How to Use Evernote: A Beginner’s Guide for Productivity in 2025

Feeling stressed because you can’t find your notes?

It stops you from getting things done and moving forward.

Evernote helps you do just that. It’s like a super smart digital notebook.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Evernote.

Get ready to clear your mind!

Getting Started with Evernote

Ready to start using Evernote? It’s simple to get going!

Signing Up and Getting the App

First, you need to get Evernote.

• Go to the Evernote website on your computer, or
• Find “Evernote” in your phone’s app store (like Google Play or Apple App Store).

Once you find it, download and install the app. Then, open it up. You’ll see a button to “Sign Up” or “Create Account.” Click that and follow the simple steps. You’ll just need an email address and to make a password. Easy peasy!

Understanding the Basic Pieces

Evernote has a few main parts that work together:

• Notes: These are the building blocks. A note is where you save anything. It can be text you type, a picture you add, a web page you save, or even a voice recording. Think of each note as a single piece of paper in your digital notebook.
• Notebooks: These are like folders for your notes. You put related notes together in a notebook. For example, you might have a “Work Projects” notebook, a “Recipes” notebook, or a “Travel Plans” notebook. This keeps things neat.
• Tags: Tags are like keywords you add to your notes. Imagine you have a note about a new recipe. You might add tags like “#dinner,” “#italian,” or “#easy.” Tags help you find notes even if they are in different notebooks. So, you could find all your “easy” notes, no matter if they are recipes or other ideas.

Making Your First Note

Now, let’s create something!

1. Open Evernote: Launch the app on your computer or phone.
2. Find the “New Note” button: This is usually a big plus sign (+) or a button that says “New Note.” Click it.
3. Start Typing: A blank note will open. You can start typing whatever you want. Maybe a quick grocery list, an idea for a gift, or something you need to remember for tomorrow.
4. Add Simple Text: Just type away!
5. Saving Your Note: Evernote usually saves your notes automatically as you type. You don’t often need to hit a “save” button. When you close the note or go back to your main screen, it’s already there!

Capturing Information Like a Pro

Evernote is great because it lets you save almost anything! Here’s how you can capture different kinds of information.

Text Notes

This is the simplest way to use Evernote.

• Type Directly: Just open a new note and type whatever you want. It’s like using a simple word processor.
• Make it Look Good: You can make your text stand out. See those buttons at the top of your note? You can make words bold or italic. You can also use bullet points (like • this) or numbered lists (like 1., 2., 3.) to make your notes easy to read. This is great for lists or steps!

Web Clipper

Have you ever found a cool article or recipe online and wanted to save it? That’s what the Web Clipper is for!

• What it Is: It’s a small tool that adds to your internet browser (like Chrome, Firefox, or Edge).
  1. How to Use It:First, you’ll need to install it. Just search for “Evernote Web Clipper” for your browser and add it.
  2. When you’re on a website you want to save, just click the little Evernote elephant icon in your browser’s toolbar.
  3. It will ask you how you want to save it. You can save the whole page, just the article part (which often removes ads), or even just a screenshot.
• Tip: Saving just the article part is often best because it’s cleaner and easier to read later.

Pictures and PDFs

Evernote isn’t just for words!

• Adding Pictures: You can drag and drop pictures right into your notes. Or, if you’re on your phone, you can take a picture right from within the app and put it into a note. This is handy for whiteboards, receipts, or anything visual.
• Adding PDFs: You can also drop PDF files into your notes.
• Cool Trick: Here’s something really neat: Evernote can actually read the words inside your pictures and PDF files! So if you take a picture of a sign, you can search for words on that sign later, even though it’s an image. How cool is that?

Organizing Your Digital Life

Now that you know how to save things in Evernote, let’s talk about keeping them neat and easy to find.

This is where notebooks, stacks, and tags come in.

Notebooks for Structure

We talked about notebooks before. They are like folders.

• Review: Remember, a notebook holds notes that are related.
  • How to Use Them:Think about different parts of your life or work. You might make a notebook called “Work Projects,” another for “Home Management,” and one for “Learning & Ideas.”
  • When you create a new note, choose the right notebook to put it in. This keeps things from getting messy.

Stacks for Super-Organization

Sometimes, you have a lot of notebooks that belong together. That’s where “stacks” help.

• What are Stacks? A stack is like a big folder that holds several notebooks. It helps you group notebooks.
  • How to Make One:On your computer, you can drag one notebook on top of another. Evernote will then ask if you want to create a new stack.
  • For example, you could have a main “Work” stack. Inside that stack, you might put notebooks like “Project Alpha,” “Meeting Notes,” and “Admin Tasks.” This keeps your main list of notebooks shorter and cleaner.

Tags for Flexibility

Tags are very helpful for finding notes in different ways.

• What are Tags? Tags are like labels or keywords you add to a note. You can add many tags to one note.
  • How to Use Them:When you’re looking at a note, you’ll see a spot to add tags. Just type a word like “#urgent,” “#idea,” or “#research.”
    • When to Use Tags vs. Notebooks:Use notebooks for main groups (like “Work” or “Personal”). A note usually lives in one notebook.
    • Use tags for keywords that can apply to notes across many notebooks. For example, a note in your “Work” notebook and a note in your “Home” notebook might both have the tag “#important.”
• Tip: Don’t use too many different tags. Try to be clear and use the same tags for similar things. This makes them more useful when you search later.

Finding What You Need: Search

The best part about organizing is being able to find things later!

• Simple Search: At the top of Evernote, there’s a search bar. Just type in a word or phrase you’re looking for.
• Search Smart: You can search within a specific notebook, or just for notes with a certain tag.
• Why Organization Helps: When you use notebooks, stacks, and tags well, Evernote’s search becomes even more powerful. You can quickly narrow down your search to find exactly what you need, fast!

Conclusion

So, there you have it! You’ve learned how to use Evernote.

It’s a great tool. It helps you get organized.

It helps you remember everything.

No more lost notes. No more forgotten ideas.

Evernote helps you keep all your important information in one place.

You can find it fast.

This means you can get more done.

You can feel less stressed.

Alternatives of Evernote

Here’s a look at Evernote against some popular alternatives, focusing on their standout features:

• Sembly: Best for team collaboration and managing projects, offering robust workflow tools beyond simple note-taking like Evernote.
• Notion AI: Integrates AI for smart content creation and organization within its flexible workspace, enhancing Notion’s powerful features.
• Fireflies AI: Excels at AI-powered meeting transcription and summarization, making it ideal for voice-to-text needs unlike Evernote.
• ClickUp: A comprehensive project management tool that handles tasks, docs, and goals across teams, more than just notes.
• Capacities: Focuses on linked thinking and object-based organization for creative professionals, offering a unique personal knowledge base.
• Taskade: Combines tasks, notes, and video chat in one tool for collaborative project outlines and checklists.
• Notejoy: Designed for fast team collaboration on notes, offering real-time editing and quick sharing for agile teams.
• Notta: Specializes in accurate real-time transcription and summary of audio, making meetings and lectures searchable.
• Craft: Offers beautiful document creation with powerful organization, ideal for writers and designers seeking elegant notes.
• MeetGeek: Automatically records, transcribes, and summarizes your meetings, providing highlights and action items efficiently.
• Mem AI: Uses AI to connect and organize your notes contextually, building a self-organizing knowledge base.
• Microsoft OneNote: A versatile digital notebook from Microsoft, deeply integrated with Office 365 for diverse note formats.

Frequently Asked Questions