6 Note-taking tricks to use in Reflect

Reflect note-taking gets more practical when a handful of keyboard and formatting shortcuts are used to keep notes readable without losing context. The most immediately useful trick is crossing out and highlighting text: a crossed-out item preserves information while signaling it shouldn’t be treated as a completed task. Using the command shift x shortcut on selected text turns it into a strikethrough, which the creator uses to record “didn’t do it today” moments—like an unchecked habit or to-do item that was missed—without leaving an open checkbox that implies an outstanding action.

Highlighting works similarly via markdown-style formatting: surrounding text with two equal signs produces a highlighted appearance. The transcript notes uncertainty about whether Reflect itself handles this or whether it’s standard markdown behavior, but the practical takeaway remains the same—manual emphasis can be added quickly when you want certain details to stand out.

A second cluster of productivity features targets how content is inserted and structured. For code, Reflect supports code blocks so pasted snippets don’t look like plain text. The shortcut uses the “reverse apostrophe” key (the backtick) and, in the transcript’s example, three backticks plus a space to create a block. Inside the block, Enter adds new lines, while command Enter exits the code block—useful for keeping technical notes legible.

For writing and organizing longer documents, a simple horizontal section line can be created with three dashes. It automatically renders a divider without extra steps, making it easier to break reports or articles into sections.

The most workflow-changing feature is focus mode combined with resizing. Pressing command slash opens the shortcuts menu, where focus mode is available. command shift f removes sidebars, giving a distraction-free canvas for drafting articles or brainstorming. Text size can be increased with a command plus sign, and the transcript mentions exiting with Escape and then returning to a smaller size afterward. Resizing can also be done manually outside focus mode, but the combination is positioned as a go-to setup for sustained attention.

Finally, Reflect’s navigation and list management features help keep large notes from becoming cluttered. Clicking a linked note while holding command opens it in a split pane, letting users work on two related notes at once—such as meeting notes in one pane and context in the other. Multiple browser tabs are also possible for people who want more than one Reflect window, but the split pane is presented as the typical solution.

To keep daily notes clean, Reflect supports collapsing bullet lists. Clicking the parent bullet hides nested items under it, and clicking again expands them. The transcript gives concrete use cases: collapsing a daily journal section, hiding a to-do list while capturing other notes, or collapsing meeting logs so the day’s timeline stays readable instead of chaotic. The overall message is that these small controls—strikethrough, focus, split panes, and collapsible lists—reduce visual noise while preserving the full history of what happened and what still matters.