Goodnotes allows you to create shareable URLs for Notebooks so that you can share and work on documents together with multiple people, without the need to create a new Lesson.
This is great for working with other Teachers on plans and sharing important information with the whole faculty.
If you are on a Mac or an iOS device, make sure Cloud Sync is enabled in Menu > Cloud & Backup settings.
There are 2 ways to share a Notebook with others: Link Sharing or Invite Collaborators, both of which can be found in the Share Menu > Share.
Link Sharing
Sharing a Notebook with Link Sharing makes it public, and anyone with the link can access and edit it.
You can disable Link Sharing at any time, which will revoke access to the document for all users currently with access. We would recommend that you share links with trusted people only.
For extra protection, consider exporting your documents before sharing them to retain your original version, or duplicating them.
Enable Link Sharing
To enable Link Sharing, follow the steps below:
- Open a Goodnotes document that you want to share.
- Tap the Share icon in the Nav Bar > Select Share.
- In the pop up options, Enable Shareable Link
- Tap Copy Link
- You can now paste this link and send it to anyone, inside or outside of your Organization. Anyone with the link can view and comment on this notebook from their web browsers or, if they are a Goodnotes user, straight from the app.
Invite Collaborators
You can invite other Goodnotes users directly in the app, without having to send them anything!
To Invite Collaborators:
- Make sure Shareable Link is Disabled
- Type in the email account of the person you want to collaborate with. Make sure this is the Goodnotes Account they are currently using.
- Tap Invite
- That user will start seeing your Notebook in their Shared Tab
Tip: You can also access both of these Share options in the Library View without opening the Notebook!
Note: This feature currently has some limitations, and these won't be shown on the web:
- Some inserted Elements.
- Strokes erased with the Precision Eraser.
- Pages migrated from GoodNotes 4.
Accept and open shared documents
When someone else sends you a link to a shared Notebook, or invites you as a Collaborator, open the link from your device to open the document in your Goodnotes app directly.
All shared documents (that you shared or that others shared with you) will appear in the Shared tab in the Library View.
Tip: You can apply filters in the Shared tab for a more focused view.
Stop Sharing a Notebook
If you are the owner of a shared document, you can disable Link Sharing at any time, which will revoke access for all participants that have already accepted the share and the document will no longer be accessible via the URL. To disable Link Sharing, follow the steps below:
- If you are not the owner: From the Shared tab in Library View, tap on the down arrow next to the document and tap Leave Shared Document.
- If you are the owner: Tap the down arrow on your Notebook > Share Link to Collaborate > Disable Shareable Link or remove desired Collaborators depending on how you shared.
- Tap OK to confirm.
For Link Sharing: You can re-enable Link Sharing at any time, and the document will be accessible again via the same URL. The users who previously accepted the shared document can access it again via the shared URL but will need to re-download it.
Work with shared documents
By default, shared documents in your library are accessible through the Shared tab. They can be accessed via the respective shared URLs at any time, unless the owner disabled Link Sharing for the document.
Add a shared document to your own folder structure
You can add a document that is shared with you to your own folder structure, or add it to a Class Folder:
- Tap on the arrow next to the document in the Shared tab.
- Choose Add to My Documents or Duplicate to Institution to add it to a Class Folder.
- Select a Folder
- Tap Add to confirm the move.
The shared document is now added to your selected location and is still available through the Shared tab.
Important: When the owner of a shared document disables Link Sharing, the shared document will be removed from all participants' devices and is no longer be accessible via the URL. You may need to contact the owner in case you believe the document should remain shared.
See new changes
If another person (i.e. with a different Apple ID) made changes to a shared document, you will see a blue badge in your library and on the document itself. It will show all documents that have been changed and on which pages the changes were made.
A change will be marked as seen when you view the page for more than one second. If there are many pages with unseen changes, you can manually mark them as seen. To do that, open the page thumbnail view in that shared document, tap Select at the top, select the pages, tap Mark as Seen.
Follow a collaborator (iOS only)
To assume the view of an active collaborator, tap the document title at the middle-top, then on the avatar of the collaborator. You will see what they see, including their live edits.
FAQ
Q: I can't even turn on Share Link to Collaborate. It's turned on and off quickly.
A: If you are using iCloud sync, make sure you have enough iCloud storage, as this is what shared documents take up. For this reason, the owner of the shared document should have sufficient iCloud storage to prevent sync error messages that could pop up on everyone else's device.
Q: Can others see my changes in real time?
A: Yes, changes you make can be seen by others as soon as you finish an edit, for example by lifting your stylus from the screen.
Q: Can I control what others can access in a shared document and which permissions they have?
A: No, this is not possible at the moment. A shared document is public and anyone with the link can open and edit it in Goodnotes. Disable Link Sharing in case you want to revoke access for others.
Q: A stranger joined a document I shared. What can I do?
A: We recommend disabling Link Sharing under Share > disable Share Link to Collaborate. You can see all the participants in Sharing Settings. Their names displayed in this list are associated with their Apple IDs.
Q: I left a shared document. How can I join again?
A: If you have left a shared document, you can always join it again via the same shared URL provided it's still enabled by the owner.
Q: We're using managed Apple IDs in our organization and the feature is not working. What can we do?
A: Please make sure to enable sharing outside the organization and try again.
Q: I opened a Shared Link from within an app but couldn't proceed to the Shared Document.
A: In-app browsers might not understand the Goodnotes protocol for Shared Documents. Please open the link in an actual browser app, like Safari or Chrome.
Q: I've created a document in Goodnotes 6. Can I share the document for collaboration with a user still in the GoodNotes 5 experience? How about sharing a "GoodNotes 5" document with a Goodnotes 6 user?
A: Yes, you can.
Tips & tricks
Shared Links also work when you want to share a document with yourself. You can use the link to access your own documents, for example from a calendar event or from your to-do app. Please note that not every external app supports the right link handling system to open the document directly in Goodnotes. You might be first redirected to a web page from which you can open the document.
If you need to use two different accounts on two separate devices (e.g. one for personal documents and the other for work), you can't synchronize your Goodnotes documents. With Link Sharing, however, you can now share a document with yourself on the other device.