Capture a note without leaving your screen

Use the Notes dock to jot a quick note or capture one about the record on screen.

In short

The Notes dock lets you jot a note without leaving your screen. With a record on screen, it captures a note about that record and lists the notes already anchored to it.

Before you start

Who: anyone with Notes on.
Plan: every plan.
First: single-key shortcuts must be on for N to open the dock.

Capture a note

Press N (on any screen except Notes), the Notes chip in a record's title row, or "Open Notes" in the command palette.
Type in the box. The first line becomes the title, the rest the text; Shift+Enter starts a new line.
Press Enter to save. With a record on screen, the note is anchored to it.

Good to know

With no record on screen, "Jot something down" saves a quick note to your own notebook, and the dock lists your pinned notes and the ones you edited last.
The dock shares the right edge with Help and Ask AI; one is open at a time, and the Help · Notes · Ask AI tabs at its top switch between them.
"Open Notes" at the foot goes to the Notes screen. With Planner on and a record on screen, "Add to Planner" makes a task about it.
On a phone, open Search, then Open Notes.
When you can write in more than one notebook, pick the notebook under the capture box. Your choice is remembered for the workspace, so next time N and then Enter files the note in the same notebook.

If something goes wrong

N does nothing: Single-key shortcuts is off in Settings › Appearance & language, or the cursor is in a text field.
The dock lists no notes for a record: none you can open are anchored to it yet.