Paste content into your outline
Paste behavior depends on whether the editor is open or closed. This determines whether pasted content is inserted inline or converted into a structured outline.
Paste while the editor is closed — structured outline
When no item is being edited, pasting creates new items from the clipboard content. The original structure of the pasted content is preserved as a nested outline:
HTML content (e.g., from a web page or another app): Headings, lists, and nested structures are converted into a hierarchy of items. Formatting such as bold, italic, and links is preserved.
Plain text: Indentation (spaces or tabs) is used to determine nesting. Each indented line becomes a child of the less-indented line above it.
Files and images: Pasting a file or image from the clipboard creates a new file item as a child of the focused item.
New items are inserted depending on the state of the focused item:
If the focused item is empty and has no children, the pasted content replaces it.
Otherwise, the pasted items are inserted after the focused item as siblings.
Paste while the editor is open — inline text
When you are editing an item, pasting inserts the clipboard content directly into the item’s text at the cursor position. No new items are created.
Paste aliases
When you copy an item using Copy as Alias and then paste, an alias is created instead of a duplicate.