7 best note-taking apps for students

If you have trouble remembering what was said in class, using a note-taking app can be extremely helpful. Whether you're writing an assignment, working on a group project or studying for an exam, there are plenty of options to support your study needs.

This guide will cover the best note-taking apps for students!

1. Evernote

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Evernote takes all the hassle out of organizing your class notes so you can study more effectively. Create notebooks and group similar topics into Notebook stacks. You can also quickly find notes using the Shortcuts tab.

If you want to create beautiful notes, Evernote is a top choice. Evernote's rich text editor offers a variety of fonts and colors to choose from. You can also highlight text to emphasize key information.

Adding images is easy in Evernote. Thanks to Evernote's Edit and Annotate feature , you can easily annotate images with a variety of shapes, arrows, and text. If you're a creative note-taker, there's also a Sketch feature . You can use this tool to attach drawings to your notes.

2. Google Docs

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Google Docs is a widely popular note-taking app among students thanks to its seamless compatibility with other Google services, such as Google Drive. This app comes with many essay writing tools, including word count, spell checker, and built-in citation tool.

For writing assignments, you can easily format your pages with headers and footers, page numbers, and paragraph spacing rules. You can also break up text using different heading sizes.

Google Docs is a great collaboration tool, so you can work on projects with classmates. By pressing the Share button , you can send your notes to other Google users and edit the document at the same time. There is also a comment feature where you can mention other users.

3. RemNote

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RemNote offers a great selection of tools to increase your productivity as a student. Its unique note-taking approach allows you to link ideas together in a tree-like hierarchy.

To save you from having to move back and forth between notes, RemNote allows you to open notes in multiple panes to support your multitasking needs. You can also link to other notes and reference pages on your workspace.

One feature that makes RemNote perfect for students is flashcards. You can add flashcards directly to your notes or create them from scratch. A dedicated flashcards tab lets you practice active recall, so you can learn new information faster. With each flashcard, you can evaluate your current level of understanding. RemNote will then provide you with new information to help you overcome your weaknesses. Overall, RemNote is the top choice for more effective studying.

4. Notion

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There are many ways to use Notion as a student. Its clear interface and powerful organizational capabilities are ideal for any hard-working student. Notion's command-based editor is the most effective for taking quick notes. The best part is that most of the features you need as a student are included in the free plan.

If you don't like organizing your content, you can explore free Notion templates to give you a starting structure. Notion also offers a free 'Class Notes' template to organize your class notes into a neat list.

Using Notion's blocks, you can easily rearrange content, eliminating the need to constantly copy and paste. Blocks let you create to-do lists and bulleted lists, and insert media content into notes. One type of practical block available to students is the Callout block . This feature emphasizes a piece of text so you can highlight key information in your class notes.

5. Microsoft OneNote

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If you're looking for a convenient way to take quick notes as a student, you can rely on Microsoft OneNote. The app's canvas-like approach makes OneNote useful for jotting down key concepts, creating quick sketches, and creating to-do lists.

Adding a new note is easy: just click anywhere on the notes page to jot something down. You can also drag information around, turning OneNote into a great mind mapping tool.

OneNote is not limited to written notes. You can create sketches and attach a recording link to your notes. Math learners can also use the Ink to Math feature , which allows you to insert equations by drawing them.

6. Joplin

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Joplin is a distraction-free note-taking app for Windows and Mac, ideal for focusing on studying. Notes are categorized on the sidebar in a tree structure. There's no limit to the number of folders you can create and nest, which makes Joplin ideal for heavy use.

This application offers a variety of note-taking tools for students found on the formatting ribbon. You can insert quotes, add links to web pages and attach PDF files. If you're learning programming, you can insert code blocks. Joplin also supports Markdown. You can easily switch between Markdown view and the standard editor with the click of a button.

7. Logseq

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If you're looking for a note-taking app that offers more than just a simple text editor, Logseq is a top choice to consider. This app has a daily journal page, whiteboard tool, and flashcards, making it a great choice for students.

Whiteboard tool helps add diagrams to your study notes. The tool offers basic capabilities for adding shapes and text, but perhaps most impressive is the ability to add existing pages to a whiteboard. Using a whiteboard, you can attach class notes and edit them while creating sketches.

Logseq relies on two-way links to link notes. Although it may seem complicated at first, all that is needed is one command to link two pages together. You can easily navigate to the linked page by clicking on the link. This way, you can make connections between topics as you study.

David Pac

Update 09 November 2023