On a video call you usually want the call full screen, and you still need somewhere to write down a name, a number or the three things everyone agreed to do. Opening a notes app means leaving the call. If the call is full screen, macOS slides you over to another desktop to show the notes app.
Weekly sync
- Send the deck to Lea
- Book a room for Friday
- Ask Sam about the launch
Use a panel that opens over the call
Notestaking opens with ⌥⌘N from any app. It joins every desktop, including a full-screen Zoom, Google Meet or FaceTime window, and slides in on the right edge above the call. Type your note, press Esc, and the call is exactly where you left it.
A few things that help in meetings:
- Press ⌘L for a task list and put action items there, so you can tick them off after the call.
- Use one card per meeting, titled with the meeting’s name. Titles stay on one line, so keep them short.
- Bold the decisions with ⌘B so they’re easy to find when you reread the card after the call.
Before you share your screen
If you share your entire screen, everyone on the call sees the panel when you open it. Share a single window instead. Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams all let you pick one. Do a quick test before an important call, because each app handles windows on top of the shared one a little differently. On a Mac, Zoom has a setting called Share selected app window only.
If you’d rather not install anything
macOS has two built-in options. Quick Note, on macOS 12 and later, opens an Apple Notes window with FnQ or from a hot corner, and syncs to your iPhone through iCloud. Stickies can keep a note above other windows with Window › Float on Top.
Both are fine for a line or two. Notestaking adds the Today and Someday tabs, task lists and the open-task count in the menu bar, and it keeps every note as a plain Markdown file on your Mac. There’s a longer comparison here.