Keep your thoughts moving.

A quiet margin is normal when no useful question is available. Write a complete thought and pause for about two seconds; Margin looks at the paragraph you are writing, not at every keystroke. Check that the margin is not quiet (the orb menu then reads Margin is quiet and offers Turn margin on).

Built-in suggestions work when Apple Intelligence is unavailable. A question from the on-device model can arrive a little later than the built-in ones. Suggestions are never guaranteed, and some pauses produce nothing at all.

On iPhone, the margin lives in the small round orb at the top right of a note. It shows the drawing for your current mode and, when questions are waiting, a count. Tap it to read the newest question, switch mode, open all the questions, or go Quiet. Ask for a reflection sits at the bottom of the questions. On iPad, the margin sits in a rail beside your note instead.

Plant inserts only the question you choose into your note, on its own line after a › mark, where you can edit or delete it like any other line. Dismiss removes a suggestion, and Margin avoids repeating it. Quiet pauses suggestions until you choose Turn margin on. Ask for a reflection is a deliberate look back at the whole note: one reflection, using an excerpt of your own writing, which you can weave into the note or dismiss.

No. They invite you to look again at words already on the page. Margin does not look up facts, verify your claims or continue your paragraphs. Even a question connected to your own words may not be useful — you can dismiss it. Imaginative what-if questions are marked a possibility, not a claim and are never statements about you.

This site uses Room to wander for Focus, Explore and Wonder. In the app you choose a mode from the orb, or in Settings › How the margin asks. It changes the kind of question the margin asks. It is not an accuracy setting. Each question stays connected to your writing, with the relevant words shown on its card.

• Focus — careful questions about exactly what you wrote. The default.
• Explore — fresh angles on your words: comparisons and other points of view.
• Wonder — playful what-ifs, clearly imagined, never claims about you.

See example questions for each mode on the overview page.

Writing, Focus and iCloud Sync are free. Explore and Wonder are available together through the optional monthly Explore + Wonder subscription. The App Store shows the actual price for your country and asks you to confirm before you buy. If the subscription ends, your notes and saved questions remain yours; only new Explore and Wonder questions stop.

Tap the orb in a note and choose Focus, Explore or Wonder, or open Settings › How the margin asks from the notes list. The choice applies to all your notes and can be changed at any time. Show Tips again is in Settings; Show the introduction again is at the bottom of Tips.

Use the bar above the keyboard. Paragraph style offers Body, Heading and Subheading; alongside it are Bold, Italic, Underline, Bulleted list and Numbered list.

Typing -, * or 1. followed by a space at the start of a line begins a list. Return from a title or a heading continues in ordinary body text; Return in a list adds the next item, and Return on an empty item leaves the list.

Yes. Formatting is stored with the note on this device and can travel with it through iCloud when sync is available. If a Siri action adds text, styling is kept on every paragraph whose words are unchanged, and the rest returns to body text. Exports include the formatting held on that note.

Open a note and tap the More button (⋯) at the top right. Share… opens the system share sheet with the words. Copy puts them on the clipboard. Export offers Word Document and PDF, with your headings, emphasis and lists. You choose the destination.

In a note, tap the photo button at the start of the bar above the keyboard. Choose Photo Library or Take Photo; touch and hold the button to open the camera directly. A note holds one photo, so adding another replaces it. Tap the photo at the top of the note to see it larger and edit its description, if one is available.

To remove it, touch and hold the photo and choose Remove Photo, or use Remove Photo in the photo viewer or photo button menu. A photo picked from your library stays there. A photo taken in Margin is kept with its note and is not added to your Photos library.

Margin keeps a smaller copy with the note, without the date, location and camera details the original carried. On devices that support image reading, it tries to write a short description on the device; you can edit or delete it. A question may draw on the photo alongside your words. The stored copy can sync with the note through your iCloud account when available.

Many photos don’t, and that’s normal: a question appears only when one might genuinely help. If a photo can’t be read at all, it stays in the note just as it is. A question never claims to come from a photo that wasn’t read.

When a question cites the photo currently attached to your note, its card shows a thumbnail and says From your photo and your note. While a photo is attached, a question based only on your words says From your note. The overview example illustrates this with invented photos and staged questions; it does not analyse a photo you choose there.

Swipe a note in the list to Pin or Unpin it. Select in the notes list handles several at once: pin, share or delete together, then Done. Open a note and use the More menu (⋯) for Pin, Share…, Copy, Export and Delete.

To delete from the list, swipe left, choose Delete, then confirm Delete on the Delete Note? dialog. The note moves to Recently Deleted for 30 days. There you can Recover it, Recover All, or Delete Now — that last step cannot be undone.

Margin tells you plainly: a notice reading Changes not saved. Share a copy to keep them. appears under the note, or an alert asks you to keep Margin open. Use Share… or Export to preserve a copy, check available device storage, and contact support. If the note store cannot open, Margin stops rather than presenting a temporary store as a successful save. Avoid deleting the app to clear the error.

Notes, formatting, photos, pins and Recently Deleted are saved on your device. They can sync between devices signed in to your iCloud account when iCloud is available. Sync is free, independent of a subscription, and may take time. If iCloud sync is unavailable, your notes remain on this device. Check Settings › iCloud Sync for the current status. Share or export a note if you need an immediate independent copy.

If you use Apple's device backups, those copies are an Apple feature, separate from anything Margin itself saves. Spotlight and Siri can still find or act on notes on this device, under your system settings. They are not the same as syncing notes between devices.

Do not delete or reinstall Margin as a first troubleshooting step; that can remove notes stored on the device. Share or export copies of important notes first. Anything kept in an Apple backup or in iCloud is managed from your Apple settings, not by reinstalling.

Margin includes Siri and Shortcuts actions: New thought in Margin, Add to Margin, Search Margin notes, Ask Margin about my notes and Reflect on my last note in Margin. Select the destination note when adding text. Ask Margin retrieves exact excerpts with their note titles, entirely on device; if no relevant words match, it says so — try a specific word from the note. Availability depends on your device, language, region and Siri settings.

Personal Shortcuts made with an earlier development build may need their note parameter selected again.

Tell us your device, system version, approximate note length, and whether the delay happens while typing, after pausing, or when opening a note. Mention if the device is warm or in Low Power Mode. A fictional example is enough; you do not need to share your original writing.

Tap Settings on the notes list. Writing holds How the margin asks, Show Tips again and Images. Tips include four short reminders and Show the introduction again at the bottom. Explore + Wonder › Subscription has purchase, restore and management options when available. iCloud Sync shows your account and sync status. Help links to this page; Privacy links to the policy. About shows the version to quote when you contact support.