Having trouble keeping up with meetings or lectures? Record audio to capture what you miss and enhance your notes. You can also replay the recording to see your notes come to life as they were written!

Goodnotes’ Audio capabilities include:

• Audio Recording
• Audio Transcription
• Audio Summary

Audio Recording

Start / Stop a recording

1. Choose the Overflow menu > Record & Summarize.

   

   <aside> ℹ️

   For a Text Document, you can simply tap the Mic icon on the toolbar.

   </aside>

2. A floating control appears showing the recording is in progress. Notes taken in the document will be recorded with the audio. On all platforms, Goodnotes shows a microphone/recording status indicator while recording. Recording behavior when you switch apps can vary by platform:

   • Apple: Recording continues in the background and is shown by a flashing orange Mic icon in the status bar. Tap this icon to return to Goodnotes.

     

     Background recording on iPadOS

   • Windows and Web: Recording continues in the background.

     

     Background recording on Windows

   • Android: Recording stops when you switch to a different app (it doesn’t continue in the background).

3. When you’re done, tap the Stop Recording icon in the floating control to finish the recording. A new audio clip is created.

Play back a recording

1. Choose the Overflow menu > Show Recordings.

   <aside> ℹ️

   For a Text Document, you need to open the Sidebar (top-left corner), then the Audio tab.

   

   </aside>

2. Choose an audio clip from the Sidebar and tap the Play icon in the playback control at the bottom:

   

   • 1.0x: Sets the playback speed
   • Rewind: Rewinds the playback 10 seconds
   • Play: Plays/Resumes the playback. Any notes previously taken during the recording will be played back as well. Once tapped, it’s changed to a Pause ⏸️ icon that can be used to pause the playback. Drag the Seek Bar to jump to a specific part of the clip.
   • Fast-forward: Fast forward the playback 10 seconds.
   • More (…): Shows Audio settings and other info.

     • Noise Reduction: Reduces the recorded background noise during playback.

       <aside> ℹ️

       This option is only available on devices using the A16 / M1 chip or later.

       Find out what chip your device is using:

       • iPad / iPhone:
         1. Find the Model Name line in device Settings > General > About.
         2. Check System-on-chip for the Model Name: iPad | iPhone.
       • Mac: Find the Chip line from Apple menu  in the left corner of your screen > About This Mac. </aside>

     • Notes Playback: Controls how your linked notes appear during playback.

       

       • Spotlight (default): Notes ahead of the playback position appear faded, while notes that have already played remain fully visible.
       • Real-time reveal: Your handwriting is revealed progressively during playback, as if it’s being written in real time.
       • Static: All handwriting stays fully visible during playback (no fading or reveal animation).

       <aside> ℹ️

       Limitations:

       • Platforms: available on Apple platforms only. These settings do not sync across platforms at this time.
       • Document types: available for notebook documents only (not available for Whiteboards or Text Documents). </aside>

Play back some notes linked to the recording

1. Select those notes, or long-press any part of them.

2. Choose Play Recording. The playback jumps to the audio clip where those notes were taken.

   

   <aside> ℹ️ Notes are only captured on the recording's starting page. If you start recording in one document and switch to another, those notes won't sync with playback.

   </aside>

Work with audio clips

1. Choose the Overflow menu > Show Recordings.
2. Do any of the following:
   • Rename a clip:
     • Apple: Swipe across the clip and choose the Rename icon (first one).
     • Windows/Android/Web: Enter selection mode (top-left corner), select the clip, then choose Rename.
   • Delete a clip:
     • Apple: Swipe across the clip and tap the Trash icon; or swipe all the way to the left.
     • Windows/Android/Web: Enter selection mode (top-left corner), select the clip, then choose Delete.
   • Export (Apple only), or delete one or more clips:
     1. Enter selection mode:
        • Apple: Choose the More icon (…) in the top-left corner > Select Audios.
        • Windows/Android/Web: Choose the top-left corner icon.
     2. Choose the radio button next to each clip you want to select, or choose Select All.
     3. Choose Export (Apple only) or Delete / Trash.

(Apple only) Configure Audio Recording and view related info

1. Choose the More icon (…) in the top-left corner, then an option:

(Apple only) Questions & answers