How to save notes in one place

Most people don’t have one notes app. They have four or five. Shopping lists and quick thoughts in Apple Notes or Google Keep, project pages in Notion, an old Evernote account that still holds years of clippings, meeting notes in Google Docs, and a paper notebook for anything written by hand. Each choice made sense when it was made. The cost comes when you remember writing something down and can’t work out where.

This guide covers how people usually try to keep notes together, why it tends to drift apart again, and how to bring notes from different apps and from paper into Fabric so they sit in one library you can search by meaning.

How people usually try to keep notes together

The first approach is picking one app and promising to use it for everything. A simple app like Apple Notes is quick to open but has limited structure once you have hundreds of notes. A flexible one like Notion can hold anything, though people often find it needs a lot of setup, and the system can fall apart in a busy month.

Moving everything over by hand is the second. Copying notes from one app into another works for a few dozen. With years of notes, the move tends to stall halfway, leaving two half-used apps instead of one.

The third is leaving each note where it is and searching each app in turn. Every app has its own search, and most match on keywords, so a note has to be found using the words you happened to write at the time. Note-taking basics covers the habits that make notes easier to use whichever app holds them.

Step 1: Bring over notes from other apps

Fabric has import functions for Evernote and Notion, so a large archive from either can come across without copying notes one at a time.

For notes you keep working on in Google Docs or Notion, connect the app instead. Go to the Fabric marketplace, choose the app, click Install, sign in and grant permissions. Connections let Fabric search and the AI assistant work with those documents alongside your own notes. Connections need a paid plan.

For notes in Apple Notes, Google Keep or another phone app, open the note, tap Share and choose Fabric. Text sent this way becomes a Fabric note. On a computer, copy the text and paste it into Fabric; pasted text becomes a note too. Markdown, TXT, DOCX and HTML files can be dragged in or uploaded with Upload a file.

Step 2: Write new notes in Fabric

Once the old notes are in, make Fabric the place you start new ones. Notes and docs sit in the same library as your files, saved links and recordings, so a note about a project can live in the folder with that project’s documents.

The apps are on the web, Mac, Windows and Linux, and iOS and Android, so a note started on the laptop is there on the phone. Get the phone app from the mobile download page.

For quick capture when you’re away from a keyboard, forward a note to your Fabric email address from any mail client, or paste text into the app and Fabric saves it as a note.

Step 3: Add handwritten and spoken notes

Paper notes can join the same library. Photograph a page with the handwriting scanner in the mobile app, or upload an image, and Fabric turns it into a structured note with headings, lists and diagrams kept and the original photo saved alongside. The scanner is free.

If you think better out loud, start a voice note in any Fabric app. When you stop, Fabric produces a write-up from what you said. Voice notes need a paid plan.

Step 4: Let Fabric sort them

Each note is processed when it arrives. Fabric creates embeddings so search can match by meaning, writes a summary, extracts the concepts it covers, and suggests tags. Smart collections fill themselves from that content, so a collection for recipes, book ideas or a particular client gathers matching notes from whichever app they came from.

Folders, spaces, tags, kanban view and canvas are all there if you like more structure. They’re optional. If you follow a method, Fabric works with it; Building a Second Brain is one many people use for this kind of library.

Step 5: Find and use any note

Press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows) and describe the note. Search matches by meaning and keyword across typed, imported, scanned and transcribed notes, so “idea for a birthday trip somewhere warm” can find a note that only said “Lisbon? Seville? in March”. Use quotes for exact words.

To work across many notes, open a folder and ask the AI assistant. It’s limited to that folder and cites the notes it used. Asking it to pull together everything you’ve written about a project is a quick way to see where your thinking has got to, and the answer can be saved as a new note.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best app to keep all my notes in one place?

Look for one that can take notes from your other apps, handle handwriting and voice, and search by meaning. Fabric covers those, and it can import notes from Evernote and Notion.

Can I import my Evernote notes?

Yes. Fabric has an import function for Evernote.

Can I move my notes from Notion?

Yes. Fabric can import from Notion, or you can connect Notion so search and the AI assistant work with those pages. Connections need a paid plan.

How do I get my Apple Notes into Fabric?

Open a note, tap Share and choose Fabric. The text is saved as a Fabric note. On a Mac, you can also copy the text and paste it into Fabric.

Can I keep handwritten notes with my typed ones?

Yes. Photograph pages with the free handwriting scanner and they become structured notes in the same library.

Can I search all my notes at once?

Yes. Search covers every note in Fabric by meaning and keyword, and connected apps through the knowledge search panel.

Can I use Fabric for notes on my phone and laptop?

Yes. Fabric has apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux as well as the web, and they all open the same library, so a note written on one device is there on the others.

Do I need to set up folders before I start?

No. Folders and tags are optional. Fabric suggests tags, smart collections fill themselves, and search works without any filing.

Can I write notes in Fabric on the free plan?

Yes. Notes, the handwriting scanner and file uploads are on the free plan. Connections and voice note transcription need a paid plan; see pricing.