Notion, a modular productivity app, is rapidly gaining popularity and its user base has quadrupled. The company made the app available for free for students and educators. And now, Notion has made the software completely free for personal use (previously $5 per month).
Many users are trying the Notion app for the first time and have a hard time giving up due to its complexity. Unlike competitors like Evernote and OneNote, Notion does not offer any fixed toolbars for editing at the top. There are no Notebooks, sections, labels for the organization. Instead, Notion offers just a plain white canvas to get started.
Major editing functions, sharing, page lock, etc. are neatly placed in different parts of the app. Notion shows only the required ones to the user, instead of throwing all the features to the user.
In this article, we’ll cover the top eleven Notion tips and tricks. This helps you navigate popular Notion terms like Workspace, Blocks, ability to share pages, Notion commands, third-party app integration, and more. Let’s check them out.
1. Create a Workspace
Each time the productivity app assigns a different term for its folders and workspaces. Evernote and OneNote call them Notebooks, Trello boards, and Google Docs provides folders for organizing documents and notes. Notion challenges all kinds of opponents like Evernote, Trello, Google Docs, Dropbox Paper and more.
The company refers to the layout as Workspace to define the default notebook in the app. You can create multiple workspaces. You can add multiple pages from a workspace and create more pages within those pages. You can even link one page to any aspect of another page. This is how the default organization of pages works in Notion.
2. Use Concept Blocks
Notion uses blocks to organize everything on pages. However, what exactly is a block in Notion? Each sentence, clipboard, photo, video or web link is turned into a separate block. At the beginning of each block you will see a small six-dot icon. When you move the cursor there, you will see a hand icon that allows you to drag and drop the block anywhere on the page.
This is also called a modular approach, which has made Notion popular with users. Be prepared to see similar practices in other competing services.
3. Use ‘/’ Command
As mentioned earlier, Notion does not offer any toolbar for editing. So how do you change the font, color, blocking the background, adding links and more? Use the ‘/’ command. You can type ‘/’ to open a floating menu that lets you add bullets, numbers, a block quote, color, separator, add media, integrate files from Google Drive, Figma, Invision, Tweet and more.
It is extremely powerful and intuitive to use. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll see the true potential of Notion’s editing capabilities.
4. Use Icons and Covers
At the start of each page, you can add an icon, cover, and discussion topic to set the page mood. Concept refers to emojis as icons. You can tap on add icon to set an icon for the page. Use add cover to integrate a nice looking wallpaper for the Notion page. Notion has partnered with Unsplash to provide thousands of wallpapers for free.
5. Add Page as Favorite
There is no direct way to organize Notion with tags. It only offers the ability to bookmark a page for easy access. On any page, you can tap the Favorite option at the top and be added to a separate Favorite section in the sidebar.
6. View Page Updates
When you create a page from scratch, you go through dozens of changes to make a page look the way you want it to be. Notion tracks every change on a page. You can tap the updates option and go back in time to see the changes you made on the Notion page.
7. Share the Page with Others
Notion aims to replace Google Docs as well. And as expected, it offers the same if not better sharing capabilities in the software. After you create a page, you can share it with other Notion users from the top of the share menu.
Tap the Share button at the top, select add contact and add email id. You can also set view/edit permission for the user. You will see added users and even remove them from the same Share menu.
8. Lock Page
Notion does not offer the ability to password protect a page. Instead, you can lock a page to prevent accidental editing. You can turn on Page Lock from the three-dot menu and it will lock the page for further editing. Tap the Lock icon to unlock the page for editing.
9. Use Dark Mode
Notion supports dark theme as well. You can tap on Settings and Members and turn on dark mode. Even better, you can use Command + Shift + L for Mac or Ctrl + Shift + L to toggle the dark theme on and off.
Speaking of Notion shortcuts, read our dedicated Notion keyboard shortcuts post to use Notion like a pro.
10. Use Concept Templates
Built-in Notion templates take the overall software experience to the next level. There is a template for every use case. You can browse the Notion template library, which consists of ready-to-use templates created by company and community members. It’s neatly categorized, including Design, Project, Personal, Productivity, Sales, Help, and more.
11. Install Notion Web Clipper
As the name suggests, Notion web clipper is in a Chromium extension that you can download from the Chrome Web Store. You can use the extension to trim articles, web bookmarks directly to Notion. It works similarly to the OneNote web clipper.
Start Your Idea Journey
Notion has taken a unique approach with a product offering different from its traditional competitors. Create a Notion workspace, review the tips above, and take some time to create personalized pages. Let us know about your favorite Notion function in the comments section below.
Next: Concept templates are an integral part of the software experience. Use the post below to find the top eleven Notion templates to boost your productivity.
Support our work ❤️
If you enjoyed this article, consider leaving a tip to help us keep publishing great content.
