[Sep 2025 Launch] New Toolbar Suggestions
Thread for feedback on the new toolbar.
Feel free to share any bugs or suggestions for improvement regarding the updated toolbar.
Hello! We’re excited to let you know that we’ve updated the Text tool and introduced a new dedicated floating menu for text boxes, including more customization options.
One of the new tools is Pin Text Tool — when enabled, it keeps the Text tool active so you can create multiple text boxes continuously without having to reselect it each time.
This is especially helpful when you're focused on adding or adjusting text in your notes. The pin will automatically turn off once you switch to another tool.
Feel free to try it out and let us know how it works for you!
This improvement is available in the latest Apple update.
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heather
commented
Up until this afternoon i could change my pen color in split screen and now i have to exit split screen to change pen color! put the pen color back, every single update just makes things more inconvenient and harder to use. no one uses elements or the tape measure thing whatever that is. i want to be able to change pen color in split screen i dont need to see a pen and pencil option at the same time.
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Nikki
commented
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE revert the toolbar back to the previous version!!! Having to expand things to do simple tasks is cumbersome and clunky. I hate not being able to quickly switch between editing and viewing as all the hyperlinks are ruined with this update.... GIVE ME GOODNOTES 6 BACK.
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Steve Boots commented
This new update ruined the feature I used the most - straight line tool. The hold to snap does not work the same way. I use this for drawing basic building plans all the time and now it is terrible. I draw a small straight line and it puts a long straight line in a completely random place. I draw a short straight line and it makes it really long and curved in a place I didn't even draw it. The ruler is very difficult to move around as well. Please please please bring back the straight line feature in the shape bar. The toolbar layout was perfectly fine the way it was. I will switch to a different app if I can't get this to do what I need it to do. I don't mind adding features, but you can't just take away a feature - people are using it for those specific features.
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Jesus Mendoza commented
I do not enjoy the new toolbar as it is very cumbersome. It seems to take up more screen real estate since the tools are in the main bar but I mainly use the writing feature which brings up another toolbar below. I would prefer for the main toolbar to expand when I use drawing tools instead of another dropdown bar. Additionally, I use two document open side by side and screenshot heavily for medical school lectures; when I return to the main note and click the writing tool it defaults to the eraser which is not intuitive as I wouldn't return to this note to start erasing immediately, I am looking to write/draw. Lastly, the lasso tool requires too many steps take a screenshot. I would prefer it to default for a screenshot that copies to clipboard after I highlight a section and click the camera (vs clicking camera>export>copy)
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PRAJESH PATRA commented
Goodnotes, are u seeing this comments? When will u bring back the old toolbar? Now I can't even draw a straight line with this new bogus toolbar. Everything messed up.I want ans.
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Andrea Vidal Hernández commented
I hate the new floating tool bar. I need to be able to access the fonts i regulaly use instead of having to look them up every time, additionaly the highlighters suck, they dont di straight lines like they use to, and the feature of holding to draw shapes is broken. I want the old set up back
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Przemyslaw Klesk commented
New floating toolbar is a bad design, it covers the canvas and disrupts work. The traditional version with tools docked at top menu was much better. A lot of people expect it as before and complain on the current design.
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Rachael Sons commented
Bring back the old tool bar. I hate having to keep clicking the text box each time for multiple text boxes. It defaulting to lasso each time is annoying. Plus having the floating toolbar for the pen and text box is annoying cause its in the view of things. Switch back to how things were before the update
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William Chen commented
I'll agree to to what the other users have been saying, like Ziblock Ziblock and Taro Yamada to name a few. I'll have also spoken to a couple of friends and they have switched over to Notability until this problem have been solved and for myself I am also strongly considering to switching to Notability if this problem is not resolved ASAP.
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Andre Müller commented
In den Lernset ( Lern-Karteikarten ) auch die Schrift änder können und etwas **** markieren oder Anmarkern
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殷卓宸 commented
Please consider moving the "Add this page to Favorites" button back to the main toolbar. Additionally, in the page overview view, could the option to preview or manage favorited pages be placed directly in the long horizontal toolbar—rather than buried in a secondary menu as it is now?
As a student, favoriting pages is by far the most frequently used feature for me in GoodNotes. Currently, I always need two steps to save a page to favorites, which significantly slows down my workflow—and honestly, even affects my ability to keep up during lectures. This change has made the app feel much less efficient and has noticeably degraded my overall experience, which is quite frustrating.
I’d really appreciate it if the team could prioritize making favoriting pages as quick and accessible as possible. Thank you so much for considering this suggestion!
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Alice Contucci commented
As you can se using the new shape tool si vero difficult. Notice how long did it take to me to change the size of the shape. BEFORE i could do it in less than 2 seconds. Also note how i can't design a new straight line because it gets automatically connected to the shape near it.
And also notice how many changes i have to do to select the correct tool from the toolbar.
PLEASE SWITCH BACK to the old version. -
Alice Contucci commented
The new shape tool is very frustrating. Bring back the old one that was so easy and functioning
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Dom Fe commented
Changing the layout every 3 months - at least that's what it feels like - doesn't improve my performance at all but actually takes me way more time to get things done because I always need to get used to where to find the different tools. Why do you always have to mix things up and who came up with this nonsense idea in the first place?
The last update in particular doesn't work for me at all. Listing all the functions that do not really work as they used to here would take me an hour. Not even the copying mode works right. This way you drive me to go back to pen and paper because it is no decrease in labour time for me anymore. -
Pickle Stick commented
Before the update you used to have the option of draw and hold for the highlighter. No you can’t switch it on or off. And the „mandatory draw and hold“ that you provided the highlighter with now is bad. It doesn’t correct the actual wobbles and curves itself but just the last part that comes after the wobbles or nothing at all and it just makes the wobbles more appealing and aesthetically. But its nerve wracking if you mark things fast during lectures and have to fight with not straight lines that sometimes cover the lines below or under. I do understand that it’s great that you can finally highlight unstraight thing and its smoothes them out but for printed texts it’s a literally nightmare. Bring back draw and hold and maybe add options so you can choose on your own if you want the lines to be straight straight or somewhat straightened but keep the actual form and movements you did. The uploaded pics show kind of exaggerated what I mean the wobble would’ve been before corrected into a straight line, now it just gives you an angle or two straight lines that form the wobble.
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Rob commented
I don’t have much space on my iPad mini and having to click twice to lesso to pen is a lot when you have to do it many times. This is a bad look, makes it look like the company is forcing AI on its users.
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Kim Mai
commented
Please add the feature to set the toolbar back to how it was before the Goodnotes 6 update. You changed the toolbar for everyone, and many people on Reddit, social media, and in my community feel it is very inconvenient to have another distracting floating island. Many people also utilized the bookmarks bar to what is now "outlines". Please add a feature where we can have the old UI back. Many users have already become accustomed to the old features, so it is really inconvenient to have to switch to other features. At least make changing to the new UI optional.
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Matteo Grazia commented
Lasso tool into the writing tools section
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PRAJESH PATRA commented
When will bring new toolbar goodnotes? Straight line is must without that I can't make diagram. Remember the more u delay in updating the toolbar the more u lose the customers.Bring all the tools of old toolbar.
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Bart
commented
I need a zoom window in my toolbar!! why was it removed and now it takes two clicks to do that? why I can't put it back to where it was?