How to use tables in Notes on iPhone and iPad

Iphone 13 Pro Notes Tables Hero (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

While we mostly think of the Notes app as a place to quickly jot down plain text, there is so much more that you can do with it. Plus, it's probably the best note-taking app for the iPhone and iPad because it's already pre-installed on your device, so no extra downloads are required. With Notes, you can not only do plain text notes, but rich format notes, sketches and diagrams, and even add things like tables when you need a comprehensive chart of data. It's perfect when you need a little something extra in your note organization.

Regardless of whether you're using an iPhone SE or iPhone 13 Pro, here's how to use tables in the Notes app on your best iPhone and iPad.

How to create a table

Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap the create note button on the bottom right of your screen. It looks like a square with a pencil on it.

Create a table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap New Note (Image credit: iMore)

Tap the table button on the lower left of the note pane. It looks like a rectangle made of smaller rectangles.
Enter the information you'd like to add to your table.
Tap another cell when you want to add information to it. You can also tap Enter on the keyboard to move to the next cell automatically.

Create a table in Notes on iPhone: Tap the Table button, input your data (Image credit: iMore)

How to add more columns or rows to your table

If you need more than the basic 2x2 table, you can add more rows and columns.

Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap the create note button on the bottom right of your screen. It looks like a square with a pencil on it.
Tap the table button on the lower left of the note pane. It looks like a rectangle made of smaller rectangles.

Add more columns or rows to your table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap New Note, tap Table button (Image credit: iMore)

Tap the more button on the outside of the cell. It's a small button with three dots in it. The one on top of the table is for adding columns; the one on the left of the table is for adding rows.
Tap Add Row or Add Column, depending on which more button you've tapped.

Add more columns or rows to your table in Notes on iPhone: Tap the three dots at the beginning of a row or column, tap Add Row or Add Column, depending on what you chose (Image credit: iMore)

How to rearrange rows or columns

Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap the create note button on the bottom right of your screen or use an existing note with a table in it. It looks like a square with a pencil on it.
Tap the table button on the lower left of the note pane. It looks like a rectangle made of smaller rectangles.

Rearrange rows and columns in a table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap New Note, tap Table button — Add more columns or rows to your table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap New Note, tap Table button (Image credit: iMore)

Tap the more button on the outside of the cell so that a row or column is highlighted in yellow. The one on the left of the table is for moving rows; the one on the top of the table is for moving columns.
Tap, hold, and drag the more button to move rows or columns around.

Rearrange rows or columns in a table in Notes on iPhone by showing: Tap the More button so that the row or column is highlighted in yellow, then drag the more button to move the entire row or column around — Rearrange rows or columns in a table in Notes on iPhone by showing: Tap the More button so that the row or column is highlighted in yellow, then drag the more button to move the entire row or column a (Image credit: iMore)

How to remove columns or rows

Launch the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap the create note button on the bottom right of your screen. It looks like a square with a pencil on it.
Tap the table button on the lower left of the note pane. It looks like a rectangle made of smaller rectangles.

Remove columns or rows in your table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap New Note, tap Table button — Add more columns or rows to your table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap New Note, tap Table button (Image credit: iMore)

Tap the more button on the outside of the cell. It's a small button with three dots in it. The one on top of the table is for adding columns; the one on the left of the table is for adding rows.
Tap Delete Row or Delete Column, depending on which more button you've tapped.

Remove columns or rows in table in Notes on iPhone: Tap the More button on a row or column, then tap Delete (Image credit: iMore)

How to convert text to a table

Launch the Notes app from your Home screen.
Tap an existing note or create a new one.
Tap the text in your note to highlight and select it.
Tap the table button in the toolbar. It looks like a rectangle made of smaller rectangles.

Convert text to a table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, select existing note, select text, tap Table button (Image credit: iMore)

Your text will be put into a cell in your table.

How to convert a table into plain text

You may not be able to view a table on certain devices or in certain apps, but plain text is pretty universal.

Launch the Notes app from your Home screen.
Tap an existing note with a table in it or create a new one.
Tap inside a cell in the table.
Tap the table button in the toolbar. It's a rectangle made of smaller rectangles.
Tap Convert to Text.

Convert table to plain text in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, tap note with table, tap in the table, tap the Table button, select Convert to Text (Image credit: iMore)

How to format text inside your tables

You can't change font, but you can underline, bold, and italicize your text. Here's how:

Launch the Notes app from your Home screen.
Tap an existing note with a table in it or create a new one.
Tap inside a cell in the table.
Tap the bold, underline, or italics button.
Choose your formatting.
Type your text.

Format text inside a table in Notes on iPhone: Launch Notes, select existing note, tap inside a cell in a table, tap the format button, select your formatting, then type your text (Image credit: iMore)

How to delete a table from a note

Launch the Notes app from your Home screen.
Tap an existing note with a table in it.
Tap the note field so that the insertion point is immediately after the table.
Tap the delete button on your keyboard. This will select the whole table.
Tap the delete button again.

Delete table from note on iPhone: Tap delete on the keyboard to select the table, then tap delete to get rid of it (Image credit: iMore)

Organize it with tables

As you can see, the Notes app in iOS 15 is very versatile. You can do so much more than just plain text notes by having the ability to add tables, as well as sketches, rich format notes, and more. Notes is one of our preferred ways to quickly just get information down and process or refer back to later.

Updated March 2022: Updated for the latest versions of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed. When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.