Quick Note is the fastest way to capture a thought on a Mac. You do not open the Notes app, you do not find a window, you just flick your pointer into a corner or press a shortcut and start typing, over the top of whatever you are already doing. It has shipped with every Mac since macOS Monterey, and it syncs to the same Quick Notes on your iPhone and iPad.
This guide covers the two ways to trigger it, how to make notes reappear on the exact app or website you took them on, and where they all live afterward.
The two ways to open Quick Note
Hot corner (fastest): Move your pointer into the bottom-right corner of the screen. A small note peels up from the corner. Click it and it opens full size. This is on by default on most Macs. If nothing happens, set it up under System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Hot Corners (older macOS: Mission Control > Hot Corners) and choose Quick Note for the corner you want. For the full breakdown of every corner action, see our guide to Hot Corners.
Keyboard shortcut: Press Fn + Q (the Globe/Fn key plus Q). A new Quick Note opens instantly, no matter which app you are in. If Fn + Q does nothing, the Fn key may be set to another behavior; you can still use the hot corner, or add a shortcut under System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.
The trick that makes Quick Note actually useful: links to apps and websites
Quick Note is not just a scratchpad. If you take a Quick Note while looking at a website in Safari, macOS remembers it. The next time you visit that same page, a thumbnail of your note slides in from the corner so you can pick up where you left off. The same works with some apps.
To do it: open a webpage in Safari, trigger Quick Note, and you will see an Add Link option, tap it to attach the current page to the note. You can also select text on a page first, then choose New Quick Note from the right-click menu (need a refresher on right-clicking? see switching from Windows to Mac) to drop a highlighted quote straight into the note with a link back to the source.
Where your Quick Notes live
Every Quick Note is saved in the Notes app, in a folder called Quick Notes in the sidebar. Open Notes, click that folder, and there they all are. From there you can drag a Quick Note into any other folder to turn it into a regular note, or leave it where it is.
Because they live in Notes and sync through iCloud, the Quick Note you jotted on your Mac shows up in the Quick Notes folder on your iPhone and iPad too, and the ones you started on iPad (great with an Apple Pencil) show up on your Mac.
Quick fixes if Quick Note is not working
- Hot corner does nothing: re-check System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Hot Corners and confirm the bottom-right corner is set to Quick Note, not empty or another action.
- Fn + Q does nothing: some external keyboards lack a Fn/Globe key, or it is remapped, use the hot corner instead.
- Notes do not sync to iPhone/iPad: make sure Notes is turned on for iCloud on every device under System Settings > [your name] > iCloud, and that you are signed into the same Apple Account.
- No Quick Note option at all: Quick Note needs macOS Monterey (2021) or newer. Any Apple-silicon Mac runs it, and so do most Intel Macs from the last several years.
Any modern Mac handles Quick Note effortlessly
Quick Note is a lightweight feature, it will run on nearly anything, but if your Mac is old enough that it cannot update to a recent macOS, this is a good nudge to upgrade. A refurbished MacBook Air (M1) starts at $569.99 in our shop, runs the latest macOS, and syncs Quick Notes across all your devices without a hitch. If you want the newest chip, the M2 Air is $974.99. Browsing on a budget? Our Apple clearance section is where the lowest prices land first.