Write with blocks

Every line in a document is a block. Start with a paragraph and add structure when you need it—without leaving the page.

1. Place the cursor in an empty paragraph.
2. Type / to open the quick block menu, or hover the left edge of a block and choose + (Add block). On phone and tablet, use Add block from the formatting toolbar.
3. Type a block name to narrow the results—for example heading, list, or callout. Choose More… when you want the full catalog.
4. Use the arrow keys and Enter to insert, or click the result. Press Escape to close the menu without inserting.

On desktop, hover the left edge of a block to reveal + and the drag handle. Drag the handle to reorder. Open the handle menu for Turn into, Duplicate, Copy as Markdown, Select, and Delete.

Turn into changes a text block among Paragraph, Heading 1–3, Bulleted list, Numbered list, and Checklist. The formatting toolbar’s block control does the same for the block under your selection. You can also move the current block with Option+↑ or Option+↓ (Alt+↑ / Alt+↓ on Windows).

Select text to open the formatting toolbar. Use Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Code, link, color, and highlight from there. Add note attaches a note to the selection; footnotes use the context menu—see the related guides.

At the start of an empty line, type a Markdown prefix and Space to change the block without opening a menu:

1. # — Heading 1
2. ## — Heading 2
3. ### — Heading 3
4. -, *, or + — Bulleted list
5. 1. — Numbered list
6. [] — Checklist
7. > — Quote
8. Three backticks — Code block
9. --- — Divider

A callout highlights a short note in the document. Insert one with /callout (or choose Callout from the block menu). Callouts are not in Turn into—insert them as their own block.

Choose the type control on the callout to set Note, Tip, Important, Caution, or Question. New callouts start as Note.

Copy as Markdown places a Markdown version of your selection on the clipboard. In the text context menu it appears next to Copy. It is also available from the block menu, and from the keyboard with Command+Shift+C on Mac (Ctrl+Shift+C on Windows) by default.

1. Select the text or blocks you want to copy.
2. Right-click and choose Copy as Markdown, or use the block menu, or press the shortcut.
3. Paste into another app that accepts Markdown or plain text.

Open Settings → Blocks to choose optional catalog blocks such as Diagram and Whiteboard. They start disabled until you install them. Existing documents that already contain those blocks still render after you remove them from the menu.

When you want another document open beside this one on desktop, use Open beside from a tab’s context menu.