Shared Notebooks come in handy for both professional and personal uses, whether you’re working on a team project, planning a family vacation, or just passing along interesting content to friends and family, Shared Notebooks allow you to share the memories that matter to you with anyone, even those who don’t use Evernote. You can create a Shared Notebook from almost any device or computer where Evernote is installed, including Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android.

Sharing in Evernote for Windows Desktop

To share a notebook using Evernote for Windows Desktop, follow the steps below:

1. Right-click the notebook you want to share in the Notebook List
2. Click ‘Share Notebook’
3. Click ‘Invite Individuals’
4. Enter the email addresses of the people you want to share with
5. Select the permission level you want to grant to the list of users
6. Click ‘Invite’

Sharing in Evernote for Mac

1. In the Sidebar, click ‘Notebooks’ to open the Notebook List
2. Hover your mouse cursor over the notebook you want to share, then click the share icon
3. In the ‘Share this notebook’ dialog, click ‘Invite Individuals’
4. Enter the email addresses of the people you want to share with
5. Select the permission level you want to grant to the list of users
6. Click ‘Invite’

Once you’ve invited someone to a Shared Notebook, they will receive a notification email with a link to view your Shared Notebook. Other Evernote users that you invite to a Shared Notebook will also have the option to ‘Join’ your Shared Notebook, which will make it appear in their Evernote account.

Evernote Business

To get the most out of notebook sharing at work, we recommend checking out Evernote Business, which we launched earlier this week.

Evernote Business is the optimal solution for sharing knowledge across your organization, and comes with all the features of Evernote and Evernote Premium, plus a variety of new features specifically tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Evernote Business features include the ability to create Business Notebooks that can be shared with others, access to the Business Library, where users can publish Business Notebooks for the benefit the entire company, powerful knowledge discovery capabilities with Related Notes and Related Results, increased monthly upload allowance and more. Learn more about Evernote Business.

Do you use Shared Notebooks? Tell us how in the comments!

Download Evernote for Mac »

Activity Stream

Evernote is great for working with your friends and colleagues. To keep you in the loop on all the things that are happening in the notebooks you share and the ones that you have access to, we’ve added Activity Stream.

Click the new satellite dish icon in the toolbar to view your Activity Stream. You’ll see a bunch of useful information:

• Usernames or email addresses of new people that join your shared notebooks
• Updates relating to added, edited and deleted notes
• A record of individual notes that you share

If there’s a new notification, you’ll see a badge appear on the icon.

It’s important to keep in mind that the Activity View displays the most recent change that has occurred since the last time Evernote synched. This means that if you have a note which was updated 10 times since the last sync, only the most recent change will appear in the Activity View.

To make notebook sharing a seamless experience, we now automatically sync notebooks that you join to your Mac, eliminating the several clicks it used to take to see your friends’ notes.

Discover and learn
The Activity Stream popup also includes Evernote tips geared at all types of users. The tips will disappear once you’ve clicked on them. New items will periodically appear including information about newly added features.

Retina!

Our design team has been hard at work upgrading every button, texture, shadow, and image inside of Evernote for Mac to look sharp and beautiful on the new drool-worthy MacBook Retina displays.

Much more…

This update also includes a host of bug fixes and improvements, including more reliable sync, faster sharing and a number of stability enhancements.

Get Evernote for Windows

The Activity Stream, available by clicking the new satellite dish button, allows you to see what’s happening in all of your Shared Notebooks, as well as those that others have shared with you. Whenever something changes, a badge appears on the icon.

Each item in the stream includes an icon that illustrates the event, text describing what has occurred with a link to notebook, and the time that Evernote checked for updates.

Here’s what you’ll see:

Who’s new?
Whenever you share a notebook with an individual or group, you’ll now get a notification in Activity Stream showing the usernames or email addresses of individuals that have joined that notebook.

Updates and edits
Every so often, Evernote checks for updates in notebooks that are linked to your account and notebooks that you have shared with others. If Evernote notices a change in a notebook since the last time it checked, the app will describe that change and the user that made it.

You’ll see alerts for:

• New notes
• Edits to existing notes
• Deleted notes

It’s important to keep in mind that Evernote will only alert you to the most recent change. For example, if Evernote checks for updates twice, and in that span of time five people made edits to a note, the Activity Stream will show only the last change, not the four before it.

Discover more about Evernote

The Activity Stream serves double duty. It not only updates you on the goings-on in Shared Notebooks, but it also helps you get more out of Evernote. Click the satellite dish to see several useful tips and features. We will be adding a variety of tidbits here that will be great for newbies and experts, alike. To hide an item, simply click on it or click the ‘X.’

Auto-download of linked notebooks

One of the other new teamwork-friendly features is automatic linked notebook downloads. Now, whenever you accept an invitation to join a notebook, that notebook will download to Evernote for Windows. This significantly streamlines the previous, multi-click process.

Reminder: The Premium side of sharing

All Evernote users are able to share their notes and notebooks with anyone. If you would like to allow others to edit the notes in your account, then you’ll need a Premium subscription. Evernote Premium comes with ten features designed for the active user including Offline Notebook support on mobile, larger monthly uploads, and faster support.

More to come

Activity Stream makes Evernote dramatically more powerful app to keep your team productive. Let us know how you’re using it.

• Name: Jeanine Hays
• Profession: Creative Director & Founder
• Company: AphroChic
• Location: Philadelphia, PA

Did you know that May is National Home Improvement month? It’s a great time to think about ways to spruce up your home and garden, so we thought we’d ask an expert to share some tips for ways that Evernote helps her keep track of inspiration and organize projects.

Bio

Jeanine Hays is the Creative Director & Founder of AphroChic, a home decor and design brand that includes a popular blog and shop that sells textiles and home accessories. A policy attorney, Jeanine founded AphroChic three years ago as an interior design blog, and quickly expanded into a business that allowed her to create designs of her own. Jeanine has a weekly feature on color and textiles on HGTV’s interior design blog, Design Happens. She has also participated as an online guest judge for the 2010 season of HGTV’s Design Star, and is a featured blogger for Houzz. After being introduced to Evernote by a home owner she was working with, Jeanine became hooked on using the tool for everything from planning her travels to coordinating with her team, and working on her book.

Jeanine’s Stylish Tips for Home Projects

Above: capture inspiration on the Web, using the Evernote Web Clipper. Select tags and notebooks. All of your web clips automatically sync across all of your devices.

I am a huge fan of Evernote. As a textile designer, blogger, and soon-to-be author it’s extremely important for me to be as organized as possible, and Evernote helps me to stay organized at all times. Part of my job is focused on styling. I’ve been styling several interiors for our home decor book, and use Evernote to stay on top of the numerous projects that have to be done for each interior. Evernote is fantastic for:

1. Keeping track of a list of different projects. Our team spent time shooting and styling interiors in Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. I created a separate notebook for each interior, and then collected a list of items I wanted to bring into each room in the space. Whether a pillow, a new piece of lighting, or flowers, it was all neatly collected in my Evernote notebook.
2. Evernote is also great way to communicate with others who are involved in your home decor project. For me, it was my styling team. I needed to easily be able to send them the items I was thinking of using in a particular interior. It can be just as handy when sending ideas for your next renovation project to your significant other, designer, and even your contractor. [Evernote Tip: share notes via email or add them to a Shared Notebook, then invite individuals to view what you've shared.]
3. The sync function is also integral to any interior project you’re working on. You can keep track of ideas on your computer, and voila, the project you’re working on is ready and synced on your iPhone. This is fantastic when you’re on a purchasing trip, and need to access your notes quickly. [Learn how Sync works]
4. The great thing about Evernote for interiors projects is that you can keep absolutely everything on file — measurements, store and contact information, vendor names, and even color palettes. It can all be kept and organized to help you achieve your project goals easily. [Learn how to capture multiple types of media in a single note]

Just getting started with Evernote? Check out our Getting Started Guide.

Want more inspiration for ways you can use Evernote for home decorating? Check out how home and design blogger Erin Souder uses Evernote for decorating her home.

Do you have tips to share for ways you’re using Evernote for styling and sprucing up your home? Share them in the comments!

• Name: Megan Cotter
• Evernote Student Ambassador
• Profession: Student
• Location: Pittsburgh, PA
  
• Website: http://ottermc.blogspot.com
• Twitter: @OtterMC
  

Go to the Evernote for Higher Education discussion

We’ve talked to a lot of students who use Evernote for everything from taking notes to working on group projects and today we’re excited to announce our new Student Ambassador, Megan Cotter. Megan is a college student who’s here to share her tips for ways to use Evernote in a college or university setting. Megan is kicking things off by sharing a few of her top tips for using Evernote in college, just in time for finals.

10 Tips for Using Evernote to De-Stress College

College students have to keep track of a lot of things: every set of class notes, every internship/job application, every piece of information for every extracurricular activity, and on and on. All that stuff just leaves us stressed, trying to sort through each piece of paper to find the one thing that we need at that moment. As a lot of you may already know, Evernote is a great tool for organizing all of it and taking a little bit of the stress out of college.

2. Organize Your Research
No student can escape the endless amount of research. Evernote Clearly removes all of the distractions and lets you have exactly what you need from a website. Rather than printing out multiple pages, just clip however many lines you need. Cuts down on the paper, and makes that research project a whole lot easier.

3. Keep Up With Your Professors
Every school has that professor who puts an impossible amount of information on the board or on slides. Rather than trying to get it all down, just snap a picture. After class, use Skitch to add any extra information that you need and then put it right in with the rest of your notes.

4. Keep Everything Together, Not Just the Digital Stuff
Maybe you would rather take notes by hand. Or you have a professor with a “no technology policy.” That doesn’t mean that you can’t keep everything organized. Scan your handwritten notes and handouts into Evernote and they will be completely searchable. This way, when finals come around, you’ll be one step ahead.

5. Work Together Even If You’re Apart
One of the most stressful parts of group projects is finding a time everyone can get together. Rather than rearranging everyone’s schedules, use a Shared Notebook to keep everything up to date. You can also use a shared notebook with your study group. Make a study guide that the group can access and add to.

6. Remember the Best (Or Cheapest) Campus Pizza Place
Trying to remember the great pizza place you ate at last weekend with the huge student discount? Put it in Evernote Food. Then next time you’re having a craving, you won’t have to waste time calling for prices.

7. Know Your Stuff
Sometimes, accidents happen and you’ll end up needing medical attention. Instead of sitting in the doctor’s office, trying to remember what medication it was that made you break out in hives and when you last had a tetanus shot, keep a medical notebook with every random detail so you’ll never be caught unaware.

8. Take Control of Your Time
Does checking your favorite blogs for a new post become a major source of procrastination? Have them delivered right to your Evernote account with ifttt. Then you won’t have to waste time checking for a new one. There are a lot of other ways you can use ifttt for college, too.

9. What Do I Have at Home?
Don’t end up buying duplicates of things. Keep an inventory of everything you have. Snap a picture of each item and tag it with where it is: home or school. Check your inventory before you buy, that way you’ll have extra money for the pizza place from #6.

10. Let Everyone Know What You Want
Everyone has a wish list. Whether its a movie that just came out, a new computer, or a fancy coffee maker, use the Evernote Web Clipper to clip each item and purchase information into a notebook. Make it a public notebook and send the link around. Maybe it will appear in your next care package!

The Evernote Ambassador Program

Evernote Ambassadors are amazing individuals that are here to teach, share and help you get more out of Evernote. Learn more about Ambassadors and consider submitting your story.

Join the conversation happening in our Lifestyle Forum to connect with Ambassadors and other Evernote users.

Join the conversation

Download Ambassador Guides

Drap and drop them into a New Note or attach them to a note so you can access them from any computer or mobile device where you have Evernote installed!

Joshua Zerkel’s Productivity Tips (PDF)
Brandie Kajino’s Organization Tips (PDF)
Carley Knobloch’s Spring Cleaning Tips (PDF)

Evernote for Schools

Learn more about using Evernote in an education context by visiting our resource-packed microsite for schools. And, if you’re a U.S. college student, use your .edu email address to get Evernote Premium for the remainder of the school year, for free. More details here.

• Name: Lindsey C. Holmes
• Location: Newark, NJ
• Evernote Ambassador: Small Business
• Company: LCH Business SM & Tech
• Profession: CEO/ Lead Strategist
• Website: www.LCHBusiness.com
  
• Twitter: @lindseycholmes
  
• Join the Small Business discussion

We’ve heard from many of our small business users that Evernote is an invaluable tool for keeping track of ideas, projects, and to collaborate with teammates. Today, we’re excited to announce our newest Ambassador, who will be sharing her tips for using Evernote in a small business setting. To kick things off, we’re handing the mic over to Lindsey C. Holmes. For those of you attending SXSW this year, check out the meetup Lindsey is hosting in Austin!

Bio

Lindsey C. Holmes is the founder of LCH Business, her digital marketing agency. Her company develops mobile applications and works with clients to create social media marketing campaigns. Lindsey’s passions include GTD, digital marketing, digital PR and Evernote. See how she runs her business on Evernote.

I use Evernote, Everywhere

• Mac
• Windows
• iPhone
• iPad
• Web

I use Evernote for Running my Business

I’ve been an Evernote user for three years and in that time, it has changed the way I think; a phenomenal feat for a free tool. In the context of my business, I use Evernote for a combination of marketing and GTD (David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology). Here are some of the reasons Evernote has become invaluable to me:

1. Evernote is seamless. As a business owner, I travel a lot, work from home and in the office. I have a staff of 8 and Evernote helps me manage my workflow, regardless of where I am.
2. Evernote is totally flexible. It has just enough structure to it that I can organize my notes however I want. The more I started using it, the more it helped me with my productivity, and allowed me to actually process information faster.
3. Evernote helps me create. Because I don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about how to adjust myself to a structured system, I’m able to focus more on the creation process, and organize however I see fit. The tool doesn’t own me, I own the tool.

How I use Evernote for Marketing

I’ve been using Evernote to capture and create for years, but recently, I’ve realized its huge potential for distribution. Evernote is the most cost effective marketing tool I use and it has allowed me to completely streamline my process. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Evernote’s sharing features. At my company:

• We create Shared Notebooks for all of our events. It’s easy for me to be out in the field and drop something into Evernote and know that anyone that has access to it will see it. I also love the ability to share something with my Twitter and Facebook networks, straight from my Evernote account. I love that I can use one tool to do so many different things. [Learn about sharing from Evernote]
• I use Evernote for document storage. I store all of my documents in Evernote, where I can easily edit them, export them as PDFs and drop the edited version right back into the note, where it will always be available to me.
• I use Evernote as my distribution tool. I’m able to send emails to my team right from my Evernote account, which makes the communication flow extremely efficient and effective.
• My office is completely paperless. I rely on my Doxie scanner and Shoeboxed (a service for digitizing paper and saving it to your Evernote account)  for helping me process paper and then get rid of it.

Every new company staff member is trained on how to optimally use Evernote; it’s invaluable to our business!

Evernote for sentimental mementos, serial numbers and more

The more I use Evernote, the more uses I find for it. Here are a few ideas:

• I take pictures of outfits before trips. This helps me pack whatever is appropriate and know which pieces in my suitcase go with what.
• I keep information about my dog, Banks, in Evernote. When we arrive at the vet, I can pull up my dog’s medicine and immediately provide the vet with all the information he needs.

• I have a notebook for my parents and my little sister. These notebooks include photos and even medicine information. If I’m visiting my sister in DC where she lives, and my parents need me to pick something up for them, I’m able to find everything I need in Evernote.
• I take pictures of birthday cards. I realize that with Evernote, it’s about the sentiment. By snapping photos of cards with Evernote, I’m able to look at my collection in Evernote much more than if it was kept in a box somewhere. I’ve become a digital hoarder!
• I store computer serial numbers in Evernote. To keep my gadgets’ serial numbers handy, I snap photos of them using Evernote.

The bottom line is: whenever I come across something that I think could be made easier, I go to Evernote first.

Evernote for networking and events

I go to a lot of events. Since I’m a very organized person, I take lots of notes and photos of business cards. I drop them all into a Shared Notebook that other people who may have attended the event might want to access. It takes the stress out of trying to share notes and tips!

The Evernote Ambassador Program

Evernote Ambassadors are amazing individuals that are here to teach, share and help you get more out of Evernote. Learn more about Ambassadors and consider submitting your story.

Join the conversation happening in our Lifestyle Forum to connect with Ambassadors and other Evernote users.
Join the conversation

Download Ambassador Guides

Drap and drop them into a New Note or attach them to a note so you can access them from any computer or mobile device where you have Evernote installed!

Joshua Zerkel’s Productivity Tips (PDF)
Brandie Kajino’s Organization Tips (PDF)
Carley Knobloch’s Spring Cleaning Tips (PDF)

Get Evernote for iOS

Predictive Note Titles

Gone are the days of Untitled Notes. Now, when you create a new note and save it without giving the note a title, the app will assign a contextual title using calendar events, your location, note contents, and other information. You’ll see our predictive title as soon as you create the note. If you would prefer to change the title, just tap into the title area and start typing. As a result of this new feature, all of your new notes will have an informative title.

Easier Notebook Sharing

We felt that notebook sharing was too difficult to find in the previous version of Evernote, so we made it more easily accessible. To share a notebook, go to your notebook list and tap on the notebook you want to share. Next, tap on the new share icon in the top right of the screen. Much easier.

Better Editing, Copying, Pasting, and More

This update includes major improvements to the note editing capabilities on iPhone and iPad, particularly in iOS 5. First, you’ll notice that editing is significantly faster, especially for long notes. We resolved many issues related to new lines and we do a much better job of preserving styles when you copy something from a note and paste it into another note or into another app.

Stacks

Notebook Stacks, our visual notebook organization, have been a part of Evernote for iPhone for a little while, but enabling them wasn’t easy. In this update, we made Stacks the default view for the notebook list. If you prefer a stack-less view, tap on the “i” in the top left of the Notebook screen to switch to a different view.

And more…

In addition to improved stability and lots of bug fixes, this update also includes faster and more reliable synchronization. Also, we completely redesigned the login and registration experience. We have lots more to come. Let us know what you think of our latest update.

Bio

Daniel works at LexisNexis, where he consults with attorneys on how to be more productive and effective by using LexisNexis litigation software. He’s also an attorney and recently penned an e-book, which is for sale in the Evernote Trunk, about ways to use Evernote to be more productive.

I use Evernote, Everywhere:

• Windows (work)
• Windows & Mac (home)
• Android phone
• iPad

I use Evernote for Work

At LexisNexis, I oversee business relationships with 150 of the largest law firms in 8 states in the Southeast. I quickly found that managing this business was much more complex and challenging than practicing law, and I realized I needed a much better system to organize everything I do at work and responsibilities at home (I’m a dad to three children).

Evernote changed everything for me. It shook the very essence of how I stay organized.

• Evernote is much more than a note-taking app. To me, it’s a life management tool. It allows me to organize everything that I do in my life — from my work, to my blog, to my e-book, and my life with my wife and kids.
• I use one notebook to remember everything except shared information. I have a couple of levels of organization. I use separate tags to break out my GTD methodology (such as contexts, things I need to do today, next actions, active projects, inactive projects, etc). I have a major category for tags, such as Home, Work, Clients, Reference, Stuff, etc., and then minor categories nested underneath, such as insurance, mortgage, doctors, and so forth. I use Notebook Stacks to stay organized as well. Anything that needs to be shared with clients, colleagues or family will go into a Shared Notebook inside of the Stack. To search, I look through my tags, or do a Saved Search. Some of my tags and Saved Searches are dragged to the awesome Favorites Bar!
• When compiling content for a client, I include a lot of information in one note. I’ll include contracts, literature pieces, Powerpoint presentations, and notes where I talked to the client on the phone. I’ll use Note Links to paste a link if the information resides in a separate note within Evernote. A real bonus is that Evernote auto-populates the date and time for me with a single shortcut every time I want to add new information in the note.

• When working on new business, I send all pertinent emails to Evernote. I review those and all relevant notes. When trying to understand next steps, everything is in one central location. [Learn how to email to Evernote]
• Note Links help keep me on track when I’m running around meetings. I think Note Links are the key to success in Evernote! I use them everywhere I can.  For example, when I’m traveling for work, I create a master note with my travel itinerary. In that master note, I include all of the times of where I need to be and when. My airline confirmation is a Note Link in this master note. On my last trip, I had a meeting with a law firm, where I hyperlinked the lawyer’s name to the agenda I created in Evernote for that lawyer, which talked about three things I wanted to accomplish in that meeting. Within that agenda was a Note Link to another note that embedded a video of a client testimonial I saved in Evernote that I wanted to show him. Because I’m a Premium user, I had saved the notes in an offline folder. When it came time to meet, I brought only my iPad, and only had to access that one note to know exactly what we would talk about. I didn’t have to go fiddling around folders, notebooks, or my work laptop. I had it all there in my iPad and all I had to do was click on that Note Link. It was “magical” and the client was really impressed with my organization and professionalism! [Learn how to use Note Links]
• I use Shared Notebooks with my team. This is where I can send other members of my team to benefit from finding existing information, rather than having to spend hours doing repetitive work. For example, I’m working on travel plans with a colleague. I’ve already done the research we need and put it into a Shared Notebook, along with our itinerary. Similarly, while I prepped for a presentation on electronic discovery for a law firm’s litigation team, I did research on LexisNexis to learn more about new case law and about the law firm, created the presentation based on what I found, and then put it all into a Shared Notebook, which I shared with the marketing and branding teams, as well as other colleagues. [Learn more about sharing from Evernote]

• I scan all of my expenses while I travel, to save time later. When I’m at a hotel, I’ll scan all of my receipts for the day. It makes my life so much easier at the end of the week, when I’m back from my trip and don’t have to worry about scanning.

Evernote for Managing Family Life, and Learning

I’ve found Evernote to be an invaluable tool to not only help manage my family trips, recipes, kids’ artwork, and progress reports, but to actually help my son learn.

How I use Peek to Help my Son with Math

My son’s school gives him these 25 question speed drills in math. I wanted to create a fun and engaging way to help him learn the answers to questions, so I decided to give Peek a try. I created a new notebook called ‘Jacob’s math questions’ and took 75 of his math questions and created 75 notes in that notebook. I opened the notebook up in Peek and Jacob has been loving it. It’s so engaging for him and fun to watch him. He gets so excited to lift the cover and see he got the answer right. Evernote has basically helped Jacob turn his math speed drills into something fun!

Get Evernote Peek

Audio Notes for Demonstrating Learning Progress

My son had a reading tutor over the summer and I wanted to track his progress. I turned to the audio note feature in Evernote to record him at the beginning of the summer reading his book. At the end of the summer, I recorded him reading the same exact book. It was not only amazing for me as a parent to hear the difference before and after, but even more amazing for Jacob! Now, Jacob even asks for me to record him in Evernote.

Evernote for Everything Else

I use Evernote for everything related to organizing my family and capturing sentimental things that I might want to recall in the future. For example, I have a ScanSnap scanner which goes with me on all my travels. At home, I use it to scan in my kids’ artwork. To date, I have about 250 notes with artwork tagged with my kids’ names. They know their creations live in Evernote.

I’ve also tried to go paperless, so I scan in documents related to landscaping, pest control, everything for my dog, my kids’ progress reports, and more. [Visit our Paperless discussion]

Another great example of how I use Note Links is for planning family vacations. I was recently planning a family trip with my parents and they wanted to know where we were staying, what we’d be doing, and have directions to all of the places we’d be going. I pulled together all of the information that my wife had planned into an Evernote notebook and sent it off to them. I made it so much easier for my parents! The alternative is sending an email with multiple attachments or sending multiple emails, which can get totally overwhelming. My mom was blown away. [Learn more about sharing from Evernote]

Join the Parenting discussion and read about how our Parenting Ambassador, Carley, uses Evernote for Parenting.

Are you a father or an attorney? Share how you’re using Evernote in the comments.

Sending a reminder

To do this, go to the Manage Sharing screen in the Mac, Windows and Web versions of Evernote, then click on a notebook that you’ve shared with individuals. You’ll notice a new link labelled “Send Reminder.” Clicking this link brings up a popup with a list of all the individuals that you’ve invited to view or edit the notebook. You can either send a reminder note to everyone or to specific people.

Don’t forget, if you’re a Premium user, you can allow others to edit notes in your notebooks.