📌 Key Feature · Templates New in MarginNote 5 · free update

One task,
one setup.

MarginNote 5 adds a customizable template system. Start from an existing template, adjust its supported modes, tools and menus for a task, and reuse your setup in other study sets. Card Practice and Reading Vocabulary are two examples, not the limits of the interface. Your existing study sets and notes stay in use.

01 · Modes

Define the steps for your task: choose which supported modes to include.

02 · Tools

Choose and arrange the tools available in each mode.

03 · Menus

Adjust supported menus, then save, reuse or export your template.

Make it yours

Start with a template.
Make the interface yours.

Copy a template, adjust its modes, tools and menus, and check the preview. Save it to reuse in another study set, or export it to share.

Current template editor in MarginNote 5 — Current template editor, captured on 27 October 2026. Chinese interface shown; control labels depend on the selected language.

In 30 seconds

What it solves / who it is for / who can skip it

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What it solves

MarginNote has many tools, and new users often do not know where to start. Templates group the tools by task: when you read, you see the excerpt tools; when you practice, you see answer sheets and answer checking; when you learn words, you see word cards.

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Who it is for

New users, and people who gave up before because MarginNote felt complex: start with "Standard" and use one mode at a time. Also people who do several kinds of study tasks — use one template for each task.

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Who can skip it

On devices that support the Traditional Interface, you can keep the familiar layout: select the template name at the top → "Switch to Traditional Interface". Your study sets and notes are the same in both interfaces.

Built-in template

The four modes of "Standard"

Change modes in the bottom bar. Each mode shows only the tools for that step (orange). When you make an excerpt in a PDF, MarginNote makes one card, and the card shows on the PDF, in the mind map and in the review deck.

Excerpt mode: a passage selected with a blue box in the PDF and the blue card it made in the mind map — Highlight a passage or draw a box in the PDF, and a card appears in the mind map in the same color. Here: the blue box around the Remark and the blue card it made.

Template Gallery

Install a template for your task

Select the template name at the top → "More Templates…" to open the Template Gallery. Installed templates appear in "My Templates". Packages that include a sample study set let you try the setup before adapting it.

Card Practice: put each problem on a card and write your answer on the card's answer sheet. Then check your answers, note what went wrong, and practice only the missed ones next round.

Reading Vocabulary: select a word while you read an English article. The offline dictionary fills in the meaning, and the word becomes a card for review.

Coming from MarginNote 4

Prefer the old layout? Switch back

On devices that support the Traditional Interface, use the following menu. iPhone Duo uses the Scenario Interface.

Select the template name at the top of the screen.
Select "Switch to Traditional Interface".

To go back to the Scenario Interface, select the switch at the top of the screen. Both interfaces use the same study sets and notes. The Read, Write and Recall modes of Immersive Mode are now in the template "3-Mode Sample" in My Templates.

**Traditional Interface**: the MarginNote 4 layout, with toolbars and panels where they were.

One task,one setup.

Start with a template.Make the interface yours.

What it solves / who it is for / who can skip it

What it solves

Who it is for

Who can skip it

The four modes of "Standard"

Install a template for your task

Prefer the old layout? Switch back

Next to templates

Card Axis

Title Links

MarginNote 5