How to Use a Digital Planner in Goodnotes

By the Planfolk team · Updated: October 2026

A digital planner is a PDF with tabs and links built into its pages, so you tap your way around it like an app and write on it like paper. This guide covers how to use Goodnotes with a PDF planner from start to finish: getting the file off your download page, importing it, moving around with the tabs, adding pages and stickers, backing it up and printing a page when you want paper. We describe the standard features that note apps share, and menus move between app versions, so check your app's help pages for the current menus.

What you need

• An iPad with Goodnotes installed (Notability and other note apps work too; more on that below)
• A stylus if you want to write by hand, or the app's text tool if you prefer to type
• A hyperlinked PDF planner

Our examples use our own 2027 planners, which come as one ZIP with two PDFs, a Monday-start version and a Sunday-start version of the same 590 pages. The steps are the same for any PDF planner.

Step 1: Download and unzip the planner

1. Open the download link on your order page or in your confirmation email, and save the file to the Files app.
2. If it is a ZIP file, tap it in the Files app. It unpacks into a folder right next to it, with the PDFs inside.
3. Keep that folder somewhere safe, such as iCloud Drive or another cloud drive. If you ever want a clean start, you can import a fresh copy from there.

If you have two versions, as with Monday start and Sunday start, decide which one you want before you import. You can import both, but most people only use one.

Step 2: Import a PDF planner into Goodnotes

There are two common ways in:

• From the Files app: find the PDF, tap and hold it, choose Share, then pick Goodnotes.
• From inside Goodnotes: tap New, choose Import, then find and select the PDF.

Import it as a new notebook, not into an existing one, so the planner keeps its own cover and page order. A large planner can take a moment to import. Once it opens, give it a name you'll recognize, such as "2027 Planner".

How to use Goodnotes tabs and links

The tabs down the side of each page are links. Tap a month tab and you jump to that month. On our planners, a monthly calendar also links each date to its daily page and each week number to its week, and the Home page is never more than two taps away.

If a tab doesn't respond: most note apps follow links when you tap them in read-only or view mode. Switch to that mode, tap the tab, then switch back to your pen. Where that switch sits depends on your app and its version, so check your app's help pages if you can't find it.

A good first exercise is to open the planner's How to Use page, if it has one, and tap through a few links. In our 2027 planners, that page has small "Try it" links to practice on.

Step 3: Write, type and highlight

Pick a pen, a highlighter or the text tool and write on any page. A few habits help:

• Zoom in on small boxes, such as a habit tracker or a daily schedule, to write neatly.
• Choose two or three pen colors and give each one a meaning, for example one for work and one for family.
• On a dark planner, such as our Midnight design, use a light pen color. Black ink nearly disappears on navy.

Step 4: Duplicate pages when you need more room

Need a second notes page, or more lines for a busy week? Most apps let you duplicate a page from the page thumbnails view or the page menu. The copy appears right after the original.

One thing to know: the tabs on a copied page may not work in every app. If they don't, use your app's outline panel (Step 6) to jump to any section. Use duplicated pages for extra writing space, and the original pages for getting around.

Step 5: Use the stickers

In most digital planners, stickers are pages inside the PDF rather than separate files. To use one in Goodnotes:

1. Go to the sticker page and pick the lasso tool.
2. Draw a loop around the sticker you want.
3. Tap the selection, choose Take Screenshot, then Copy.
4. Go to the page you want, tap and hold, and paste. Move or resize it as you like.

In other apps, use their screenshot or crop tool to do the same. If you reuse the same stickers often, see whether your app can save them for quick access; in Goodnotes, look for an Add to Elements option on the selection.

Step 6: Use the outline panel

Many planners also include an outline, a list of bookmarks built into the PDF. In Goodnotes and most other note apps, open the panel that shows pages and outlines, then tap any entry to jump straight there. In our 2027 planners, the outline lists every month, week and day, so it is often quicker than paging through thumbnails. It is also the reliable way around if a link on a duplicated page doesn't work.

Step 7: Back up your planner

A planner fills up with a year of notes, so protect it.

• Look for an automatic backup option in your app's settings. Many note apps can send backups to a cloud service.
• Now and then, export the whole notebook as a PDF and save it to a cloud drive. That copy opens in any PDF app.
• Keep the original, blank PDF too, in case you ever want to start over.

Because menus change between versions, check your app's help pages for where the backup and export settings live today.

Step 8: Print a page

Digital planners are built for tablets first, but you can print any page:

1. Export just the page you want as a PDF. Most apps offer to export the current page or the whole notebook.
2. Print it with the page's own orientation. Our 2027 planners are landscape.
3. Choose "fit to page" on US Letter or A4.

Small labels print small, and dark designs use a lot of ink. For paper copies, a light design such as Modern Neutral or Sunny Pastel prints far more easily than Midnight.

Using Notability or another app instead

The same planner works in Notability. Share the PDF from the Files app to Notability, or use the Import option inside the app, and it opens as a new note. Noteshelf on iPad, and Xodo or Samsung Notes on Android tablets, also keep PDF links working. The ideas above carry over: tap links in view mode if needed, duplicate pages for space, use the outline panel and back up your notes. Only the menu names change.

Which planner to start with

All three of our 2027 planners have the same 590 pages and links, from a year overview and 12 monthly calendars to 53 weekly pages, 365 daily pages, trackers, notes and sticker sheets. Only the look changes:

• Modern Neutral: calm sand, sage and cream, with the full page-by-page tour on its product page
• Sunny Pastel: a soft color for every month on warm cream pages
• Midnight: deep navy pages with gold headings, for dark mode

The 2027 Fresh Start Bundle pairs the Sunny Pastel planner with a habit tracker, a budget planner and a vision and gratitude journal. You can compare every design in our digital planners, and how downloads work covers downloading, importing and printing on one page.

Questions

Do I need the paid version of Goodnotes?

Free and paid options change over time. Check the App Store listing and Goodnotes' own help pages for what the free version currently includes.

Can I use the planner on more than one device?

Many note apps sync notebooks through their own cloud or yours. Turn that on in your app's settings, and keep a backup either way.

Why don't the links work when I tap with my pencil?

In many apps a pencil tap writes rather than follows a link. Switch to read-only or view mode and tap the link, or press and hold the link and choose Open Link if your app offers that.

Can I move my notes to a new year's planner?

Not automatically. Each planner is its own PDF. You can copy text or a lasso selection from one notebook and paste it into the other.

Written by the Planfolk team, who design Planfolk's planners and templates.