NOTION TUTORIAL: HOW to SYNC ANNOTATIONS (Highlights) from EBOOKS and ARTICLES (PDFs) using READWISE

Syncing your reading highlights into Notion can turn scattered annotations into a usable starting point for writing—without manually copying quotes and page numbers. The workflow centers on Readwise, which pulls highlights from Kindle books and annotated PDFs, then delivers them into a Notion database as structured notes (including key quotations and page references). For students and faculty who annotate heavily but don’t have time to transcribe everything later, that automation can make literature review and drafting noticeably faster.

The setup starts with three requirements: a Kindle e-reader (or the Kindle app), an annotation app that truly records highlights (not just colored overlays), and accounts for both Notion and Readwise. For PDFs, the transcript recommends PDF Expert (used in the example) and Adobe Acrobat because they register highlights in a way Readwise can extract. Apps that only apply color without capturing highlight data—such as Goodnotes and Notability, as described here—won’t work for this specific “highlight-to-Notion” sync.

Once the reading is annotated, the process differs slightly by source type. For Kindle, the user simply syncs the Kindle account to Readwise; highlights then flow into Notion automatically. For PDFs, the user annotates in the chosen PDF tool, saves a copy of the document, and uploads it to Readwise from a computer. The PDF upload option is noted as being in beta mode, which means it’s not available directly through the Readwise tablet app; it must be done via the Readwise website.

After Readwise imports the highlights, the Notion database becomes the “working library” for writing. Highlights arrive with page numbers and are organized so they can be folded into chapter notes, article summaries, or quote banks. The transcript also highlights that Readwise can filter which books are included—so users can remove titles they don’t want in their Notion collection.

Beyond Kindle and PDFs, Readwise supports additional highlight sources through integrations. The transcript mentions saving highlights from blogs and newspaper articles via Medium, Instapaper, and Pocket, and capturing podcast highlights through the Air app. There’s also a social workflow for tweets: users can DM a tweet to Readwise to store it in Notion, and then optionally open the linked resource and save it using Notion’s Chrome extension.

A further feature is daily review of random highlights using an active recall approach inside the Readwise app. The transcript frames this as a retention aid—revisiting what was highlighted so it stays fresh and can take on new meaning later. Finally, Readwise has a cost for the Notion integration, but scholarly discounts are available; the example includes a 50% discount. The overall takeaway is practical: annotate normally, let Readwise extract the highlight data, and use Notion as the organized launchpad for academic notes and writing.