Which is better for digital note taking?

If you’ve finally decided to ditch the bulky backpacks full of textbooks, notebooks, and binders in favor of digital note-taking, the next decision you’ll need to make is choosing between handwritten and typed notes. I’ve tried both and here’s what I think.

1 Hardware differences and portability

Sprinting across campus for a solid fifteen minutes to get to class on time is a universal experience. With all the walking that a typical school day involves, it’s best to get a lightweight device that you can easily carry.

For handwritten notes, you’ll need a quality tablet paired with a stylus—something like a combination of an iPad and an Apple Pencil. It’s not a cheap setup, but it’s perfect for capturing the feel of the handwriting. Although some laptops come with touchscreen and stylus support, I find them less than ideal for taking notes, as their touchscreens often feel awkward and the built-in keyboard can get in the way.

On the other hand, even if any laptop can technically handle typing, it is best to opt for a modern and light ultrabook. These thinner and more portable laptops will ensure you don’t feel weighed down throughout the day. Despite this, any tablet will be lighter than a laptop. Currently, the lightest MacBook, the M3 MacBook Air, weighs 2.7 pounds, while the lightest iPad, the 11-inch iPad Air 2024, weighs just 1.02 pounds. That’s less than half the weight!

Even when you add something like the Magic Keyboard to the mix, the tablet still won’t exceed the weight of a laptop. I bought both a MacBook and an iPad for college, and while both are considered lightweight, I always prefer to travel with just the iPad.

2 Typing is faster, but handwriting offers a more natural feel

The ability to note down everything a professor says in a morning class while still actually understanding the content and asking questions is a skill only a lucky few can master. Unfortunately, the moment I start writing, I miss the next thing the professor says, and then the next.

Written notes win this round. While it depends on how fast you can type, handwritten notes – whether on paper or with a stylus and tablet – aren’t nearly as fast. But handwriting is more engaging and feels more natural, which is what I prefer when studying, even though I’m a writer and computer science student who spends hours glued to coding and typing on a keyboard. Maybe it’s just muscle memory and inertia!

If you decide to go the handwritten route like I do, you’ll either have to deal with super messy, barely legible notes, or rely on the built-in recording tool that most note-taking apps offer to finish your notes after an hour. However, if speed and neat notes are your priority, and you’re not willing to spend time correcting them after an extra hour, typing is definitely the way to go.

3 Typed notes allow for easier formatting

There were countless times when I wanted to go back and edit my notes after I had written them. For example, when I’m reviewing midterms using resources like my textbook or YouTube lectures, I like to add any new information I’ve picked up to my notes so I can easily refer back to it later. Unfortunately, doing this with handwritten notes is quite time consuming.

You either have to squeeze new information into any empty spaces or add annotations, and neither option looks as clean or organized as I’d like. If you need to edit an entire paragraph, you’ll usually have to delete and rewrite the entire section. While you can use the lasso tool to move the handwriting around, I found it took more time than it was worth.

With Typed Notes, you can rearrange text and make edits in seconds while keeping your notes looking clean and presentable. Plus, with written notes, it’s much easier to break complex topics into bullet points and adjust font sizes to differentiate sections.

4 Spell check works on both, but typed notes have the upper hand

The last thing I care about when taking notes in class is making sure every word is spelled correctly. Instead, I try to focus on understanding the material covered in class and write down everything the professor explains. However, sending someone notes with a few spelling mistakes is embarrassing. Fortunately, most note-taking apps now come with AI-powered spell-checking features.

For example, my favorite note-taking app, Goodnotes, has a Spell Check feature that underlines misspelled words with a dotted line. Once I tap a word, it offers spelling suggestions, and once I select one, it corrects the word in my own handwriting. While this is certainly impressive, manually typing out each word is time-consuming.

This is where written notes have an added advantage. Most note-taking apps like Apple Notes, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Notion all have built-in spell checkers that scan your entire document in seconds and correct spelling mistakes with a single click.

In case your note-taking app doesn’t have a built-in spell checker, you can easily install and use an extension like Grammarly. If the app you use for handwritten notes doesn’t have a spell checker, you have no choice but to catch and correct any spelling mistakes yourself.

5 Handwriting is ideal for more practical subjects

Hardware differences, speed, and formatting aside, the most important factor in deciding between handwritten and typed notes should be the field you’re in and the types of courses you’re taking. For some subjects, handwritten notes make more sense. In courses like economics, chemistry, or math, where equations, graphs, and symbols are common, typing can slow you down.

I’m not saying it’s impossible to have them with written notes – it’s just incredibly time-consuming and you could use that time elsewhere. For equations and symbols, you’ll probably need to rely on software like LaTeX or tools like Microsoft Word’s equation editor. I’ve tried it before and it’s almost impossible to keep up in class. By the time I finished writing the equation, the professor had three practice questions solved!

Handwritten notes are usually better for subjects that require a more practical and hands-on approach. You can quickly write down equations, draw graphs, and solve problems without worrying about formatting or learning new software.

Additionally, many note-taking apps that you can use with a stylus now offer math conversion tools, allowing you to enjoy the flexibility of handwritten notes with the neatness of typed notes.

6 Writing by hand helps retain information

From our first day in kindergarten, we were trained to take handwritten notes. For me, this is one of the main reasons why I have always associated writing with learning.

Sure, taking notes can save you hours if you’re a fast typist like me, but I have one major problem with written notes: I wouldn’t save anything. When I write something down, I actively process it instead of just passively writing it down. I miss that active involvement when I’m mindlessly writing notes.

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I also noticed that I often wrote exactly what my professors said when I wrote, while the handwritten notes encouraged me to paraphrase the information in my own words. This not only helps me understand how several concepts are connected and visualize them better, but also makes them much easier to review and recall later.

I find scrolling through my handwritten notes much more rewarding than scrolling through a screen of typed text. Note-taking apps are also full of interactive tools, such as the tape tool, which allows me to overlay content in my notebooks to test my memory and incorporate active recall into my study routine, making revision less of a chore.

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In the end, it’s just a matter of preference. Be sure to consider all the factors I listed above and weigh the pros and cons of each. In my case, the advantages of handwritten notes outweighed the disadvantages.

But that doesn’t mean it’s the same for you! If you have access to equipment for both, I highly recommend trying both note-taking methods to see which works best for you.