Viewing two notes side by side

Last updated September 29, 2026

Split View shows two notes at once on web and desktop, either next to each other or one above the other. Keep a reference note open while you write, or compare two drafts without switching tabs. Each pane has its own row of tabs.

Open a split

Right-click a tab and choose Open to the Right or Open Below. That tab moves into a new pane with its own row of tabs, and your other tabs stay in the first pane.

You can also drag a tab to the right or bottom edge of the editor (see Drag a tab to split), or:

• Hold Alt (Option on a Mac) and click a note in the note list, a search result, or a link to another note in the preview. The note opens in the other pane’s row, and that pane becomes the one you’re working in. Hover a link in the preview for a reminder.
• Use Split Right or Split Down from the command palette, the keyboard, or the View menu on desktop. The note you’re editing moves into the new pane.

Working in two panes

One pane is active at a time: its selected tab has the colored bar along its top. Click or type in a pane, or click a tab in its row, to make it active. The formatting toolbar, find, and every editor command work on the active pane.

Moving from one pane to the other saves your changes, the same way switching tabs does.

Notes you open from the note list, search, or a link open in the active pane’s row. If the note is already a tab in the other pane, Notate switches to it there instead of opening it twice. The + at the end of each row makes a new note in that pane.

Each pane has its own view mode (Editor, Split, Live, or Preview) when View Mode Scope is set to per note. With the global setting, both panes share one mode.

Move tabs between panes

Right-click a tab and choose Move to Right Pane (or Left, Top, Bottom). The tab joins the end of the other pane’s row, and that pane becomes active. From the keyboard, Move Tab to Other Pane in the command palette does the same for the tab you’re on.

Drag a tab to split

Drag a tab out of its row and onto the editor. Outlines appear along the right and bottom edges: drop there to open the tab beside or below, and a highlight shows the space it will take before you let go. Dragging within the row still just reorders the tabs.

With a split open, drag a tab onto the other pane’s row to place it exactly where the line shows, or onto the other pane itself to add it to the end of that row. Press Esc to cancel a drag.

You need at least two tabs open, so one stays behind in the first pane. In a narrow window only the bottom edge is offered, since a split there shows one pane above the other anyway, and in a very narrow window dragging only reorders tabs.

To turn this off, go to Settings, Editor and switch off Drag Tabs to Split. Dragging then only reorders tabs within their row.

Resize and rearrange

• Drag the line between the panes to resize them. Double-click it to go back to an even split.
• Rotate Split switches between side by side and one above the other. Stacked, the bottom pane’s tabs sit just above it.
• In a narrow window, side-by-side panes stack one above the other. In a very narrow window only the active pane and its tabs show; use the Show button at the end of the row to switch to the other pane.

Close a split

Click the × at the top right of a pane, choose Close Split from a tab’s right-click menu, or press the shortcut. No tab closes: the closed pane’s tabs join the remaining row, after its own.

Closing the last tab in a pane also ends the split, and the other pane fills the space.

Notate remembers your split and both rows of tabs for each workspace, so they are still there the next time you open the app.

Shortcuts

See Keyboard shortcuts and the command palette.