Document Sources let you associate a document (or any bullet) with the materials you're learning from — whether that's a PDF you've uploaded to RemNote, a web page, a YouTube video, or another bullet. This way, you'll always know where your notes came from and can quickly return to the original material when needed. You can add as many sources as you want.
Adding sources
At the top of any document or bullet that you've zoomed into, click the Add Source button. This opens the Add Source menu, which has two tabs: Add Source and Record. There is also a third option that lets you link other documents as a source - it's located in the ... menu as an advanced option (we'll describe how it works in a moment).
Alternatively, if you prefer to use the keyboard, click on the document title or any bullet and type /source or /isrc to quickly open the Add Source menu.
Add source menu
The Add Source menu lets you upload files directly from your computer. You can drag and drop files into the upload area or click choose files to browse your computer. RemNote supports a wide range of file types, including PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, ePub ebooks, Excel spreadsheets, audio files, and more. See Supported File Types for Annotation for the full list.
You can also paste a YouTube, PDF, or web URL into the URL field at the bottom of the tab. This is handy for linking a YouTube lecture, an online PDF, or a web article directly to your document.
Record
The Record tab allows you to directly record audio, such as a live lecture, generate a transcription, and attach it as a source to your document. You can learn more about recording and transcribing audio in RemNote here.
Linking existing documents (Advanced)
You can also link an already-uploaded file or an existing document to your current document.
How to link a document
Click the Add Source button (or type
/source).Click the three dots menu (...) in the top-right corner of the source menu.
Select Link Documents.
Why link documents?
Linking documents lets you connect related materials without duplicating your notes. It has two main uses:
Move between related notes without searching. Jump straight from one document to a linked one, instead of finding it through the global search bar. For example, if you have already uploaded a PDF of your textbook in the past and it appears to be relevant
Practice flashcards from linked documents together: A linked document's flashcards are included when you practice cards from the current document. See Sources and Flashcards below for exactly how this works.
Example: Suppose you have already uploaded your biology textbook as a PDF. As the course progresses, you create a separate document for each topic: one for Cell Structure, another for Photosynthesis, and another for Genetics, and take notes in each.
The same textbook is relevant to all of them, but you don't want to hunt for it in search each time you need it. Instead, link the textbook PDF as a source to each topic document. Now, from any of those documents, you can open the textbook in one click, and it stays connected to every document that draws on it.
Removing a source
To remove a source, click the Add Source button to open the source menu. You'll see your existing sources listed at the top. Click the trash bin icon next to the source you want to remove.
Inline sources
So far, we’ve discussed adding sources to a document or bullet that you’ve zoomed in to. But actually, you can add a source to any bullet at all, even if you’re not zoomed in to it: just type /source on that bullet. The source will appear underneath the bullet and before any children it has.
Sources and flashcards
A source attached to a document A, that points at a document B that contains flashcards, will cause the flashcards in document B to be included when you practice cards from within document A. This can be a convenient way to practice the flashcards of several documents with related topics at once.