The short answer
Select two or more blocks in a note. In the toolbar that appears above your selection, click Put in Section. The blocks become cards you can move anywhere and connect with lines. For columns instead, open the ⋯ on the section's bar and choose Layout → 2 columns or 3 columns. Everything stays in the same note. Sections are free. A few card shapes and style presets need Pro.
What a section is
A section is a group of blocks in your note that you lay out across the page instead of top to bottom. A block is a paragraph, a list, a heading, an image, or anything else that takes a line of its own in the note. There are two layouts:
| Layout | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Side by side (2 or 3 columns) | The blocks sit in columns, split so the columns come out about even | Comparing two options, pros and cons, notes next to a summary |
| Free layout | Each block becomes a card you can drag anywhere, and you can draw lines between cards | Mapping ideas, steps that branch, anything that is easier to see than to list |
The text inside a section is still ordinary note text. You edit it in place, and search finds it. When you export the note to PDF, Word, HTML, Markdown, or another format, the blocks come out as normal text in page order. Columns and card positions aren't kept. A section you named gets its name as a heading, and a section with lines lists them after its last block.
Make a section
- Select two or more blocks. The selection can start in one paragraph and end in another.
- A toolbar appears above your selection. When the selection covers two or more blocks, it shows Put in Section where the Link button usually is. Click it.
- The blocks are now cards in a free layout. To put them in columns, open the ⋯ on the bar above the section, choose Layout, and pick 2 columns or 3 columns.
On a phone, you can also tap ⋯ More at the end of the toolbar above the keyboard and choose Put in Section.
To go straight to columns, right-click the selection and choose Paragraph → Side by side · 2 columns or Side by side · 3 columns. The same menu has Free layout. The Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows and Linux) has Side by Side: 2 Columns, Side by Side: 3 Columns, and Free Layout too.
Change or undo it
A thin bar sits above every section. It stays hidden while you read and write, and shows up when you point at the section or put the cursor in it. Open the ⋯ on that bar for:
- Layout, to switch between 2 columns, 3 columns, and Free layout.
- Appearance, to choose how cards look: Quiet (the default, cards look like ordinary text), Paper cards (each card gets a light background and outline), or Board (also tints the area behind the cards).
- Dissolve, to put the blocks back in a single column. Your text and other blocks stay. Lines between cards are removed, and Undo brings them back.
If you'd rather not use sections at all, turn off Sections in Settings → Editor. Every section then shows as a single column, and nothing is deleted.
Work with cards in a free layout
The handles, card outlines, and the bar stay hidden until you point at the section or click in it, so the page reads like ordinary text. On a touchscreen, tap the section once first, because the handles and the ⋯ don't respond while they're hidden.
- Move a card by dragging its handle, which sits just outside the card's left edge. Drag the card's right edge to change its width.
- Add a card by double-clicking an empty spot in the section.
- Connect two cards by pointing at a card, then dragging one of the dots on its edges onto another card.
- Edit a line by clicking it. You can give it a label, change its color and arrow direction, or make it dashed. Line labels are searchable.
- Style a card by clicking its handle without dragging it, or by right-clicking inside the card and choosing Card (long-press on a tablet). You can pick a color and a frame. Style presets and shapes other than a plain or rounded rectangle (such as the hexagon in the video) are part of Pro.
On a phone or in a narrow window
Columns need room. On a phone held upright, or in a narrow window on a computer, columns stack one below the other.
A free layout section shrinks to fit the page so you can see all of it at once, with its cards, lines, and colors. This also happens when the section is wider than the page, for example, a section you arranged on a computer and then opened on an iPad. Tap any card to see the section at full size and edit it. Your card positions don't change.
Sections are part of the Free plan on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad, iPhone, and Android. Download Oaklet Notes to try them.