Dina Bader: Share and collaborate with others in real-time in Notes on iOS

The Notes app lets you store ideas, thoughts, lists, and more. But you can even share and collaborate with others too!

Sometimes, the notes you write are important for others, too. If you've created a shopping list that you want to share with your spouse or lecture notes that you want to collaborate on with classmates, you can share and work on those notes in real-time using the Notes app. It's easy to invite others to collaborate with you and get working right away. You just need to share it with their Apple ID.

How to invite people to make changes to notes
How to work on a note in real-time with others
How to see what has changed in a note, even if you're not working in real-time
How to change permissions on a shared note
How to stop receiving notifications about changes to a note
How to stop sharing a note
How to remove individual access to a note

How to invite people to make changes to notes

Once you've started a note, you can invite others to view and collaborate on it with you.

Open the Notes app.
Select a note to share and edit with others.
Tap the Collaborate icon at the top of the screen. It looks like the silhouette of a head with a plus sign (+) next to it.
Choose how you would like to send the invitation: You can use Message, Mail, social media, or productivity apps.
Enter the recipients' names. You can send invites individually or as a group.
Tap the arrow in the text field to send.

The recipients will receive a link to the note in iCloud, which they can then use to collaborate on iPhone and iPad running iOS 10 or later or on iCloud with a Mac or PC.

How to work on a note in real-time with others

Once invited, others can begin editing and adding content to your note. Whether it's a checklist, photo, or sketch, everyone can collaborate.

You can see, in real-time, the phrases being edited. When another person is editing a note, you'll see their words highlighted on the screen. If you come across such activity, try to hold off adding your own information until the other person is finished. This, unfortunately, can cause some complications when multiple people are trying to edit the same thing. Since updates are synced via iCloud, you might start typing something, only to see it disappear a few seconds later.

How to see what has changed in a note, even if you're not working in real-time

You can see changes others have made with the Highlight Changes feature. This makes it easier to see what's been added without having to watch it change in real-time.

Open the Notes app.
Navigate to the Note you are sharing.
Tap the Collaborate icon. It looks like a silhouette of a head with a checkmark icon next to it.
Tap the Highlight All Changes switch to turn it on.

The color of the highlight will be based on the person that made the changes.

How to change permissions on a shared note

Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap on the collaborative note that you want to edit permissions on.
Tap the Collaborate button. It looks like a silhouette of a head with a checkmark next to it.
Tap Share Options.
Select whether you want to let people Make Changes or View Only.

How to stop receiving notifications about changes to a note

If you don't want to hear a distracting "ding" every time someone makes, even a minor change to a note you're collaborating on, you can quiet your note and your nerves.

Open the Notes app.
Navigate to the Note you are sharing.
Tap the Collaborate icon. It looks like a silhouette of a head with a checkmark icon next to it.
Tap the Hide Alerts switch to turn it on.

How to stop sharing a note

Once you've finished working on a note with your group and don't need any more editing help, you can stop sharing it with the group. Here's how.

Open the Notes app.
Navigate to the Note you are sharing.
Tap the Collaborate icon. It looks like a silhouette of a head with a checkmark icon next to it.
Tap Stop Sharing to remove all people from having access to the note.
Confirm that you want to stop sharing the note by tapping OK.

How to remove individual access to a note

If someone has left your project team, or you accidentally shared a note with someone that isn't on your team, you can also remove individual collaborators from the group.

Open the Notes app.
Navigate to the Note you are sharing.
Tap the Collaborate icon. It looks like a silhouette of a head with a checkmark icon next to it.
Swipe to the left and tap Remove
You can also tap a person's name and then tap Remove Access.