Notes is synced to iPhones through iCloud and so shared notes created on
the Mac appear on everyone’s iPhone, which is great for shopping lists.Shared Notes
Family sharing with Apple Notes
Who can view?
If you want to know who can
access a shared folder or
note, select it and go to File>
View Participants. If a note or
folder is not shared, this menu
changes to Add People To.Shared icon
Folders that are shared have
a people icon to make them
stand out from the unshared
folders. Click it to access a
menu. Shared single notes
also have a small people icon.Upgrade Notes
Unfortunately, theAppleNotesappchangedinternally
from macOS Mojaveto Catalinaandthereis nowan
incompatibility betweenthem.Notescannotbeshared
across different versionsof macOSandeveryonemust
be on Catalina. Thisis anirritation,butCatalinais a
free upgrade, so itshouldnotbea problemto upgrade
other family members’Macs.Knowledge base
7
Share single notes
Instead of sharing a whole folder of
notes, share a single note. Select it and click
File>Add People To and choose the note. Set
permissions and invite people as before.8
Accept Notes invitations
What does it look like to receive a shared
Notes invitation? A URL is received by the
method selected, such as Messages. Click it
and then click ‘Open’ to accept the invite.9
Viewshared notes
If a folderis sharedwithyou,it appears
in thefolderslist.Selectit, createnewshared
notesor openexistingones.Sharedsingle
notesappearin yournoteslist.Watch for invitations
When a folder or note is shared,
invitations are sent via Mail,
Messages, AirDrop and so on. One
way or another you will receive a
link like this. Click it to access the
shared notes.Use iCloud
Folders of notes and single notes
can only be shared with family
and other people if everyone
syncs notes through their iCloud
account. Enable it in System
Preferences>Apple ID.