What Note Types and Power Features Does Trilium Notes Offer?

Trilium Notes supports a range of note types for different kinds of content, plus power features such as fuzzy search with OCR, automatic note revisions, password-protected encrypted notes, reusable templates, a web clipper, public read-only note sharing, and a built-in REST API. These capabilities are available in the open-source app, which runs locally on your desktop or syncs with a self-hosted server. No account is needed and it works offline, so the features below apply whether you use it standalone or with a server.

Note types for every kind of content

Trilium's own materials frame note types as the answer to the fact that "not everything fits neatly into a paragraph." Rather than forcing all content into one editor, the app lets you pick a type per note. The site groups this under "A note type for every kind of content," though the excerpt cuts off before listing each type individually. In practice, this means you can keep prose notes alongside structured or specialized content in the same tree, choosing the format that fits each piece.

How note structure works alongside note types

Note types sit on top of a folder-free hierarchy:

• Hierarchical notes: Each note can contain sub-notes, so no folders are required.
• Multiple placements: A single note can appear in more than one place in the hierarchy.
• Labels and relations: Add labels for categorization or relations between notes; promoted attributes turn structured information into tables and boards.
• Workspaces and hoisting: Group notes under a workspace to focus the tree on a specific set of notes, separating personal and work material.

This structure matters for note types because a single note—whatever its type—can be reused across contexts without duplication.

Search and navigation

• Fuzzy quick navigation: Jump to any note or command by title using fuzzy matching.
• Full-text search: Search across your notes, including text inside images and PDFs via OCR.

The OCR support is the notable part: scanned documents and screenshots become searchable without manual transcription.

Revisions and protected notes

• Note revisions: Notes are periodically saved in the background, and revisions can be used to review or undo accidental changes. You can also create revisions on demand.
• Protected notes: Sensitive information can be encrypted and locked behind a password-protected session.

Revisions give you a safety net for edits; protected notes give you a way to keep private material in the same knowledge base without exposing it.

Templates, clipping, and sharing

Two conditions are worth noting: public sharing and the sign-in options depend on running a server, while the clipper depends on the browser extension. The REST API is described as built-in.

Choosing based on what you need

• If you want one tool for mixed content: the range of note types plus labels, relations, and promoted attributes covers prose, structured data, and tables/boards.
• If you work with scanned material: OCR search inside images and PDFs is the deciding feature.
• If you need privacy within one knowledge base: protected notes and revisions cover both confidentiality and recovery.
• If you want to publish or automate: plan on a self-hosted server for public sharing and secure sign-in, and use the REST API for integrations.

For setup specifics—such as which note types exist and how to enable each feature—check the Trilium documentation and GitHub repository referenced on the site.