How do you rename a note in Notes?

The Note title is determined by the first line of the note. So if you want to change the title of an existing note do the following:

1 - copy the contents of the note you want to rename.

2 - create a new note and enter a title on the first line. Then add the copied note below it.

3 - delete the original note.

When the note is created as a New Note, there is no title line that can be changed by typing over it.

Not sure if this is still an issue

“BUT - what do you do if there is no first line?”

What worked for me in my photo Notes was to add a line of text below the photo. In my case I just added information a about the photo. (Pre-eruption of Mt St Helens vintage placemat)

Srneczek wrote:

it is just plainly bad UX of the app.

You should certainly let Apple know your thoughts. The feedback link has been provided in this thread. Arguing with people here is pointless.

I would add that "Notes" generally implies text.

Notes is indeed a simple, “bare bones” app; although it certainly satisfies the needs of many.

If you care to make constructive feedback to Apple for consideration in future product development, you may do so here:

Feedback - Notes - Apple

Agree! I can’t rename my Notes folder either & I have done it before the last 2 upgrades!!

Jturnrich wrote:

When the note is created as a New Note, there is no title line that can be changed by typing over it.

Then whatever you start typing will replace "New Note" as the title of the note... I may be missing something, but I don't understand what you are trying to say here.

Absolutely ridiculous UX. When there is a name of something, let me edit it. The Notes app is absolutely unintuitive and has a lot of horrible UX. Looks good tho - same as with most Apple products. Eye candy which is kinda useless in lot of practical scenarios.

Have loads of notes in the Notes Application

Have just tested changing the First Line of the text within the Note.

Originally Titled " Spam Mail "

Changed it to " Spam "

refer t below images

Original Name

Changed Name

I’ve never had a problem editing the name of a note. Why is it so difficult for you to highlight the first line and change it.

If your note doesn’t contain text in the first line, fix it

bojack_horseman wrote:

Hence the note name is not simply the first heading in the note, although Notes does display that heading as a pseudo title... Apple manages the actual reference or file name or whatever under the hood and we don't get to access that, it seems.

That's possible I suppose. You could always delete your shortcut and create a new one that reflected the word "Test".

It has nothing to do with the format of the text. It is the first line.

Shortcuts may use some other reference to the note. For instance, an alias in Finder will continue to resolve if you move or change the name of the original. Since notes are indexed in a database, the reference ID for the note is likely a uniqueID and not the shown name (first line).

Played around with it a bit more = = finally figured out how to add text to the top of the note ahead of the imported item = so that seems to have solved the issue

BUT - what do you do if there is no first line? If we bring in a photo or a document/pdf from somewhere == there's no 'first line' to work with - I just tried to add one and couldn't = might not be doing it right but I don't want to redo the document, just have a name put to it

satcomer wrote:

What I do is right click on file on my Desktop or in folder by right-clicking on file and choose 'Rename'!

Those are great instructions for changing the name of a file. However, the OP wants to know how to change the title of an individual note within the Notes app.