Cornell notes

The Cornell method splits every page into notes, cues and a summary, so your notes come out of the lecture already set up as a self-test. Tap each part of the page to see what goes there.

Notes column (right, about 2/3)

Written DURING the lecture. Short phrases, abbreviations, diagrams. Leave gaps between ideas. Do not try to write everything.

How to take Cornell notes: the 5 Rs

Walter Pauk, who taught study skills at Cornell University, laid the method out in How to Study in College. He described five steps:

  1. Record the lecture in the notes column. Meaning, not transcription.
  2. Reduce after class: write cue questions and keywords in the left column.
  3. Recite: cover the notes column and answer each cue out loud.
  4. Reflect: ask how this connects to earlier lectures; write the summary.
  5. Review: spend ten minutes a week reciting old pages. This is spaced repetition on paper.

Steps 2 and 3 are where the learning happens. They are active recall: you are testing yourself, not rereading.

Cornell notes template

Type straight into the template and print the finished page, or leave it blank and print copies to write on. Your text is saved in this browser.

Cues / questions

Notes

Summary

Convert your notes to Cornell format

0 / 12,000 characters

Cornell version appears here

The AI writes one cue question for each chunk of your notes plus a summary. Writing the cues yourself is better practice; use this to check yours or to catch up on old notes.

Questions students ask

What are Cornell notes?

Cornell notes are a note-taking system devised by Walter Pauk, an education professor at Cornell University, in the 1950s and published in his book "How to Study in College". Each page is split into a narrow cue column on the left, a wider notes column on the right and a summary box at the bottom.

How do you take Cornell notes step by step?

During the lecture, write notes in the right column only. After class, write questions or keywords in the left cue column that each note answers, and write a two or three sentence summary at the bottom. To revise, cover the right column and answer the cues aloud. Pauk summarised the steps as record, reduce, recite, reflect and review.

Are Cornell notes effective?

The method builds in two techniques with strong evidence: self-testing (the cue column turns notes into questions) and summarising in your own words. Its main benefit comes from actually doing the after-class steps; a Cornell page with an empty cue column is just ordinary notes.

Where can I get a Cornell notes template?

Use the free template on this page: choose a size, add your course and date, and print it, or type straight into it on screen and print the finished page. It prints on A4 or US Letter.

Can I convert my existing notes into Cornell format?

Yes. Paste them into the converter below and the AI writes the cue questions and summary for your notes, laid out as a Cornell page you can print.

Keep going