Notebooks are the core of XNote. Each notebook contains pages of your handwritten notes, synced from your XNote Pen.
2.6.1 View Notebooks
All your notebooks are listed on the All Notebooks screen. Each notebook shows:
- Notebook title
- Type badge (Mini / Standard / Large)
- Primary indicator (if applicable)
- Pin indicator (if pinned)
- Page count
- Last edited time
You can sort notebooks by created date, title, page count, or type. Use the search bar to find a notebook by name. Tap a notebook to open it.
2.6.2 Create a Notebook
There are three ways a notebook can be created:
Manual Creation:
1. Tap the "+" button on the All Notebooks screen or "+ New Notebook" on the Home screen.
2. A bottom sheet will appear. Select the notebook size: Mini, Standard, or Large.
3. The notebook is created automatically.
Automatic Creation (Pen Writing):
When you write with your XNote Pen on a notebook size that doesn't have any notebooks yet, XNote will automatically create a new notebook and set it as your primary for that size. This happens silently you can continue writing without interruption.
From Notebook Selection:
Wherever XNote asks you to select a notebook such as linking pages to an audio recording, or choosing a target notebook during offline sync a "Create New" button is available at the bottom of the notebook list. This lets you create a new notebook without leaving the current flow. During offline sync, if no notebook of the matching size exists at all, XNote will prompt you with a dialog: "No [size] notebook found. Create one?" before proceeding. For more on syncing, (see 2.16).
In all cases, if the notebook is the first of its size, it will automatically be set as your primary notebook (see 2.4).
2.6.3 Set Primary Notebook
You can change which notebook is set as primary for each size at any time. Tap the three-dot menu on any notebook card and select "Set as Primary", or go to Settings → Primary Notebooks.
For a full explanation of how primary notebooks work and why they matter, see 2.4 Set Your Primary Notebook.
2.6.4 Pin a Notebook
Pinning moves a notebook to the top of the list on the Home screen. Only one notebook can be pinned at a time.
1. Tap the three-dot menu on a notebook card.
2. Toggle "Pin Notebook" on.
A pin icon will appear on the notebook card. To unpin, toggle it off from the same menu.
2.6.5 Browse Pages
Tap a notebook to view its pages in a grid layout. Each page shows:
- Page thumbnail (handwriting preview)
- Page number badge
You can sort pages by page number or last edited date. Long-press a page to enter selection mode for bulk export.
2.6.6 View Page Details (Canvas & Text)
Tap a page to open the detail view. The layout adapts to your device:
- On iPhone: Full-screen canvas with a floating bottom navigation bar.
- On tablet: Full-screen canvas with a floating top bar and a collapsible right sidebar for controls.
- On iPad: Split-view layout where the digital text panel and AI Chat can open as side panels alongside the canvas.
Canvas View:
The canvas displays your original handwriting strokes. You can:
- Swipe left or right to navigate between pages.
- Draw on the canvas using your XNote Smart Pen.
- Pinch to zoom in and out on your handwriting.
Notebook Background:
Tap the background toggle button (four horizontal lines icon) to show or hide the notebook background lines. This button is only visible when the digital text panel is closed. The background setting also affects exports (see 2.15.5).
Color Picker:
If the color picker is enabled in Pen Settings (see 2.7.1), a color swatch button appears in the action buttons. Tap it to open the color picker:
- On iOS: A native color picker appears.
- On Android: A modal opens with a hue/saturation panel, hue slider, and preview. Tap "Done" to apply.
The selected color is applied to all new strokes drawn on the canvas.
Digital Text View:
Tap the text toggle button ("Aa" icon) to open the digital text panel showing the OCR-extracted text from your handwriting.
- On iPhone: The text overlays the canvas as a full-screen card.
- On iPad: The text opens as a right sidebar (50% of screen width) alongside the canvas.
The digital text panel shows:
- The extracted text content, which you can select and copy.
- Font size controls (iPad only): Use the +/- buttons to adjust text size between 14px and 24px.
- Mermaid diagram rendering if the page contains diagrams.
- An "Edited by user" indicator (bottom-right, gray italic text) if the text has been manually edited.
- Loading state: "Loading page content..." spinner while fetching.
- Empty state: "No text found on this page" if OCR has not extracted any text.
Page Navigation:
Navigate between pages using any of these methods:
- Previous/Next arrows: Tap the arrow buttons in the navigation bar. The previous arrow is disabled on page 1.
- Swipe gesture: Swipe left or right on the canvas to move between pages.
- Jump to page: Tap the page number in the navigation bar to open a modal. Enter a page number and confirm. Only pages that have been written on are available.
Processing Status:
Below the navigation bar, a status indicator shows the current processing state of the page:
- "Uploading page..." : Strokes are being uploaded to the server.
- "Waiting for processing..." : Upload complete, waiting for OCR.
- "Analyzing page..." : OCR is extracting text from your handwriting.
- "Extracting tasks & events..." : AI is identifying action items and calendar events.
- "Last modified: X minutes ago" : Shows when processing is complete.
A rotating sync icon (amber color) animates during processing.
Toolbar Actions:
The following action buttons are available in the toolbar (bottom bar on iPhone, side bar on tablet/iPad):
- Digital Text (Aa / text icon) : Toggle the OCR text panel on/off.
- Tags (# hashtag icon) : Open the Page Tag Management screen (see 2.14.6).
- Edit Text (Pencil icon) : Open the text editor. Only visible when digital text panel is open.
- Background (Lines icon) : Toggle notebook background on/off. Only visible when digital text panel is closed.
- Color Picker (Color swatch) : Open the color picker to change pen stroke color.
- Folder (Folder icon) : Add this page to a folder (see 2.14.4).
- Export (Upload icon) : Open the export screen for this page (see 2.15.5).
- Chat (Chat bubble) : Open AI Chat with this page mentioned (see 2.9.2). On iPad, opens as a side panel.
- Pages Grid (Grid icon) : Return to the page grid view for this notebook.
Page Info:
- The notebook name is shown below the navigation bar (gray text).
- The current page number is displayed in the center of the navigation bar.
2.6.7 Edit Page Content
Edit Handwriting (Canvas):
You can draw on the canvas using your XNote Smart Pen. Select a pen color from the color picker in the toolbar (see 2.6.6). Strokes are saved automatically.
Edit Text (OCR):
1. Open the digital text panel by tapping the text toggle button.
2. Tap the Edit button (pencil icon) in the toolbar. This opens a full-screen text editor.
3. Modify the extracted text.
4. Tap "Done" to save your changes, or "Cancel" to discard.
Edited pages will show an "Edited by user" indicator at the bottom-right of the digital text panel. This label persists to indicate that the text has been manually modified from the original OCR output.
Note: Editing the text does not change your handwriting on the canvas it only modifies the digital text representation used for search, export, and AI features.
2.6.8 Delete a Notebook
Delete a Notebook:
1. Tap the three-dot menu on a notebook card.
2. Tap the trash icon.
3. Confirm deletion in the dialog.
Deleted notebooks are kept for 30 days and can be recovered from Settings -> Deleted Notebooks.
If you delete a primary notebook, XNote will automatically assign another notebook of the same size as primary.
Delete a Page:
Pages are tied to their notebook. Individual pages cannot be deleted separately, but you can remove pages from folders using the page's three-dot menu.