← Back to Help Center

Quick start

Cnotely Card Notes — capture, make cards, review, all in one flow. This guide walks you through the complete workflow in a few minutes.

Three clients, one system

Client Best for
Browser extension Capturing while you browse: right-click clipping, select-to-card, screenshot OCR
Web app (app.cnotely.com) Inbox, knowledge base and the review queue — works in any browser
Desktop app (Windows) The workstation: notes, cards and review in a native window, works offline

All three share the same data. Captures made in the extension land in the web app, and sign-in keeps everything in sync across devices (see cloud sync).

1 · Capture

  • Right-click clip: select text on any page, right-click and choose a Cnotely action. Note mode sends the content to your inbox as a pending note; Card mode turns it into a review card directly.
  • Screenshot OCR: right-click → screenshot recognition → select the area, and the text is extracted and saved — great for images, code, PDFs and scanned content.
  • Paste a URL: paste any link into the web app's import box and Cnotely pulls the page content in.
  • Write directly: the editor supports both rich text and Markdown; switch modes per file.

2 · Make cards

Select a keyword or concept on any page and create a card in one click. The selected content becomes the front (question); you fill in the back (answer). Cards created this way go straight into the review queue — no folder management needed.

You can also create cards manually inside the web app, and every card supports a due-based review schedule.

3 · Review

Open the web app and go to Review. Each card shows its front; after recalling it, rate it with the three buttons — Remembered / Not remembered / Archive:

  • Remembered: the next review is scheduled further out (SM-2 spaced repetition).
  • Not remembered: the card comes back soon, so it stays fresh in memory.
  • Archive: you know it for good — it leaves the review queue.
The review schedule uses the SM-2 spaced-repetition algorithm (the same family as Anki): intervals grow automatically as you remember better, so you review exactly when you are about to forget.

4 · Sync across clients (optional)

Everything works locally by default. When you sign in on app.cnotely.com, cloud sync is enabled: captures from the extension, notes and cards appear on your other devices and in the desktop app. See cloud sync →

What next?