Instant Notes is a feature of Apple's stock Notes app that enables you to make a fast note or return to a recently viewed note, without even needing to unlock your iPhone or iPad.


It's a really handy function to use if you want to quickly jot down something and then go about the rest of your day, or if you want to add to an existing note or refer back to one on the fly that you created earlier.

Instead of unlocking your device, opening the Notes app, and then creating a document, with Instant Notes you can start typing almost immediately. And as you'd expect, when Apple designed Instant Notes, it also factored in security. So when you create a new note with it, you can't access other existing notes in the Notes app unless you unlock your iOS device first.

It's the same story when you set up the Instant Notes feature so that it always returns you to your last viewed note. You can even choose how much time elapses before the last viewed note is no longer accessible without unlocking your device.

Before getting started with Instant Notes, you need to add Notes to your device's Control Center. The following set of steps show you how. After that, we'll show you how to set up Instant Notes on an ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ running iOS 11 or later, and then how you can use it.

How to Add Notes to the iOS Control Center

  1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌.
  2. Tap Control Center.
  3. Tap Customize Controls.
    settings

  4. Scroll down to More Controls.
  5. Tap on the "+" sign to the left of Notes to add it to Control Center.

How to Set Up Instant Notes on Your iPhone or iPad

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iOS device.
  2. Scroll down and tap Notes.
  3. Scroll down and tap Access Notes from Lock Screen.
    settings

  4. If you always want to create a new note each time you use Instant Notes, tap Always Create a New Note. If you only want to use this option, you can skip ahead to the next set of steps.
  5. To keep returning to a note you created earlier, tap Resume Last Note, and you'll see more options revealed on the screen.
    settings

  6. To always resume the last note you created from the Lock screen, tap Created on Lock Screen. To always resume the last note you created from within the Notes app when your device was unlocked, tap Viewed in Notes App.
  7. The last series of options lets you set up Instant Notes so that it sends you to a new note from the Lock screen After 5 minutes, After 15 minutes, After 1 Hour, After Today, or Never. The shorter the time limit, the safer your note will be from potential prying eyes.

How to Use Instant Notes on iPhone and iPad

Now that you've set up Instant Notes on your device, it's time to use it as it's intended, i.e. when your device is locked. Here's how it works.

  1. Raise your device to wake the screen.
  2. Access the Control Center: On an ‌‌iPad‌‌ with a Home button, simply double-tap the Home button; on ‌iPhone‌ 8 or earlier, swipe up from the bottom of the screen; and on a 2018 iPad Pro or ‌‌iPhone‌‌ X and later, swipe down from the upper right corner of the screen.
  3. Tap the Notes button you added to the Control Center previously.
    control center

  4. Simply start typing your new note, or check and/or add to the last note you viewed, depending on how you set up the feature.
  5. Tap Done when you're finished, then sleep your device's screen.

That's all there is to it. You can also access Instant Notes on ‌iPad‌ using an Apple Pencil.

Related Forum: iPad Accessories

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...