# How does NotePlan work?
*(Once you are done reading this, go back to [[today#Today's Plan]])*
NotePlan is organized around notes – one note per day, plus any number of undated
notes that you can set up in parallel.
NotePlan has **two kinds of notes**:
- daily notes (and other periodic notes),
- and regular notes
Manage your day inside daily notes and plan projects in your regular notes. Link
tasks from your projects into your daily notes using `>YYYY-MM-DD`:
* This is a scheduled task >2023-05-24
**Linking** notes works by writing the note title between double square brackets:
[[Note Title]]. Once you start typing you will get an auto-complete box to help you
out (on iOS you can tap on the note icon in the toolbar-menu above the keyboard).
**Tasks are first-class citizens** in NotePlan. You can create them on Mac by
clicking on the `+` left of an empty line and on iOS by tapping on the task icon in
the toolbar - or by typing an asterisk - space - and then the task name at the
beginning of a paragraph: `* my task`.
NotePlan looks actively for tasks and lets you search and filter them under
'Filters' in the sidebar. You can search for all `open` tasks for example.
**Plain text Markdown files** are used to save your notes locally on your Mac,
iPhone, or iPad. This means:
- Your data is yours - it's not locked up behind an opaque database, but always
accessible on your devices.
- Your notes are 100% future-proof, you can use any other text editor to open them
instead or in a combination with NotePlan.
- Your notes are private, only you can see them.
On your Mac, you can find out where your notes are saved using 'Note' → 'Show In
Finder' (⇧⌘S) in the menubar. On iPhone and iPad open the app "Files" and navigate
to "On My iPhone/iPad" → "NotePlan".
**CloudKit** is used to sync your notes across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. CloudKit is a
private and secure database by Apple (only you have access to it). You need to have
iCloud and iCloud Drive enabled to use it. Turn off syncing in your preferences if
you don't need or don't want to sync.
**iCloud Calendar Events & (Timed) Reminders** are tightly integrated with
NotePlan. On Mac, you can see them in the calendar sidebar on the right.
On iOS you can see your events & reminders at the top of your daily notes or when
you open the timeline (tap on the calendar icon in the bottom right).
You can also create and edit events & reminders (on iOS tap on the menu button top
right of a note and on Mac click into the timeline).
**Use the Command Bar (⌘J)** to quickly search for notes by title, open a daily
note, or create a task:
- To search for a note, start typing the title, like "How...".
- To open a daily note, type the date in any format you like or something like
"tomorrow", "next week", "this friday".
On iOS tap on the search icon bottom right of any note or in the sidebar.
**Use Markdown to format** your notes. On Mac you can either click on the `+`
button left of an empty paragraph to select an option or just type it in Markdown.
On iOS choose from the toolbar above your keyboard. You already saw how a task is
made (`* task`). Here is more:
- A bullet point is similar, but uses a dash by default: `- bullet point`.
- Create a quote using the greater than sign: `> quote`.
- Headings to structure your notes using `# Your Heading`. You can use up to 4
levels: `#### Fourth Level`.
- **Bold** and *italic*
- And `inline code` using backticks.
**Use tagging and mentions** to find things easier later on. You can use `#` to tag
#things and `@` to tag people, like @Tim. You find all your tags left in your
sidebar. Keep everything organized using nested tagging by adding slashes:
#main/sub or @client/acme/dan.
If you need help, you can reach us through 'Help' → 'Write us' in the menubar (or
in the preferences on iOS).
Let's return to [[today#Today's Plan]].