Copy and paste

Copy notes

Select one or more notes (see Select and move notes) and press ⌘C. Each note goes on its own line, and each level of nesting adds one tab. A note's children come with it. A checked to-do keeps its box as [x] at the start of its line, and an open one as [ ].

A code note keeps its line breaks when it is copied, and every other note is written on one line.

⌘X copies the selected notes and then moves them to Trash, as one Undo step. ⌘D makes a copy of the note and its children as plain notes. Tags and fields are not copied.

Paste lines as notes

Paste several lines into a note with the caret where the new notes should start. The first line joins the text before the caret. Each later line becomes a note, nested by its indentation, and the text after the caret follows the last line. If you select text first, the paste replaces it. One Undo takes the whole paste back.

The lines are read like this:

• A tab counts as one level, and every two spaces count as one level.
• A leading - , * or • bullet is dropped.
• [ ] makes an open to-do, and [x] a checked one.
• A line can nest only one level deeper than the line above it.
• Lines that form a Markdown table become one table note.

A single line pastes as text at the caret, with no new note.

Paste after selected notes

With notes selected and no caret in a note, ⌘V adds the lines after the last selected note, read the same way.

Paste as One Note

⌥⇧⌘V pastes the text into the current note as one note. Line breaks stay inside that note, and nothing is split into new notes. Use it when the lines belong together in one note.

Paste as Reference

Copy notes from a selection with ⌘C, then press ⌥⌘V. Each copied note appears again after the last selected note, as a reference to the same note. The text is shared, and the reference rings its bullet. The paste is one Undo step.

See References for what a reference does when you change or remove it.

Paste a link to a note

Choose Note ▸ Copy Link to Note, or Copy Link to Note in a note's right-click menu. Then paste into a note with ⌘V. The note's title is pasted as a link to that note. Clicking the link later opens the note in that pane.

Pictures and files

A copied picture or file is not pasted as text. For what happens to it, see Images and files.

Combine it

• Checkboxes survive a pasteCopy a list with to-dos, then paste it back: the [ ] and [x] marks come back as boxes.
• A meeting outline from a listType a list in another app, one item per line with tabs for levels, then paste it into a note. Each item becomes a note at its level.
• Import a whole fileA paste brings in lines of text. To bring in an OPML or Markdown file, use File ▸ Import…
• Undo a pasteOne Undo takes back a whole paste, a Paste as Reference, or a cut.

Limits

• A code note takes pasted text as text, with its line breaks, and creates no notes from it.
• Paste as Reference needs notes copied from a selection. Text copied from inside a note pastes as text.