How I’m Using Goodnotes to Study the Scriptures in 2025

There are many different ways to study the scriptures, and I love finding a new way every year. I’m excited for 2025 because I will be using a method that is brand new to me as of a few weeks ago, and that is by using Goodnotes to study the scriptures. Goodnotes is an app that basically replaces pen and paper with digital note-taking. You can handwrite, add photos, stickers, highlight, and so much more. I’m going to show you how I plan to use it to study the scriptures.

The first step is to download the Goodnotes app. There is a limited free version, but I pay a yearly rate of $10 and think it’s very worth it! Once you have your account set up, you can create different notebooks. You can also upload PDF files and use those to take notes on. This is how I got the scriptures on my Goodnotes app. You can find the wide-margin PDF of individual books of scripture or the entire Standard Works right here.

Once you download that PDF to your device, you can then upload it to Goodnotes. It’s super easy to do. You just click “new” in the Goodnotes app and then click “import” and choose from your files what you would like to upload. Once it’s uploaded, you are ready to take notes on it! I use this pencil for writing on my iPad!

There’s a toolbar at the top with everything from handwriting in pen, pencil, highlighting, drawing shapes, adding stickers, photos, and so much more. Take some time in the app to play around and see everything you can do.

One of my favorite features for the scriptures are the digital stickers. I realized that you can upload your own stickers, so I decided to create 100 stickers for the Book of Mormon. They are so cute and fun to place in the wide-margins so I can easily see what that page is all about.

Each sticker is named for the scripture reference it belongs next to, but of course you can put the stickers wherever you want. After you download the stickers to your device, you can either upload them as photos in your Goodnotes app, or you can upload them as stickers. Either one works. Then you just choose which one you want and place it on the page. You can resize them and drag them wherever you want. Here’s a peek at some of the other stickers included in my Book of Mormon collection:

And here is my Doctrine and Covenants Collection:

When you download these, there’s even instructions on how to make your own stickers! Grab them right here!

If you’re looking for other methods of studying the scriptures, here are some other fun ideas! I also have a more in depth guide to help you if you want to get more out of studying your scriptures but aren’t sure where to start. There are so many tips, tools, methods, and reading charts in my Ultimate Guide to Studying the Scriptures. 2025 is going to be your year!

Happy studying!