If you’ve been using Evernote the same way for years, you may be missing some powerful updates hiding inside the note editor.

Digital tools change over time. They add features. And if we’re not careful, we use today’s version as if it were something from a decade ago. We miss what’s new. If you’re a long-time Evernote user, I want to ensure you are up to date on fairly recent to brand-new features in the note editor.

Collapsible Headers

I’ve always preferred one long note over several short ones. When I need information quickly, especially from my phone, I want it in one place. The trade-off has always been scrolling. Collapsible headers solve that problem.

The key change: you have to use headers. You can’t collapse plain text. So instead of typing a section title, highlighting it, and bolding it, use Evernote’s built-in heading format.

Here’s how: type your text, add a space, then type a slash followed by 1, 2, 3, or 4. Each number sets the heading level from largest to smallest. Heading 4 is new.

This one habit gives your notes a clean, outlined structure automatically.

Collapsing and Expanding Headers

Once your headers are in place, mouse over any one of them. A small arrow appears to the left. Click it to collapse everything below that header, including lower-level headings and plain text. A very long note can shrink down to just a few top-level headers, all visible on a single phone screen.

Use Your Note as a Presentation

Here’s one of my favorite uses for collapsible headers: running a presentation from a single note, no slide deck needed.

Set up your note with level-one headers for each section of your talk. Introduction, three main points, and conclusion. As you move through the presentation, collapse what you’ve covered and expand what’s next. Your audience sees only what you want them to see.

You can share the note as a view-only link. Evernote allows this even for people without an account. Your audience can expand any header and explore the full detail beneath it. One note becomes your presentation and your handout.

You may have heard the term “slidument,” a slide so packed with text that it doubles as a document. Good slides are light on words and rich with images. The detail belongs in a document. With Evernote’s collapsible headers, you get both in one place.

How? You have the note on screen as you’re presenting. You have all headers collapsed. Everything else is hidden. As you start to talk about a major topic, expand that header. The audience will see the three or four points you’re about to make. The details about each of those points is still hidden. What’s on your screen stays neat and easy to read. Audience members have exactly the same information in front of them. But they are also able to see the details.

How? The audience members can expand and collapse any header. You have the header on screen and talk about it. The audience expands the header and sees all the details. It saves them from having to take notes. They can listen to you. Later, they can review the notes. And long after the presentation is over, if you make improvements to that note, those audience members will see the latest version of that note.

To show you how this feature works, here is the handout for this episode’s video and podcast. As you watch the video, you’ll see the major sections listed on a single screen. You’ll see headers expanded as I move from one section to the next. On your end, you can expand all headers to reveal a complete set of notes.

Header Links

Every header in Evernote has its own link. Mouse over any header. An icon resembling a chain link appears to the right. If you click that chain link, you’re copying a link that goes directly to that exact spot in the note.

Do you often have a task to perform, and there is reference information on Evernote that will help you do the task? Sometimes that reference information can be buried in the middle of a long note. I routinely grab those little header links and paste them into the task in Remember The Milk. When it’s time to work on a task, one click takes me to the right place in the right note. No searching. No scrolling.

Floating Table of Contents

Look at the right-hand margin of any Evernote note. See the faint gray horizontal lines? Mouse over that area, and watch a table of contents for that note appear. Click any entry in that list. You jump to that section instantly. If you work with long notes regularly, you’ll use this all the time.

Toggle Blocks

Also new is a feature called “toggle clocks.” Think of it as a fifth level of header. To create a toggle block, type a slash and start typing toggle. You can expand or collapse a toggle block. Any plain text below the toggle block will be hidden when it collapses. Toggle blocks do not show up in the Table of Contents.

Callouts

The very new addition to the note editor is “Callouts.” They’re a visual element that adds emphasis and makes your notes stand out.

To create one, type a slash and start typing “call.” Select the callout option from the menu. You can change the emoji, bold text, or italicize words inside it.

Callouts appear in shared notes. They even appear in the Lite Editor. They carry over into your shared presentations and handouts.

Getting What You Pay For

The Evernote story is an interesting one. To some, it’s a story of the tech darling that has lost its way, particularly with the price tag. Others see the story of a tech darling that continues to get better. They see a price tag, but they also see features that are richer than ever before.

The price change has cost Evernote many subscribers. Those who are looking for nothing more than a simple note-taker will find options that range from cheap to totally free.

At the same time, many people are unaware of what today’s Evernote can do. They compare today’s price tag with yesterday’s features.

If you’re paying for Evernote and not using what it offers, you’re not getting your money’s worth. There’s an old saying that “you get what you pay for.”

Let me add to that one: Get what you pay for. It removes one word. It’s a call to action. If you’re paying for features you’re not using because you simply don’t know they exist, it’s time to do something about it.

Evernote has been putting out more videos on its own channel. Those videos are centered around new features. You’ll find that channel here.

I also have a playlist on my YouTube channel devoted to Evernote. Please visit it here and enjoy the videos. Finally, I’ve written an ebook designed as a manual for using Evernote. It begins at the beginning. It includes not only the mechanics of using Evernote, but also my own strategies for best practice. To purchase and to view the other ebooks and other digital downloads, visit FrankBuck.gumroad.com. The time you spend really learning a tool is not time spent. It is time invested.

Evernote is where my reference information lives. It’s a core part of how I stay organized every day. I hope these features help you get more out of it, too.

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