What is the one thing students and professionals struggle with? Note taking.
We all have that one friend who jots down notes like a pro during class lectures and distributes their notes to the entire class. No wonder many of them grew up to be great project managers.
But what if you don’t have that friend? Or worse, they don’t share their notes with you?
Well, that’s when you need to start taking notes strategically. Strategic note-taking skills save you a lot of time, assist you to focus on the critical areas, and improve your critical thinking skills. Above all, it is a professional skill that goes a long way.
When it comes to taking notes, nothing beats the Cornell Method. The Cornell Notes format is helpful for students and professionals because of its attention to detail.
Your search for the best Cornell Notes templates for organizing and summarizing notes ends here. We’ve done the groundwork for you.
5 Cornell Notes Templates in , Word, and Docs
What are Cornell Notes Templates?
Professor Walter Paul of Cornell University invented the Cornell Notes note-taking method in the 1940s. It is a simple and structured way to take notes and organize them during lectures or reading textbooks.
Originally created for students and academicians, business professionals use the Cornell note-taking system to summarize meeting notes, keep track of the meeting agenda, and manage conversations to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
A Cornell Notes Template is a pre-built format that follows the Cornell Notes System. There are three sections to a Cornell Notes Template:
- Left column: List down questions and keywords specific to a meeting discussion in the left side column, also known as the Cue column
- Right column: Write down the main notes, discussion points, and key thoughts in the right column, also known as the Notes column
- The bottom section: This is dedicated to writing an actionable and brief summary based on the key ideas of the session in one or two sentences
A typical Cornell Note Template example looks like this.
What Makes a Good Cornell Notes Template?
A good note-taking template follows the Cornell Notes System and must have the following:
- Structured layout: The left column should accommodate a maximum of 30% of the template, while the right column or the main section of the template should accommodate the remaining 70% of the template
- Customizable: The Cornell Notes Template should be customizable per user’s use cases. It should be revision and collaboration-ready. Since a group of team members generally accesses these templates, it must have real-time collaboration features like group editing, version history, and adding comments/suggestions
- User-friendly: The template should be easy to use and navigate. That way, the users accessing it from any device type can edit it seamlessly
- AI integration: An AI note-taking tool integrated with the template makes it easy to extract meeting minutes without manually writing every word discussed. Consider this feature as your AI writing assistant who helps you draft structured and clear minutes to capture the essence of the meeting
5 Cornell Notes Templates to Use in 2024
Whether in college lectures or business meetings, your notetaking capabilities help you summarize the main points and help retrieve the key aspects of a conversation in the future.
The Cornell Notes method helps learners write down actionable pointers that can later be used to improve their thesis, research papers, and essays.
In a business context, Cornell Notes Templates help project managers quickly summarize meeting notes and convert them into tasks for each team member.
Here are some of our best finds.
1. Cornell Note Template
The Cornell Note Template for beginners tops our list of Cornell Notes Templates.
This beginner-friendly Cornell Notes Template is perfect for students trying out the Cornell note-taking system for the first time. It helps them organize their notes in a structured manner, summarize and synthesize information quickly, and recall crucial information like main ideas and facts for tests.
Convert each note into tasks and track progress with custom statuses. Add custom fields and attributes to each task for better visualization.
Build your workflow with this template and access custom views like Gantt, calendar, and list. Below the summary section, add cues like keywords, phrases, or diagrams to access critical aspects from your notes quickly.
2. Cornell Notes Template for advanced users
The Cornell Notes Template for advanced users follows the Cornell Note-Taking format in the most non-complicated way possible.
Downloadable in Docs format, this template includes a simple table format for directly entering keywords, questions, notes, and summaries.
This free meeting minutes template is ideal for quick daily standup meetings and weekly catchups. To save time, list the agenda items and discussion points and share them with attendees beforehand.
Log action items that need to be addressed during or after the meeting. Add meeting recordings, tasks, and any other details to go back to past meetings and track progress.
As a user, you can build your workflow by converting these notes into tasks and adding customizable statuses, tags, and views. offers additional features to make your meetings more efficient.
For example, use Whiteboards to brainstorm strategies and ideas with other participants during virtual meetings.
Then, use Brain to summarize the notes, pull action items, and assign tasks to team members.
3. Google Docs Cornell Notes Template
The Google Docs Cornell Notes Template is an absolute game-changer. It helps you stay on top of your tasks. Simply make a copy or download it to start using it.
This straightforward template, designed for students and professionals, is editable in real time and can be shared with anyone on your team.
This Google Docs Cornell Notes Template fills the questions and notes column with sample pointers to help users approach it. Segregate the notes column into four categories: record, recite, reflect, and review. In the record category, write down your own words for the essential facts and key ideas.
In the recipe category, answer the questions from the cues column. The purpose of the reflect category is to dive deep into the significance of the first two categories. The review section is to maintain all your notes at a glance.
4. Microsoft Word Cornell Note Template by Template.net
This Microsoft Word Cornell Notes Template is on our list because of its minimalistic design and simple structure—making it an excellent choice for students and professionals new to Cornell Notes.
This Microsoft Word Cornell Notes Template is customizable and comprehensive, covering all aspects of the Cornell Note-Taking System. It presents the note template in a modern design format.
It is helpful for both students and professionals. The template allows effortless information capture and improves time management for students and academics.
You can download it in Microsoft documents format, edit it, and upload it to Sharepoint for easy sharing with classmates or team members.
5. Google Docs Cornell Notes Template by DocHub
The Google Docs Cornell Notes Template by DocHub is appropriate for professional note-taking. Professional project managers and team leaders use this Cornell Docs template format to plan action items for team members.
Apart from text editing, this Google Docs template allows users to add images, highlight sections, and add comments and suggestions for team members.
Go ahead and add your signature to give it a professional outlook. Once you are done making changes, download it, convert it into a PDF Cornell Notes Template, and store it in Google Drive for team accessibility.
Make Note-Taking Productive with Cornell Notes Templates
Note-taking doesn’t have to be boring. You don’t need to jot down notes manually or waste time sifting through the pages to find the critical information.
Instead, use a template from our list of Cornell Notes templates to record relevant, actionable cues and notes from a session and watch your note-taking transform from energy-draining to an efficient and streamlined process.
Are you looking for an all-in-one note-taking app that streamlines the note-recording process and enables you to convert these notes into action items?
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