Note Taking App That Converts Handwriting to Text: A Guide
By Schema LawPublished Updated
A note taking app that converts handwriting to text is easy to find: Goodnotes, OneNote, Notability, Apple Notes, Samsung Notes and reMarkable each document a way to turn pen strokes into typed words. Before client notes go into one, check three things in its documentation: what converts, where the notebook is stored, and how notes leave.
Everything said about a named app on this page comes from that vendor's own support pages, opened and read for this post. Nothing here rates how well any of them reads a given hand. Vendors change menus and plans, so treat each linked page as the current word and this post as a map to it.
Which note taking apps convert handwriting to text?
Six note taking apps document handwriting conversion on their own support pages: Goodnotes, Microsoft OneNote, Notability, Apple Notes, Samsung Notes and the reMarkable paper tablet. The conversion commands those pages describe all act on handwriting written inside the app with a stylus or finger, not on a scanned sheet of paper.
That last point decides whether a note app is the right tool at all. A note app recognizes ink it watched you write. It recorded each stroke, its direction and its order, and it reads from that record. A legal pad page that went through a scanner is a picture, and reading a picture is a different job. The post on handwritten text recognition explains the two kinds of recognition.
After you convert meeting notes, return to the ink for every name, date, amount, and initial. File the export beside the text so authentication is practical and the memo can serve as documentary evidence alongside that ink. If your impressions are in the note, mark the header with the work-product doctrine in mind. Name the export in the chain of custody.
So sort your handwriting before you pick an app:
| Your handwriting is | A note app helps? | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Not written yet: next week's client meeting | Yes, if you write on a tablet | The comparison table on this page |
| Already in a notebook inside a note app | Yes, with that app's convert command | The vendor's page for that app |
| On paper: legal pads, message slips, a client's letter | Not through the convert commands described here | Scanning handwriting for recognition |
If you have not settled on writing on glass at all, the post on kinds of handwriting to text app sets note apps beside keyboards, camera apps and web converters.
Searching ink versus converting ink: two features under one name
"Handwriting recognition" in a note app's feature list can mean two different things. Searching ink leaves your handwriting as handwriting and lets the app find a word inside it. Converting ink replaces or copies your handwriting as typed characters that you can paste into a memo. An app can document one without the other.
The difference matters because the two features answer different needs in a law office.
Search is for finding. You wrote "indemnity cap" somewhere in forty pages of meeting notes, and you want the page. The notes stay in your own hand, which is how you may prefer to keep them. Nothing has to be proofread, because nothing was turned into text that someone else will read. A missed search hit costs you some paging through the notebook.
Conversion is for reuse. You want the notes of a client call as paragraphs in a file memo. Now the recognized words become the document, and every misread name or figure travels with it. Conversion output has to be read against the ink before anyone relies on it.
Three questions separate the two when you read a vendor page:
- Does the page say "search" or "convert"? Goodnotes, for example, has one page on how to search your notes that lists handwriting among the content it indexes, and a separate page on converting handwriting to text. Two features, two pages.
- Does conversion keep the ink? Goodnotes describes its command as a way "to swap your handwriting for typed text". reMarkable documents two methods, one that keeps the handwritten page and one that removes the handwriting.
- Does either feature cover imported files? The Goodnotes search page says only PDFs that already contain an OCR layer are searchable, and that Goodnotes does not add OCR to imported PDFs. A scanned exhibit dropped into a notebook is outside both features on that description.
A vendor page that mentions recognition without saying which of the two it means has not answered the question. Test both on a page of your own notes before you depend on either.
What the vendors of six note apps document about handwriting
Each of the six vendors documents conversion in its own words, with its own conditions. The table gives the command, what the page says about search, and the stated language coverage. A cell that says "not stated" means the page opened for this post is silent, not that the feature is absent.
| App | Conversion, as documented | Handwriting search, as documented | Languages, as documented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goodnotes | Lasso Tool, then Convert > Text. The page says this is available on iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android and Web, and not on Windows | Search indexes handwriting | A list for Apple devices of thirteen languages; other platforms are covered separately |
| OneNote | Lasso Select, then Ink to Text on the Draw tab; the page says the option is not available in OneNote for Web | Not stated on the page opened | Other languages need handwriting support installed in Windows |
| Notability | Select tool, circle the ink, Convert, then Text | "You can search for handwriting across all of your notes or within a specific note" | Twenty-three listed; the app follows the device language unless you change it |
| Apple Notes | The Scribble tool transcribes as you write with Apple Pencil; selected handwriting can be pasted as typed text in another note or app | "You can search handwritten text (in supported languages) in Notes" | Apple points to its feature availability site |
| Samsung Notes | Write with the S Pen, tap the clean up icon, then Convert to text | Not stated on the page opened | Chosen under Settings, Handwriting language |
| reMarkable | Convert to text in the Document settings menu makes a new typed page; the selection tool converts in place | Not stated on the page opened | Thirty-three listed, set under Language and keyboard |
The sources, one per row: Goodnotes' pages on converting handwriting and searching notes; Microsoft's page on taking handwritten notes in OneNote; Notability's page on handwriting and math conversion; Apple's iPad guide page on drawings and handwriting in Notes; Samsung's support answer on handwriting tools in Samsung Notes; and reMarkable's article on converting handwritten notes into text.
Conditions worth reading before you choose
- Platform. Goodnotes excludes Windows from conversion. Microsoft's OneNote page applies to OneNote for Microsoft 365, OneNote 2024, OneNote 2021 and OneNote 2016, and excludes the web version.
- Convert while writing. Microsoft documents a separate ink to text pen that converts as you write in OneNote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, on devices running Windows 11 23H2 with update KB5031455, in nine listed languages. Apple's Scribble tool is the equivalent in Notes.
- Plan. Notability's subscription FAQ lists "the ability to convert handwriting and math into typed text" under its Plus plan, and "handwriting recognition" under its one-time Classic purchase. Read that page for the current tiers.
- What is not converted. reMarkable says symbols such as mathematical notations and diagrams are not converted, while bullet points are supported.
Three of the six have their own posts here, each built from the vendor's pages: Goodnotes handwriting recognition, OneNote handwriting to text and Notability handwriting to text. The same goes for Apple Notes, Samsung Notes and reMarkable.
The table does not say which app reads your writing best, because no vendor page can. That depends on your hand, and the way to find out is a test on your own pages. The post on checking a handwriting app before client notes go into it gives the list of things to check.
Where does a note taking app keep the notebook with your client notes?
A note taking app keeps a notebook in one or more of three places: on the device, in the device maker's cloud, or in the app vendor's own cloud. Which applies depends on the app, the platform and the sync setting you chose. Read the vendor's storage page before client notes go in.
Two vendors show how much the answer can vary inside a single app.
Goodnotes. Its Goodnotes Cloud FAQ says Goodnotes Cloud powers Goodnotes on Android, Windows and Web, that it uses third-party cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, and that data may be transferred to servers outside your country. The same page says its inactivity policy does not apply to notes stored locally or in iCloud, so the Apple versions can sit somewhere else entirely.
Notability. Its storage FAQ says the app keeps all notes on the device by default, that notes are stored on the iCloud account if iCloud syncing is enabled, and that third-party backup makes copies of notes onto a cloud storage service. It adds a detail that matters at file closing: deleting a note in Notability does not delete the backup copy.
Conversion can add a network step of its own. reMarkable's article requires Wi-Fi and a signed-in account before a page will convert. Apple's guide page on entering text with Scribble says the opposite about its tool: "Scribble converts your handwriting to text directly on your iPad".
Storage questions to answer for any note app
- With my settings, is the notebook on the device only, in the device maker's cloud, or in the app vendor's cloud?
- Is that account a personal one or one the firm controls?
- Does converting or searching handwriting need a connection, and what does the vendor say is sent?
- Are there backup copies, and does deleting a note remove them?
- What happens to stored notes if the subscription lapses or the account goes unused? Goodnotes, for one, publishes an inactivity rule for its cloud.
- If the tablet is lost, who can open the app?
Write the answers down once per app and keep them with the firm's software records. Whether the answers are acceptable for client information is a professional judgment for you and your firm; the post on privilege and confidentiality duties with AI tools covers that ground.
Typed text, handwriting and audio in one note: what converts and what stays
In a mixed note, conversion acts on the handwriting you select and nothing else. Typed text is already text. Sketches, arrows and pasted images stay as they are. An audio recording stays audio unless the app has a separate transcription feature, which is a different function with its own conditions.
Take a note from a client meeting with four kinds of content on one page: a typed heading, two paragraphs of handwriting, a hand-drawn diagram of a property boundary and a recording of the conversation.
| Content | What a convert command does with it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Typed heading | Nothing; it is text already | That export keeps it in place |
| Handwritten paragraphs | Becomes typed text if you select it | Whether the ink is kept or swapped |
| Diagram | Left alone, or misread as characters if you include it in the selection | Select around it |
| Audio | Not touched by handwriting conversion | Whether the app transcribes audio, and where |
Ink and audio tied together
Notability documents a link between the two. Its page on recording and playing audio says audio recordings are linked to your annotations, and that while playing the audio you can tap anything in a note to jump to that point in the recording. That link runs from ink to sound. If you convert the handwriting, test on a spare note whether the typed text still jumps to the recording before you convert a note you care about. The page does not say.
Audio transcription is separate again. Notability's page on audio transcripts says audio is processed when the device is connected to the internet. A recording of a client conversation raises consent and confidentiality questions that handwriting does not, and they belong to the rules of your jurisdiction, not to the app.
Keep the handwritten version
Where the vendor says conversion replaces the ink, convert a duplicate of the page, or use a command the vendor documents as leaving the original in place. reMarkable's article, for one, recommends its Document settings method "for non-destructive conversion". Your handwritten page is the record of what you wrote at the time. The typed version is a reading of it.
Leaving a note taking app: exporting notebooks with handwriting intact
Leaving a note taking app means exporting every notebook in a format another program can open, and the vendors document PDF and image formats for that. A PDF or image keeps the look of the handwriting. Whether it keeps the handwriting searchable, or carries your converted text, depends on the app and the export option.
What three of the vendors list:
- Goodnotes. Its page on exporting documents or pages lists three formats on iOS: a Goodnotes document that "can only be opened in Goodnotes", PDF (editable or flattened) and image. On Android, Windows and Web the page describes export as PDF. Exporting a folder produces a .zip that preserves the folder structure.
- Notability. Its page on sharing notes lists PDF, Note, JPEG, PNG and NTB. The audio page says choosing PDF with the Recordings toggle on shares the note as a .zip that includes the recordings.
- reMarkable. Its conversion article says converted notes can be sent by email as a PDF, PNG or inline text, or uploaded to cloud services.
An exit test to run before you commit
Run this on one real notebook in the first week, not the last:
- Export the notebook as PDF. Open it on a computer that does not have the app.
- Check the page count and page order against the notebook.
- Search the PDF for a word you wrote by hand. If nothing is found, the export is a picture of your handwriting and search stayed behind in the app. The post on converting handwritten notes to PDF has a fuller set of tests for a PDF exported from a note app.
- Look for the typed text you converted. Confirm it is in the export and selectable.
- If the note has audio, find the recording in the export and play it.
- Export a whole folder and note how long it takes and what the files are called.
A notebook that fails step 3 is still a faithful copy, and for a closed file that may be all you need. If you need the words, an exported PDF or image of handwriting can go through recognition like any other scan. Schema Law accepts a PDF, PNG or JPEG of up to 20 MB and reads the pages into text; its answers to common questions say recognition is weaker on handwriting and that nothing marks a passage as uncertain, so the output needs the same reading against the page. The post on what software can and cannot do with handwriting sets expectations.
Whatever the format, file the export under the matter and in the firm's document system. A notebook that lives only inside an app on one person's tablet is not yet part of the file.