The Notes app on the iPhone finally lets you link notes « iOS & iPhone :: Gadget Hacks

Apple Notes has seen many improvements over its lifetime, but over the years it’s been noticeably lacking in the ability to easily add quick links to other notes in your notes for reference. The latest software updates for iPhone, iPad, and Mac finally addressed this issue with a simple Note Link tool.

Connecting notes allows you to ‘link thoughts’ so notes aren’t orphaned in folders and are easier to find later. You can now quickly connect ideas in one notebook to ideas in another notebook. This means you no longer have to resort to broader connections using tags to group related topics.

Apple’s new Note Link feature follows other note-taking apps such as Evernote, Obsidian, and Simplenote that already make deep linking notes a trivial task. There were some workarounds using shortcuts and collaboration invites to create note links in Apple Notes, but it wasn’t too difficult.

requirement

Add hyperlink to selected text

Creating a link to another note is easy and can be done in a number of ways depending on how you want the link to appear. If you want to add an inline note hyperlink to a word or phrase in the current note on your iPhone or iPad, do the following:

1. Double-tap or triple-tap to select the text you want to hyperlink.
2. Adjust the highlighted borders of the selected text as needed.
3. Tap the context menu arrow (>) and select (Add Link). (If you don’t see the menu, tap the selected text to display the menu.)
4. Start typing the name of the note you want to link to and select it from the suggestions.

Add a link with the note’s name

If you don’t want the text in your notes to be hyperlinked, or if you want to display the name of the other note, you can add regular links to other notes. This can be done as described in step 5 above. This replaces the selected text that was originally meant to be hyperlinked, but it makes more sense to do:

1. Move your cursor to where you want to drop the link.
2. Tap the cursor to open the context menu.
3. Tap the context menu arrow (>) and select (Add Link).
4. Start typing the name of the note you want to link to and select it from the suggestions.

Create a two-way note link

Unfortunately, once you open a linked note by tapping the hyperlinked text or note name, you cannot immediately return to the note you were in at the beginning. However, you can link it to your current note to create a two-way connection. That way, in the future, you can switch between notes with just a tap.

Edit or delete note links

You can also edit or remove the note link. For links using the note’s name, long press the name and select (Remove Link) to remove it entirely. Otherwise, select (Edit Link) to change the link to another note, or uncheck (Use note title as name) and (optionally) enter a custom hyperlink from the field that appears. Add link text. You can also remove the link here.

Working with note links on macOS

The process is slightly different on macOS Sonoma. To create custom hyperlinked text, highlight a word or phrase in the current note and go to (Edit)–>(Add Link) in the menu bar, or Command + K shortcut. From here on it’s the same for iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. When finished, click (OK).

To use a note’s name as a link, place the cursor where you want it and select (Edit)–>(Add Link) from the menu bar, or Command + K shortcut. Search for the note, select it, and make sure (Use note title as name) is checked before clicking (OK).