How to Use a Digital Planner

Updated 2026-09-29 · By the Planner for iPad team

A digital planner is a planner you write in on a tablet, usually an iPad with Apple Pencil. It works like a paper planner, but you can undo, move things around and carry every page in one device. Here is how to get one set up and, more importantly, how to keep using it.

What a digital planner is

A digital planner comes in one of two forms:

• A PDF planner: a PDF file designed like a paper planner, with a year overview, monthly and weekly spreads, daily pages and extras like habit trackers. The best ones are hyperlinked: tabs and dates link to the right pages, so you can jump around instead of scrolling. You open it in a handwriting app such as Goodnotes, Notability or Noteful.
• A planner app: an app where the pages and navigation are built in. You pick a layout, write on it, and the app handles the structure.

Either way, you write with Apple Pencil (or another stylus), and you can erase, copy, move and resize anything you write.

How to import a PDF planner

The exact buttons differ from app to app and change with updates, but the process is broadly the same everywhere:

1. Download the PDF. Get your planner file — for example our free hyperlinked 2027 digital planner. On iPad it usually lands in the Files app, in Downloads.
2. Open it in your note app. Either use the app's import option and choose the file, or open the PDF in Files, tap the share button and pick your note app from the list.
3. Choose to import it as a new notebook or document, not as pages added to an existing one — otherwise the links may point to the wrong place.
4. Give it a clear name like "2027 Planner" and, if your app offers it, a cover or folder so it's easy to find.
5. Test a link. Tap a month tab. If nothing happens, see the next section.

Navigating with links

Most note apps treat a tap with the pen as writing, not as a link tap. To follow links you usually need to switch to a reading or view mode, or deselect the pen tool first. Some apps also let you tap links with your finger while the pencil is used for writing. If links don't work, look in your app's settings or help pages for "hyperlinks" or "read-only mode".

Once links work, get to know the main paths: year → month → week → day, and back to the index. Most planners have a home or index link on every page. Learning these once saves a lot of scrolling later.

Set up a weekly routine

A digital planner only helps if you open it. The simplest way to make that happen is to tie it to two fixed moments: one planning session per week and a short check each day.

Once a week (15–30 minutes)

1. Open the monthly page and note anything fixed for the coming weeks: appointments, deadlines, birthdays.
2. Go to next week's spread and copy in this week's fixed events.
3. Pick your top three priorities for the week and write them where you'll see them.
4. Add recurring things: meals, chores, workouts.

Our guide on how to plan your week walks through this in more detail. If your planner doesn't have a weekly layout you like, try the weekly planner template.

Each day (5 minutes)

1. Open today's page in the morning or the night before.
2. Copy over anything unfinished from yesterday — or decide to drop it.
3. Write the one to three things that must happen today.
4. Glance at it again at lunch.

A daily planner template with a short priorities section and a schedule column works well for this. For the bigger picture, a monthly planner page gives you one place to see deadlines and events at a glance.

Stickers and decoration

Digital stickers are images you drop onto your pages: labels, icons, banners, washi-tape strips and so on. They can be useful — a small icon for "bills due" or "gym" is faster to spot than text — and they can make planning more enjoyable, which helps you keep coming back.

• Use stickers as signals first. A consistent set of icons for recurring things (payday, appointments, deadlines) makes your pages easier to scan.
• Keep a small favorites set instead of browsing a huge library every time.
• Decorate after you plan, not instead of planning. If decorating takes longer than planning, cut back.

Most note apps let you save images as stickers or elements; planner apps usually have stickers built in.

Keep it simple

The most common reason people abandon a digital planner is that the setup becomes too much work. A few habits help:

• Use only the pages you need. A planner might include 20 trackers and extras. You don't have to fill them. Start with weekly pages and add others only when you miss them.
• Don't rewrite everything. If a task moves, draw an arrow or use the lasso tool to move it, rather than rewriting it neatly.
• Accept blank days. Skipping a few days isn't failure. Open the planner, go to today and carry on.
• Use one planner. Spreading plans across three apps means you'll forget which one has what. Keep appointments in a calendar if you need reminders, and use the planner for priorities and lists.
• Back it up. Turn on your app's sync or export a PDF copy from time to time.

Planner app vs PDF planner

If you already use Goodnotes, Notability or Noteful, a PDF planner is the quickest start. If you'd rather not manage files and want many layouts ready to go, a planner app like Digital Planner for iPad is built for that. For a side-by-side look at options, see the best digital planner for iPad.

Summary: Download a hyperlinked PDF planner, import it into your note app as a new notebook, and switch to reading mode to follow links. Then plan once a week and check in for five minutes a day. Use only the pages you need, keep decoration secondary, and don't let a few blank days stop you.

Get the free 2027 digital planner →

Frequently asked questions