How to Import a Fillable PDF Planner Into GoodNotes

What happens when you import a fillable PDF into GoodNotes?

GoodNotes brings a fillable PDF in as a normal document that you can write, type and draw on. It does not act as a form filler. The interactive fields that work in Adobe Acrobat or Apple Preview usually don't respond in GoodNotes. Users on the GoodNotes feedback forum have reported that those fill-able pdf fields don't work in GoodNotes, and others are still asking the developers to add the standard function of filling and signing PDF forms. Filling forms with text, not scribbling.

This doesn't make a fillable planner a bad buy for GoodNotes. The layout, boxes and sections all import cleanly. You fill them with the Pencil, the Text tool, or both, just as you would with any GoodNotes page.

Features change between versions, so tap a field after importing to see if your copy of the app responds. If nothing happens, use the typing methods in the section on typing below.

What do you need before you import?

You need three things: GoodNotes installed, the planner PDF saved somewhere your device can reach, and the right page size. Deal with the size first, because it's the one choice you can't fix later. GoodNotes support says that an imported PDF cannot be resized within the app. If you want to print pages later, choose the size that matches your paper: A4 in the UK and Europe, US Letter in North America.

If you're on the free plan, check the limits. On Android, Windows and Web, free users have a limit of 3 notebooks, the import file size limit is 5Mb per file. A single weekly planner file usually fits within that, but a full-year planner with many themes might not.

Our Weekly Reset planner is an example of a file built with this choice in mind. It ships in A4, US Letter and A5 sizes, in Monday-start and Sunday-start versions, and includes a separate fillable PDF meant for apps like GoodNotes and Notability. Pick the size and week start you want before importing. Swapping later means importing a new copy.

• Save the PDF to the Files app (On My iPad or iCloud Drive) instead of leaving it in a browser tab
• Pick one page size and one week-start version, and import only that file
• Update GoodNotes from the App Store before you begin

How to import a PDF planner into GoodNotes step by step

The most reliable route is the Import button inside GoodNotes, which opens your device's file browser. GoodNotes support describes it like this: Tap the + New icon in the Documents tab of the Library View > Import. Select the file(s) and tap Open. In that browser you can navigate to iCloud Drive, Google Drive or OneDrive without leaving Goodnotes.

The planner opens as a new document in your library. Give it a clear name straight away, such as "Weekly Planner – master", so you can tell it apart from the working copies you'll make later.

• 1. Download the planner and save it to Files (tap Share > Save to Files if it opened in Safari)
• 2. Open GoodNotes and go to the Documents tab
• 3. Tap + New, then Import
• 4. Browse to the folder where you saved the PDF and tap the file
• 5. Tap Open and wait a few seconds for it to load
• 6. Rename the document and, if you like, move it into a Planners folder

What are the other ways to get a PDF into GoodNotes?

You can also send the PDF to GoodNotes from another app, by email, or from a connected cloud account. Which one is easiest depends on where the file is now. If it's in Mail, Safari or Dropbox, the Share sheet is quickest: open or select the file in the other app and tap the Share icon, then choose GoodNotes.

Email to Goodnotes works well if you bought the planner on a laptop. Be aware that it requires a subscription and supports attached PDFs up to 25 MB. It only accepts files attached to the email. Goodnotes does not follow links to PDFs in the email, so save the download link's file first and attach it.

Cloud storage integration is for people who keep everything in Google Drive or OneDrive. To set it up, open Goodnotes menu > Integrations > Cloud Storage. Choose a supported cloud storage, and authorize the connection. The comparison table below shows each method side by side.

How do you type into a fillable planner in GoodNotes?

If the form fields don't respond, use GoodNotes' Text tool (the "T" icon). Tap inside a box, type, then drag the text box to fit. Set your font and size once, and every new text box will use them. For a weekly planner, that makes typing the top-3 priorities and appointments quick.

If you really want the PDF's built-in fields, with their fixed positions and preset fonts, fill them in a form-capable app before importing. One GoodNotes user noted that a PDF app like PDF Expert does support fillable forms. Apple's Preview on Mac is another option. Fill the fields, save, then import the completed file into GoodNotes to add handwriting on top. Test this on your own device first, because whether the typed values show up depends on how the app saves the file.

Most people settle on a mix: type the fixed items (meetings, deadlines) and handwrite the brain-dump and notes section.

• Text tool: fastest, works on any page, no extra apps
• Pre-fill in a form app: neater field alignment, but an extra step every week
• Handwriting with Apple Pencil: best for notes and quick ticks on a habit tracker

How do you reuse one undated planner every week?

Keep one clean master copy and duplicate the weekly spread each Sunday or Monday, so you never write on the original. There are two simple ways to do this in GoodNotes.

The first is page duplication. Open the master, bring up the page thumbnails, long-press the blank weekly page and choose to duplicate it, then add the date to the top of the copy. Everything stays in one notebook with the weeks in order.

The second is making the page a custom template. GoodNotes lets you add your own templates from a PDF. After that, the blank week is available whenever you add a page to any notebook, which suits people who keep work and personal planners in separate notebooks.

The Weekly Reset is undated and comes in minimal, soft pastel and dark mode themes. Import the theme you'll actually use, set it up as your master, and the weekly refresh takes a few seconds.

• Name each duplicated week by its start date, e.g. "w/c 5 Oct"
• Keep the master in a separate folder so you don't write on it by mistake
• Archive old weeks by exporting them as PDF once a month to keep the notebook fast

How to fix common problems after importing

Most problems after importing come from annotation mode, odd PDF rendering, or export settings. Here are the fixes.

Links or tabs don't work. By default the document opens in annotation mode, where you can write, but links do not work in this mode. To exit the annotation mode, tap on the pencil icon in the menu bar. The toolbar will disappear and now you can use the links embedded in your interactive PDF.

Boxes or frames appear around text. GoodNotes explains that the frames are comments that currently can't be rendered in Goodnotes. The fix is to re-save the file before importing. You can export it again as a PDF from Mac Preview, or open the original PDF in Chrome, choose Print, select Save as PDF from the Destination field, then import the new file.

Links are missing after you export or share. When exporting as PDF, choose Editable to preserve document outlines and original PDF hyperlinks. A flattened export makes a smaller file but drops them.