They say inspiration strikes when you least expect it. Thus, it’s always better to keep a sticky note handy to jot down your stunning ideas before they fade away. For this exact purpose, Apple has introduced a nifty new feature called Quick Note in iPadOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey. It’s designed to help you pen your thoughts faster without having to open any notes app. If that sounds interesting to you, check out this detailed guide on how to use Quick Note in macOS Monterey on your Mac.

Before going through the steps, let’s first take a close look at what is a Quick Note and how it works. If you are already familiar with the concept, use the table below to move to a relevant section.

  • What is a Quick Note and How Does It Work in macOS 12?
  • Set Up a Hot Corner to Access Quick Notes on Mac
  • How to Create a Quick Note on Mac
  • Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Create a Quick Note on Mac
  • View and Edit Your Quick Note in macOS Monterey
  • Add Highlighted Text from Safari to a Quick Note
  • Add Smart Links to a Quick Note on macOS 12 Monterey
  • Sort Your Quick Notes in macOS Monterey
  • Convert Your Quick Note into PDF on Mac

What is a Quick Note and How Does It Work in macOS 12?

As the name itself implies, Quick Note is all about capturing thoughts and collecting information you come across with utmost ease. Many a time, we fail to note down an idea or something important because of the hassle of opening a note-taking app and using other additional tools. Moreover, Moreover, you may also have to take the extra steps to sync the notes to make them available across devices. Apple is attempting to eliminate the hassle with its new Quick Note feature in macOS Monterey.

Quick Note is integrated right into the Apple Notes app. So, whatever you write in a Quick Note is automatically synced across all your Apple devices. Though the ability to create a Quick Note is exclusive to iPad and Mac, you can view and edit them on your iPhone as well. With that said, let’s see how you can access Quick Note on your Mac.

With Hot Corners, you can access a Quick Note with ease on your Mac running macOS Monterey. Of course, you will need to set it up first. But once you do that, bringing up a Quick Note only requires you to move your cursor to the selected Hot Corner.

How to Create a Quick Note on Mac

Now that you have set up the Quick Note shortcut in macOS Monterey, let’s learn how to access it. To do that, move your cursor to the designated Hot Corner to open up a Quick Note. You can also take advantage of the keyboard shortcut (detailed below) to access it any time – be it on the desktop or within an app.

Alternately, you can also use a keyboard shortcut to bring up a Quick Note on your Mac running macOS Monterey. Just follow this two-step process:

  1. Now, use the Fn+Q keyboard shortcut to access the Quick Note.

Note: You can also open a Quick Note right from the Control Center on your Mac. This feature is currently available, but Apple is likely to introduce it in a future update.

Now that you know how to create a Quick Note, you must be wondering — where are the Quick Notes saved on your Mac? The native Apple Notes app includes a separate Quick Notes section to let you keep track of all of your notes.

  1. Then, select Quick Notes from the left sidebar. Now, you will see all of your Quick Notes saved here. Select the one you want to view. Moreover, you can edit, delete, or share the Quick Note just like any other note.

Not just text, you can also add text and image highlights from Safari to a Quick Note in macOS 12 Monterey. So, if you ever come across something worth saving in a note, you can add it with ease. Follow the steps below to learn how it works:

Adding a smart link (aka hyperlink) to a Quick Note on Mac is simple. Apple has added shortcuts for these features in the Quick Note pop-up windows itself.

  1. Then, click on the “Add Link” button located next to the web page link.

You can also sort your Quick Notes in the right order so that they will always remain in line with your preference.

  1. Open the Notes app and click on the three-dot icon next to the Quick Notes folder at the top of the left sidebar. Do note that you will need to hover the pointer over the Quick Notes folder to reveal the three-dot icon.

You can also export your Quick Note as a PDF, making it easier to share your research or notes on a topic with others. Here’s how it works.

  1. Open the Notes app on your Mac and click on the Quick Notes folder from the left sidebar. After that, open the note you want to convert into PDF.