Inspiring

Answered

How do you view a note?

Forum|Forum|1 day ago
February 23, 2026
6 replies
127 views

I can’t find any way to show the content of a note. Anyone?

Correct answer rob day

The question is how I directly show the note text from the anchor that appears on-screen.

Use the Note tool and click on the note when it is highlighted with a bounding box:

P

Pickory

Legend

There are some scripts that list the notes in a palette.

This one is from me.

https://www.kerntiff.co.uk/free-stuff/notenavigator

Another created with Mate.

https://kerntiff.com/Mate/Notes%20script/Floating%20palette%20listing%20and%20editing%20all%20notes%2C%20sorted%20by%20document%20and%20page.jsx.zip

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Three options to navigate the notes, all already mentioned on this thread. I think perhaps you are hoping for a different answer, but we can’t help with that. All we can do is explain the features.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n4EzXxsXiU

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

T

Thomas_CalvinAuthor

Inspiring

I understand, Barb, but there was a lot of answering something I didn’t ask.

I’ve also shown that the method depicted in the video and helpfully suggested by @jmlevy doesn’t currently work.

In the end, it looks like notes in InDesign are another near-useless, aborted “feature” that is expected, routine, and functional in other software.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Hi @Thomas_Calvin:

Actually, @jmlevy is correct but only on Windows. He doesn’t know you are on macOS. It’s always helpful to remind folks what version on InDesign you are using and what OS as you ask each question.

Most users are on Windows, so many Experts will make that assumption if the OP doesn’t let us know. We are all volunteers taking time out of our day to help others. We do our best.

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Once you have the panel open you also have to click on the Go to Next / Previous Note buttons which will advance the insertion point to the Note text.

Mike Witherell

T

Thomas_CalvinAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks Mike. So you have to sit there and iterate through every note in the document until you hit the one that’s on the page you’re looking at? How do you even know when you reach the correct one?

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Thomas,

Try pressing Cmd/Ctrl+Y to open the text into Story Editor mode. You might find it easier to navigate and read from there. I also visit Preferences > Story Editor Display... to make my Story Editor mode really gigantic type (24pt for me) and set to display double-spaced with a thick, blinking cursor. Now navigate the Notes panel while that Story Editor Display mode is open, and perhaps you will find it less ambiguous.

Mike Witherell

rob day

Community Expert

Hi @Thomas_Calvin You may have missed my reply in your other post

Window>Editorial>Notes

For New Note to be available the selection has to be an Insertion Point. There is also the option to convert a range of text into a note—select some text and Convert to Note from the panel flyout

T

Thomas_CalvinAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks… but I don’t know what that has to do with my question. I did see (and appreciate) your remark about notes before. But this is about how to view a note, not create one.

rob day

Community Expert

Not sure how to make it clearer, in my captures I’m viewing the 2 example notes I created in the Notes panel—Wrong Font, and Fix this text. You use the Notes panel to both create and view Notes.