may become messy. Don't worry, it has features that will make organizing your notes much easier.

For example, you can place your notes into different categories for simpler navigation. Or, you can search for notes with specific titles or subjects instead of sifting through all of your notes.

Here are some of the most helpful features in Samsung Notes:

A list of different notes displayed in Samsung Notes
  • Quick highlight: You can quickly highlight a section of text and select an action. With your S Pen, press and hold a word, and then drag your pen to highlight more text. A list of actions will appear: Cut, Copy, Paste, Dictionary, Show clipboard, and Share.

    Note: This feature is only available on the Note series.

  • Zoom in and out: Simply pinch the screen to zoom in or out.

    Note: The amount of Zoom that is supported will vary by device.

  • The search function: Use this feature to search for and find the exact note you need. Tap the Search icon, and then enter the words you want to search for.

  • Organize your notes: You can use several different features to organize your notes. Tap More options (the three vertical dots), and then tap Edit. Select your desired notes, and then choose your desired option. You can tap Move to place them in a different folder, tap Share to send them elsewhere, or tap Delete to remove them from your phone.

  • Lock your notes: If you want to keep some notes private (like your poetry collection), you can lock them. Open your desired note, tap More options (the three vertical dots), and then tap the Lock icon. Next, follow the on-screen prompts to create a password for your note.

    Note: If you want to change the password, navigate to Samsung Notes' settings, tap Note unlock methods, and then tap Change password. A Samsung account is required to lock notes.

  • Sort your notes: You have so many notes; you don't know what's what. To help you figure it out, you can sort them. From the Samsung Notes home screen, tap the Filter icon, and then choose your desired option, such as Date created. You can also change the overall layout of your notes. Tap More options (the three vertical dots), and then tap View to change the layout of how the notes are displayed.

    Note: You cannot automatically sort text within a note.

  • Action icons: This feature creates icons in your handwritten notes. Just tap the different icons to make calls, send emails, solve equations, and go to websites straight from icons. Tap Menu (the three horizontal lines) located at top left, tap the Settings icon, and then tap the switch next to Action icons.

Save your notes

Your notes will be automatically saved in Samsung Notes, but they can also be synchronized with your Samsung account. Or, back up your notes using the different file options available in Samsung Notes. You can also use Samsung Cloud to sync your notes across all of your other Galaxy devices.

  1. Open the Samsung Notes app, then tap Menu (the three horizontal lines), and then tap the Settings icon.

  2. Tap Sync with Samsung Cloud, and then allow the permissions.

    Sync with Samsung Cloud highlighted in the Samsung Notes app
  3. Tap Sync with Samsung Cloud again, and then tap switch at the top of the page to turn the feature on or off. You can also tap Sync using to choose whether syncing happens through Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi or mobile data.

  4. If you want to save your note as a different type of file, you have plenty of choices. You can save it as a PDF, Microsoft Word file, a PowerPoint file, an image, or a text file. Navigate to and open the note that you want to back up, and then tap More options (the three vertical dots). Next, tap Save as file, and then select your desired file format.

  5. Now that your notes are synchronized with your Samsung account, you can also make them available in Microsoft Office by syncing Samsung Notes with Microsoft OneNote!

Import or export data in Samsung Notes

Maybe you have notes saved in Google Drive that aren't showing up in Samsung Notes. No worries, you can easily import them to your phone, so they show up in the app.

To import data to Samsung Notes, open the app, then tap Menu (the three horizontal lines), and then tap the Settings icon. Tap Import notes. Tap the source you want to import from (i.e. Samsung account), and then follow the on-screen prompts.

You can also import and export PDFs in Samsung Notes! You won't be able to edit the PDFs, but you can draw on them or annotate them in the app.

List of options to Import notes in the Samsung Notes app

Update Samsung Notes

You should always make sure to keep Samsung Notes updated, in case any new note-taking features are added.

In the app, tap Menu (the three horizontal lines), and then tap the Settings icon. Tap About Samsung Notes, and then tap Update if an update is available.

You can enable automatic updates from the Galaxy Store and Google Play Store to keep Samsung Notes always up-to-date.

Samsung Notes version information in the Samsung Notes app

Manage note styles, templates, and folders

You should keep your notes in Samsung Notes nice and tidy, so you'll always be able to locate what you need. The app comes with several different ways to organize and style your notes. 

Place all your related notes in the same folder or give them the same template to keep them consistent.

Samsung Notes menu with a list of folders

Share your notes

Did you draw a cute picture or write down important meeting details in Samsung Notes? You can send it as different file types to yourself, a friend, or a coworker right from the app. For example, you can email the work notes as a Word doc or PDF!

  1. Open the Samsung Notes app, then select your desired note, and then tap More options (the three vertical dots).

  2. Tap the Share icon, and then choose your desired file type. You can choose between Samsung Notes file, PDF file, Microsoft Word file, Microsoft PowerPoint file, Image file, or Text file.

  3. After you’ve selected the file type, select your preferred sharing method, such as text message, email, and so on. Next, send the file the way you normally would.

Share icon highlighted in the Samsung Notes app

Note: Some files cannot be sent through certain sharing options. Make sure you’ve selected an appropriate sharing method for the file type.

Use handwriting functions

You can write in Samsung Notes using an S Pen! Just take out your S Pen on a compatible phone and begin creating a note in the app. Your handwriting can also be edited and converted to text. If the S Pen isn’t your thing, you can still use the keyboard or even your finger to write notes.

Hand writing background with Galaxy S22 ultra and a S pen

Galaxy AI features in Samsung Notes

The Galaxy AI features on the Galaxy S24 series can take your notes to the next level. If you're jotting down notes as fast as you can, maybe spelling and formatting is an afterthought. If your note covers a lot of ground, a summary can come in really handy. You can also quickly translate your note if you need to share it with a multilingual audience.

Auto format

When you're jotting down your note as fast as you can, you don't have time to stop and add bullets. Auto format understands how to organize your notes.

  1. Once you've created your note, tap the Notes assist icon, and then tap Auto format.

  2. Tap either Headers and bullets, or Meeting notes.

  3. Galaxy AI will display your formatted note. You can see additional formatting options by swiping. Once you've found the one you like, you can choose how to use it.

Notes assist icon
  • Copy: Copy the formatted note to the clipboard, so that you can paste it into another document or app.

  • Replace: Replace your note with the content of the formatted note.

  • Add to: Put the formatted note into a new note, or a new page in the current note.

Summarize

If you've taken a long note with a lot of topics, Galaxy AI can generate a summary so you can quickly review the note.

  1. Once you've created your note, tap the Notes assist icon, and then tap Summarize.

  2. If you'd like to change the level of detail in the summary, tap the Settings icon in the top right corner of the summary. You can choose Standard or Detailed.

  3. When you are satisfied with the summary, you can choose from the following options:

Summary Style
  • Copy: Copy the formatted note to the clipboard, so that you can paste it into another document or app.

  • Replace: Replace your note with the content of the formatted note.

  • Add to: Put the formatted note into a new note, or a new page in the current note.

Check spelling

Samsung Keyboard does a great job of helping you spell as you're typing, but if you've imported a document into Notes, a spell check can come in handy.

  1. Once you've created your note, tap the Notes assist icon, and then tap Correct spelling.

  2. If you'd like to keep your original spelling, tap the underlined corrected word, and then tap your original spelling.

  3. When you are satisfied with the changes, you can choose from the following options:

Correct Spelling
  • Copy: Copy the formatted note to the clipboard, so that you can paste it into another document or app.

  • Replace: Replace your note with the content of the formatted note.

  • Add to: Put the formatted note into a new note, or a new page in the current note.

Translate

  1. Once you've created your note, tap the Notes assist icon, and then tap Translate.

  2. You can change the source and target language by tapping on the dropdowns above the translated text, and selecting a language.

  3. When you are satisfied with the translation, you can choose from the following options:

Translate select target language
  • Copy: Copy the formatted note to the clipboard, so that you can paste it into another document or app.

  • Replace: Replace your note with the content of the formatted note.

  • Add to: Put the formatted note into a new note, or a new page in the current note.

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