How To Use Apple Notes Like It’s Notion
But With Way Less Existential Crisis
Let’s be honest.
Notion is amazing. I am a Notion guy. I used it for so much of my writing workflow, project management, and daily productivity.
It’s sleek, customizable, and makes you feel like a productivity genius.
BUT…
Inevitably, you’ll fall into a black hole of templates, dashboards, and that one voice in the back of your brain, whispering “What if you had a database of your other databases?”
Meanwhile, Apple Notes has been sitting in the corner quietly, sipping tea, watching you spiral.
This might be your sign to look over at Apple Notes like, “…wait, could you actually do everything I need without requiring me to get a computer science degree?”
Well, yes. Yes, it can.
Let me show you how to turn Apple Notes into your Notion replacement — minus the overwhelm, plus a little unhinged simplicity.
Step 1: Accept What Apple Notes Is
And more importantly, what it’s not!
So, what is Apple Notes?
Easy: It’s fast. It’s synced across all your devices. It’s not trying to reinvent your life — it’s just here to hold your thoughts without judging them. And it’s free.
No, there are no fancy databases.
No, you can’t turn your grocery list into a kanban board. (You can with Apple Reminders, though).
But yes, you can organize your life beautifully if you stop fighting its vibe.
Apple Notes is notes. With a lot to love and utilize.
Notion is a lifestyle choice. With even more to love, but also way more to confuse you.
Very different energies.
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Step 2: Folders Are The New Workspaces
Notion wants you to build entire life systems. And it can if you want.
Apple Notes just wants you to put stuff in folders like a normal person. Organize like it’s 2003. Just a bit fancier.
Here’s the move:
Create folders like:
Life
Work
Projects
Brain Dump
Content Ideas
Swipe File
“Absolutely Unhinged Thoughts” (optional but recommended)
Inside each folder? Notes. Duh…
Simple. Direct. Clean.
Bonus move: Pin your most-used folders to the top, so they’re always ready to catch your next stroke of genius (or nonsense).
That’s it. No computer science degree needed. No 30-page manual to read through every time you haven’t looked at your Notion templates for a week.
Step 3: Use The Notes Like Pages, Databases, Or Dashboards (But…Just…Notes)
One of the most Notion-esque tricks in Apple Notes is using a single note as a dashboard or homepage.
You can do that by interlinking notes, which is (crazily enough) a relatively new feature.
Example:
“Content HQ” note → links out to other notes
“Reading List” note → checklist of books with tiny reviews
“Weekly Plan” note → a rough table (yes, you can add tables now in Notes like it’s 1997 Excel)
Use headings, bold text, checklists, and tables to visually separate things.
It’s like Notion, but if Notion had a “for dummies” setting included.
Step 4: Links Between Notes = Your DIY Wiki
Let’s double down on the interlinking. Because this really is where the magic happens.
You can link between Apple Notes. It's just not as straightforward as you and I might like. You can use the share menu, but that’s a multistep process, and frankly, I don’t like it.
You can also highlight a word or phrase in a note and then go to the “Edit” menu in the menu bar and add a link (or simply use the keyboard shortcut CMD+K) and a popup will open. There, type the name of a note, and you can select the fitting one from a dropdown menu. Tada, notes interlinked.
A wiki. On a diet.
Example:
“Big Project 2025” links to:
Meeting Notes
Research Dump
Ideas Graveyard
Budget Tracking Table (lol crying emoji)
Suddenly, your notes aren’t floating in space — they’re connected.
Step 5: Add Media
Apple Notes lets you stuff in:
Images
PDFs
Voice notes
Scanned documents
Web links
Even literal drawings like it’s kindergarten again
Treat your notes like digital scrapbooks. Want to save a quote? Screenshot. Want to save a menu from that hipster café for later inspo? Snap it right in there.
Every note can become a little multimedia universe of chaos (but organized chaos).
Organizing and viewing options are somewhat limited but that keeps everything simple.
Step 6: Use Tags Like Secret Superpowers
Tags in Apple Notes are criminally underrated.
Drop a #tag anywhere in a note, and it instantly becomes searchable. Create your own wild system.
Some ideas:
#idea
#urgent
#someday
#blogpost
#marketing
Then, click a tag, and BOOM — instant filtered list of all your relevant notes.
It’s Notion-style sorting… without having to “set a property” or “choose a relation.” Just type that dang hashtag.
Step 7: Collaborate Without Crying
You can share Apple Notes with people. Real-time updates. Comments. The whole thing.
Yes, it’s not quite Notion-level collaborative wizardry, but for most humans (read: people not building a startup with 15 co-founders), it works beautifully.
Drop your grocery list, trip planning doc, or content calendar into a shared note, and feel the pure joy of someone else accidentally deleting your sentence mid-thought.
Truly magical.
Bonus: Lock Sensitive Notes
Don’t want someone to read your crazy thoughts?
Lock the note. Face ID or password protected.
Notion wishes it could be this casual and secure without twelve plug-ins and an $8/month fee.
The Bottom Line
Apple Notes isn’t worse than Notion — it’s different
Apple Notes is like that low-key minimalist apartment with perfect lighting and one really comfy chair. Some people won’t like it. For many people, it won’t be enough. But the rest of us would treasure that simplicity.
Notion on the other hand is like renting an entire coworking space with mood boards, vision walls, and a nap pod you’ll never actually use. Sounds cool. But you need 3 managers to keep it running.
Both are valid. Both can be beautiful. But you’ll probably only need one. Unless you’re crazy. Like me…
Bottom Bottom Line
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by tools about productivity instead of actually doing things. it might be time to come home to the humble, scrappy brilliance of Apple Notes.
Simple. Reliable. Just works.
Also — free.
And by the way, the same is true with many other “simple” note-taking apps, you can use on every platform out there, Android, Windows, Linux, etc.