How to use the actions menu in Notes app on iPhone and iPad

Get quick and easy access to the most common actions of the Notes app on iPhone and iPad by learning how to use the handy actions menu for an individual note, folder, or sub-folder.

Note Folder actions menu on iPad

An actions menu appears for both a note and a folder, allowing you to do things like pin, lock, or copy a note, as well as add people and view attachments.

Here’s what you’ll find with the enhanced action menus in the Apple Notes app on iOS and iPadOS.

Note actions menu

You can access the actions menu by tapping the three dots at the top of the individual open note. You’ll notice that you have a few actions pinned to the top for easy access: Scan, Pin/Unpin, and Lock.

Below these, you’ll see your other options to Find in Note, Move Note, insert Lines & Grids, Delete, and more. You can even customize the toolbar to remove options you do not use.

Note actions menu inside Apple Notes app on iPad

Folder actions menu

To access the actions menu for a folder, select a folder and then tap the three dots on the top right.

From here, you can view your notes not as a list but in gallery view as individual thumbnails. You can also share the folder or add a sub-folder using the Add Folder option. Apart from these, you have the handy options to move this folder, rename it, select multiple notes before you take collective action, sort by, date grouping, or view all the attachments.

Folder actions menu inside Apple Notes on iPad

Additional folder actions menu

You have one other spot that offers a folder actions menu.

To use it, make sure you’re in Folders view with All iCloud and other folders showing here.

Next, tap Edit from the top of your Folder list, and you’ll see three dots to the right of each folder while in this edit mode. From here, you can share a folder or sub-folder, add new folders, move the folder, rename it, group by date, delete it, or convert it to a Smart Folder that will automatically catch relevant notes and show it inside that folder.

Additional folder actions menu in iPad Notes app

On a related note (pun intended):