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3 min read

How to automate your note-taking app with Zapier

By Elena Alston · July 14, 2023
An icon of a notepad with pen on an orange background

I organize my entire life by taking notes. But if I'm being honest, these notes lean toward the messy. I make lists of blog topic ideas when I'm not at my desk, jot down notes during meetings, and even take notes of any new blog post ideas that randomly occur to me. 

If you use a note-taking app, you know how easy it can be to become disorganized, with a new note for every idea. Fortunately, you can turn those one-off notes into something useful with Zapier. Our automatic workflows—which we call Zaps—allow you to automatically send information from one app to another, helping you reduce manual tasks. 

From automatically sending notes to your project management tool as tasks to creating meeting notes before a calendar event begins, there are a ton of ways Zapier can help you make the most of your time. 

You'll need a Zapier account to use the workflows in this piece. If you don't have an account yet, it's free to get started.

Table of contents

  • Turn notes into tasks

  • Create meeting notes based on calendar events

  • Save important notifications as notes

  • Create AI content from your notes

  • Collect resources in one place

  • Back up your notes elsewhere

To get started with a Zap template—what we call our pre-made workflows—just click on the button. It only takes a few minutes to set up. You can read more about setting up Zaps here.

Turn notes into tasks

I use a task management app to organize my to-do lists, but I've been guilty of jotting down a list in my notes app when I'm in a rush. If you have action items split between your note-taking and task management apps, you'll likely forget something. 

These Zaps will create tasks from new notes, streamlining your to-do list in one place. 

Create Trello cards from new Evernote notes

Create Trello cards from new Evernote notes
  • Evernote logo
  • Trello logo
Evernote + Trello

Add new OneNote notes to Todoist as tasks

Add new OneNote notes to Todoist as tasks
  • OneNote logo
  • Todoist logo
OneNote + Todoist

Add new Evernote notes to Todoist as tasks

Add new Evernote notes to Todoist as tasks
  • Evernote logo
  • Todoist logo
Evernote + Todoist

Add new notes on OneNote as Any.do tasks

Add new notes on OneNote as Any.do tasks
  • OneNote logo
  • Any.do Personal logo
OneNote + Any.do Personal

Create tasks in Google Tasks from new items in Notion databases

Create tasks in Google Tasks from new items in Notion databases
  • Notion logo
  • Google Tasks logo
Notion + Google Tasks

Create meeting notes based on calendar events

Meetings are hectic enough without having to open a fresh Google doc or your notes app half-way through because you need to jot down something (important!) a team member says.  

I can't count the times I've written notes down on an unofficial document only to lose it later. With these Zaps, you can automatically create a new note (or meeting agenda on a doc) according to calendar events or a recurring schedule. 

You can also create a note template while you're setting up your Zap. Just type in the text you want to include when you're customizing the note step, and it will appear every time your Zap runs. Streamline your meeting notes so that everyone—including your teammates can contribute. 

A screenshot of the Customize Note step in the Zap editor. Topics for a manager meeting are typed in the Content field.
If you always want the same information in a note, you can set that up in your Zap. Here, you'll see notes for a manager meeting in the Content field.

Add new notes on Evernote for impending Google Calendar events

Add new notes on Evernote for impending Google Calendar events
  • Google Calendar logo
  • Evernote logo
Google Calendar + Evernote

Add notes on OneNote for upcoming Google Calendar events

Add notes on OneNote for upcoming Google Calendar events
  • Google Calendar logo
  • OneNote logo
Google Calendar + OneNote

Create new Google Docs before a Google Calendar event

Create new Google Docs before a Google Calendar event
  • Google Calendar logo
  • Google Docs logo
Google Calendar + Google Docs

Create weekly notes on Evernote

Create weekly notes on Evernote
  • Schedule by Zapier logo
  • Evernote logo
Schedule by Zapier + Evernote

Add daily notes to Evernote

Add daily notes to Evernote
  • Schedule by Zapier logo
  • Evernote logo
Schedule by Zapier + Evernote

Automatically create a Google Docs document every week

Automatically create a Google Docs document every week
  • Schedule by Zapier logo
  • Google Docs logo
Schedule by Zapier + Google Docs

Create a meeting agenda in Google Docs for new Microsoft Outlook events

Create a meeting agenda in Google Docs for new Microsoft Outlook events
  • Microsoft Outlook logo
  • Google Docs logo
Microsoft Outlook + Google Docs

Create database items in Notion for new or updated events in Google Calendar

Create database items in Notion for new or updated events in Google Calendar
  • Google Calendar logo
  • Notion logo
Google Calendar + Notion

You can create notes a few minutes, hours, or even days before your calendar event occurs. Learn how to adjust the date and time values in Zaps.

Save important notifications as notes

Ever receive important company messages in your team chat app? Team chat apps are notoriously noisy, and it's easy to lose important conversations in the mix. 

If you don't always have time to read messages the moment they're sent, you can set up these Zaps to add them straight to your note-taking app. 

That means that every time you star a message or label an incoming email, they'll be added as a note so you can process them later when it's good for you. 

Push messages from Slack and append to a note in Evernote

Push messages from Slack and append to a note in Evernote
  • Slack logo
  • Evernote logo
Slack + Evernote

Add newly-saved Slack messages to OneNote

Add newly-saved Slack messages to OneNote
  • Slack logo
  • OneNote logo
Slack + OneNote

Create OneNote notes for new channel messages in Microsoft Teams

Create OneNote notes for new channel messages in Microsoft Teams
  • Microsoft Teams logo
  • OneNote logo
Microsoft Teams + OneNote

Create AI content from your notes

If you're at all like me, then you probably create notes for all your important work content, from blog post ideas to creating briefs for other team members. It's basically where a lot of my content production process happens. 

To speed up the idea-to-draft process, you can use these Zaps and get AI to do the heavy lifting for you. These workflows take your notes, add extra context, or even write a first draft for you, saving them in your notes app or content management tool. 

Create AI content based on your Evernote notes

Create AI content based on your Evernote notes
  • Evernote logo
  • OpenAI (GPT-4, DALL-E, Whisper) logo
  • Evernote logo
Evernote + OpenAI (GPT-4, DALL-E, Whisper)

Create WordPress posts from Notion notes with AI

Create WordPress posts from Notion notes with AI
  • Notion logo
  • Jasper logo
  • WordPress logo
Notion + Jasper + WordPress

On the other hand, if you want to summarize content and then save it to your notes, these Zaps are probably the ones for you. By using an AI tool like Jasper or OpenAI, you can build Zaps that summarize documentation and append it to your notes app. This is especially handy if you're short on time and don't want to get bogged down by pages and pages of content. 

Create a summary of important docs with Jasper and append to Evernotes

Create a summary of important docs with Jasper and append to Evernotes
  • Google Docs logo
  • Jasper logo
  • Evernote logo
Google Docs + Jasper + Evernote

Create summarized notes in Notion from new Google Docs

Create summarized notes in Notion from new Google Docs
  • Google Docs logo
  • OpenAI (GPT-4, DALL-E, Whisper) logo
  • Notion logo
Google Docs + OpenAI (GPT-4, DALL-E, Whisper) + Notion

Collect resources in one place

Imagine this: You're doing research on-the-go for a presentation you're leading. You have 30 tabs on your smartphone browser, but you need to send that information to your work computer to build your presentation. You can either copy and paste each link into a new note or email, send each link to your work email, or use a handoff tool to open all 30 links in your computer browser. 

But there's a better option: You can use a bookmarking app like Pocket to save ideas or research, and these automatic workflows will automatically add links to an existing note. 

This doesn't just work for presentations, either. Whatever you're building, be that a blog post, a website, or a list of social media posts for research, you can save all your ideas on your notes for better safekeeping.

Append new Pocket tagged items to an Evernote note

Append new Pocket tagged items to an Evernote note
  • Pocket logo
  • Evernote logo
Pocket + Evernote

Add Feedly articles from a board to a Google Doc

Add Feedly articles from a board to a Google Doc
  • Feedly logo
  • Google Docs logo
Feedly + Google Docs

Add new tagged Pocket items to an existing OneNote note

Add new tagged Pocket items to an existing OneNote note
  • Pocket logo
  • OneNote logo
Pocket + OneNote

Add YouTube videos from a playlist to Evernote

Add YouTube videos from a playlist to Evernote
  • YouTube logo
  • Evernote logo
YouTube + Evernote

Generate items in Notion databases with new triggers of Zapier Chrome extension

Generate items in Notion databases with new triggers of Zapier Chrome extension
  • Zapier Chrome extension logo
  • Notion logo
Zapier Chrome extension + Notion

Add new text notes to Evernote from a Google Chrome extension

Add new text notes to Evernote from a Google Chrome extension
  • Zapier Chrome extension logo
  • Evernote logo
Zapier Chrome extension + Evernote

Back up your notes elsewhere

The worst thing that can happen to copious note-takers is losing your notes, be that from a syncing override or an accidental deletion. 

These automatic workflows will back up your notes to another cloud storage app, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. You'll be covered the next time tech goblins eat your notes. 

Save New Evernote Notes to Google Drive

Save New Evernote Notes to Google Drive
  • Evernote logo
  • Google Drive logo
Evernote + Google Drive

Back up OneNote notes to OneDrive

Back up OneNote notes to OneDrive
  • OneNote logo
  • OneDrive logo
OneNote + OneDrive

Upload Dropbox files from new database items in Notion

Upload Dropbox files from new database items in Notion
  • Notion logo
  • Dropbox logo
Notion + Dropbox

Backup new Evernote notes as text files in FileCloud

Backup new Evernote notes as text files in FileCloud
  • Evernote logo
  • FileCloud logo
Evernote + FileCloud

If you work with apps or software not included in this article, don't worry—Zapier works with thousands of apps. Head to our App Directory and search for the one you use, or browse to find the right solution for your needs. Plus, here are 5 things you can do in Zapier's App Directory.

Related reading

  • The 9 best note-taking apps of 2020

  • Get it done: 5 ways to automate your to-do list

  • Never lose a meeting action item: automate the process

This article was originally published in November 2020, written by Krystina Martinez. It was substantially updated in July 2023 by Elena Alston.

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A Zap with the trigger 'When I get a new lead from Facebook,' and the action 'Notify my team in Slack'