How to Take & Access Notes in Audible

/ Kal @ Reader Voracious

Hi friends! Many of you know that I am new to audiobooks but I am slowly falling in love with them. One of my biggest challenges has been taking notes while I consume them, and while I found that I could add bookmarks & notes on the app I could not for the life of me figure out how to access them! What use are my notes when I can’t find the things when it’s time to write my review?!

This quickie guide honestly came from an intense need on my part to be able to take and access notes on Audible so I can write my very overdue review for Gemina. I wasn’t able to find a source online and it took me playing around on the Desktop app to find my bookmarks… so I decided to put together a quick post on how to access them!

How I Take Notes

I am a notetaker when I read. I’m used to writing my notes down in my books: scribbling my thoughts and reactions in the margins, underlining and tabbing quotes that I want to use. One of my favorite things about eBooks (especially eARCs) is that I can color-code my notes for different things I like to talk about in my reviews (blue are quotes for my review, red is character development, yellow is general notes/worldbuilding) and this process works really well for me when it comes time to write my reviews. With audiobooks I have been struggling to retain my thoughts but you can actually take notes & add bookmarks while reading on Audible!

The Bookmark Feature (which is called clips in the app) allows you to mark the specific place in the audiobook and add your notes.

 

Selecting +Clip adds a marker to bring you back to that specific part in the audiobook!
In addition to the anchor on audio, you can add your own note for Future You

Now you don’t have to worry about furiously writing down notes and quotes in a notebook while you are listening to your audiobook (which helps because I sometimes am doing my dishes at the same time!). Future Kal was very happy to have figured out this feature, but when it came to me accessing them after the fact… I had trouble.

How to Access your Bookmarks & Notes

You can access your bookmarks via your mobile app or on the Desktop App. I like that you can access them on your computer because I write all my reviews on my computer so it makes it easier for me, but you can also access them on the app!

  1. Go to your Library and click to listen to the book you want to access the notes for. I will be using Gemina as my example because this was the book I needed my bookmarks for. Two birds, one stone. 
  2. Click Listen Now and a Cloudplayer will open up in a new window (web app).
  3. Click the little … on the top right of the Cloud Player or phone app window and select “Bookmarks”
  4. Voila, all your bookmarks are hereeeeeee!

Screenshots for the web Cloud player:

 

Click the … in the top right!
Select Bookmarks in the window and VOILA!

Screenshots for phone app (Android OS):

 

Click the … at the top right in the app and select Bookmarks
All your bookmarks will show up in the next window!

After I found my bookmarks it was so much easier for me to write my Gemina review because when you click on the “Go to bookmark” link it takes you to that exact clip in the audio! Magic! Victory!

Do you read audiobooks? What tricks of the trade do you have to share? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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45 thoughts on “How to Take & Access Notes in Audible”

    • It was definitely a struggle and a half for me, no doubt! I am so used to writing extensive notes and the great thing about audio is you can do errands or drive while listening… which doesn’t lend well to notetaking. Give it a try!

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  2. I had the same issue with audio books! I actually carry around a notebook and set up a page or two for the audiobook and just scribble down my notes or “quote @ 10min 51 sec”
    I should use that feature in audible, but I check out some on libby and it’s not as friendly for notes…

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Ahahahaha, same, though, Kal. They don’t make it easy for you to access notes and at first I was like WHERE ARE YOU NOTES COME BACK. I used to do a lot of audiobooks but I’ve found lately I’m having trouble paying attention so I don’t bother with audiobooks. I may, however, try audio versions for some books that I have DNFed due to the slow pacing simply because I can easily fast forward if I want to and I think I can just zone out? Or is it the pacing?

    I hate Hoopla and Overdrive because I can place bookmarks but I don’t have notes at all. 😭

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    • I honestly was SO CONFUSED! I was like “I took notes where tf are they?!” and then I googled a lot and couldn’t find an easy thing and finally poked around and found it. I also struggle with paying attention to audiobooks, so it’s a work in progress for me.

      When I checked out Sadie on Overdrive/Libby I feel like I was able to take and read my notes but I used it on the desktop. I am going to pay more attention next time I check out an audio

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    • Thank you, Isabelle! I still struggle with audiobooks most of the time but at least I can take notes electronically while reading along with my physical book (the only way that works for me & my attention span) instead of tabbing!

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  6. Damn, this is awesome! I usually have trouble even finding my book… :/ I mean, when i’m listening and the phone screen goes dark, i’d kinda expect i can pause / press play again from the main screen. But for some reason i can’t.
    So this note taking business is totally blowing my mind right now.
    Thanks for sharing ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  7. You have read my mind. I use to listen audiobooks while reading the book. Now I have to review an audiobook (without the book) for the first time and I have to write down all because didn’t know about the bookmark.
    Thank you so much.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Great post! I really need to get better at taking notes, even if it’s just to not down a thought or something I want to highlight in a review. I sometimes don’t get to my reviews until a month after reading and while I usually do remember what I want to talk about, sometimes it could be better lol. Thanks for this guide! Since I read a lot of audiobooks I’m gonna try it out. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Kal saves everyone again with an awesome guide *takes link to plop into my rewind post because ppl need this post in their lives*

    I mean you know I’ve not tried audiobooks yet, nor do I read ebooks so my notetaking for my books has erm…certainly gone through some changes. Since my memory isn’t always helpful

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Oooooh I’m amazed you can do this with audiobooks! I don’t have audible yet, just started listening to audiobooks, but this was something I was really worried about. Gonna bookmark this!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. This is actually the most helpful thing I have ever seen. I love audiobooks, but it’s so much harder to review them because I can’t just highlight important passages or quotes – I’ve either got to write it down then and there or just remember it, which can be hard. But this nifty little guide should help me out with this problem! Thanks for such a great tutorial 🙂

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  21. I agree with Sam, you need a statue or an award or something. I don’t take notes for my book reviews, but I find that with audiobooks I kind of wish I did, so having knowing how to look for them definitely helps and I will now take notes. THANK YOU!!!

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