Q. How do I use Notes in Zotero?

Zotero's Notes feature can help you record information about your research. There are two types of notes you can create:

• Standalone notes
  • These exist as independent items in your library.
  • They are useful for general notes about a collection or project and for research planning notes.
• Item notes
  • These are attached to specific citations.
  • They are useful for taking notes about the source they are attached to.
  • Before Zotero 7, these were called child notes, and this language may still appear in some places.

Whether you are creating a standalone note or an item note, you will have the same editing, formatting, and tagging options.

• Desktop App
• Web Library
• Mobile App

Desktop App

Create a Standalone Note

1. Go to My Library or the specific collection you would like to save the note to.
2. In the top navigation, click the "New Note" icon, which looks like a sticky note.
   
3. Click "New Standalone Note" in the pop up menu.
4. Edit the note in the right pane and select off of it to save.

Create an Item Note

1. Click the citation you want to add a note to. From here, there are two options for adding an item note.
2. Option 1: after clicking the citation, click the New Note icon, which looks like a sticky note, in the top navigation.
   
   1. Select "New Item Note" in the menu that pops up.
   2. Edit the note in the right pane and select off of it to save.
3. Option 2: after clicking the citation, scroll in the panel to the right to the "Notes" heading or select the "Notes" icon, which looks like a sticky note.
   
   1. In the "Notes" heading, click "Add," which looks like a plus sign.
      
   2. Edit the note in the right pane and select off of it to save.

Editing Your Note

• Write in the text box to create your note.
• You can click the More button (three dots icon) to select to edit the note in a new window.
  
• A variety of formatting options will appear in a bar above the text box.
  
• Some of the formatting options include:
  • A drop-down menu of paragraph and heading styles that also includes options such as lists, bold, italicize, underlined, strike through, superscript, and subscript
  • Changing text and highlight text color
  • Adding links
  • Adding Zotero citations
• There is also a find and replace icon that looks like a magnifying glass.
• Below the text box are options to let you add tags and add related items to your note.

Delete a Standalone Note

1. Select the note in your library.
2. Secondary click on the note. How to do this will vary based on what device you are using:
   1. Windows computer: right click with mouse
   2. Mac computer: press Ctrl while clicking with mouse
   3. Touchscreen: press and hold
   4. Touchpad: press with two fingers
3. Click "Move Item to Trash."
   
4. Click "OK" in the box that opens.

Delete an Item Note

1. Click the citation with the note you want to delete and scroll to the "Notes" heading or select the "Notes" icon, which looks like a sticky note.
2. Click the "Remove" icon, looks like a minus sign in a circle, to the right of the note.
   
3. Click "OK" in the box that pops up.

Web Library

Create a Standalone Note

1. Go to your library and open either All Items or the specific collection you would like to save the note to.
2. In the top navigation, click the "New Standalone Note" icon, which looks like a sticky note with the bottom right corner turned up.
   
3. Select "New Standalone Note."
4. Edit the note in the right pane and select off of it to save.

Create an Item Note

1. Find the citation you want to add a note to.
2. In the information panel on the right, select the Notes tab.
   
3. Click "Add Note."
   
4. Edit the note in the right pane and select off of it to save.

Editing Your Note

• Write in the text box to create your note.
• Above the text box are a number of tabs that give you the ability to format and categorize your notes.
  
• In the Notes tab, a variety of formatting options will appear in a bar above the text box.
  
• Some of the formatting options include:
  • A drop-down menu of paragraph and heading styles that also includes options such as lists, bold, italicize, underlined, strike through, superscript, and subscript
  • Changing text and highlight color
  • Adding links
  • The insert button, which can add images, tables, and math blocks
• There is also a find and replace icon that looks like a magnifying glass.
• Switching to the Tags tab will let you add tags to your note. The Related tab will display any citations you marked as related in the Desktop app.

Delete a Standalone Note

1. Select the note in your library.
2. Click the "Move to Trash" icon, which looks like a trash can.
   

Delete an Item Note

1. Find the note you want to delete in the Notes tab.
2. Click the three dots ("...") icon to the right of the note. You may need to hover the cursor over the note for the icon to appear.
   
3. Select "Delete."

Mobile App

Create a Standalone Note

1. Go to your library and open either All Items or the specific collection you would like to save the note to.
2. Select the plus sign icon in the top right of the screen.
   
3. In the menu that comes up, select "New Standalone Note."
   
4. Edit your note and then select Done.

Create a Item Note

1. Find the citation you want to add a note to.
2. Select the information icon for the citation, which looks like a lower-case letter "i" in a circle.
   
3. On the information page, scroll down to the Notes heading.
4. Select "Add note."
   
5. Edit your note and then select Done.

Editing Your Note

• Write in the text box to create your note.
• A variety of formatting options will appear on two lines at the top of the page. You can swipe the top row for more options.
  
• Some of the formatting options include:
  • Bold, italicize, underlined, strike through, superscript, and subscript
  • A drop-down menu of paragraph and heading styles
  • Changing text and highlight color
  • Marking quotations with a block quote
  • Adding links
  • Creating bulleted or numbered lists
• There is also a find and replace icon that looks like a magnifying glass.
• You can also add tags to your note at the bottom of the page.
  
• Select Done in the top right when you are finished editing.
• You can reopen a Note for editing by selecting the Note in the list on the information page for the citation.

Delete a Standalone Note

1. Find the note you want to delete.
2. Swipe left on the note.
   
3. Select the trash can icon that appears.
   

Delete a Item Note

1. Find the citation you want to remove a tag from.
2. Select the information icon for the citation, which looks like a lower-case letter "i" in a circle.
3. On the information page, scroll down to the Notes heading.
4. Find the note you want to remove and swipe the note right.
   
5. A red button saying "Move to Trash" should appear. Select it to delete the note.