Block references are links to a block of a text note, such as a paragraph, a heading, a list item or a table, or to a range of consecutive blocks. A block reference can be pasted in another note as a link, or turned into an Include Note that shows only the referenced blocks.

Copying a reference

1. Place the cursor in the block to reference. To reference several consecutive blocks, select them.
2. Right-click the block handle, the sequence of dots to the left of the block (see Formatting toolbar). Alternatively, right-click the text and open the Copy submenu.
3. Select Copy reference to this block, or Copy reference to these blocks for a selection. The referenced blocks flash briefly.
4. Go to the note where to insert the link and press Ctrl+V.

Inside a Content tabs block, the reference points to the whole block. To link to a single tab, use Copy link to tab instead. Inside a Multicolumn layout, the reference points to the blocks in the column, and an include shows them without the layout around them.

The link shows the title of the note, followed by the beginning of the referenced text. A link to blocks of the same note shows only the beginning of the referenced text.

The Paste submenu of the context menu offers two more ways to insert a copied reference:

• Paste reference as a link inserts only the link, even when the reference was copied as plain text or along with other content.
• Paste reference as an excerpt inserts an include of the referenced blocks, as described below.

In a browser, the context menu of the text editor opens only when right-clicking selected text. Elsewhere the browser shows its own menu.

Following a reference

Clicking a block reference opens the note, scrolls to the referenced blocks and flashes them. If a referenced block was deleted, an error message is shown instead, along with the blocks of the range that still exist.

Including the referenced blocks

To show the referenced blocks inside another note, right-click the link in a note being edited and select Convert link to note excerpt, or paste the copied reference with Paste → Paste reference as an excerpt. The include shows only the referenced blocks, not the rest of the note, and marks them with an Excerpt badge in its title. It starts at the Full box size, so all the referenced blocks are visible. To see the whole note, press the button in the same title, which opens the note in a new tab. Converting the include back to a link keeps the reference.

To edit the referenced blocks without leaving the note, press the Edit excerpt button in the title of the include, or turn on Editable in its toolbar, as for any Include Note. Press the button again to stop editing. The changes are saved to the referenced blocks, and the rest of the note stays as it is. The button is grayed out where the blocks cannot be edited, such as in a read-only note. An excerpt has no Fullscreen button.

If a referenced block was deleted, the include shows Broken reference.

Limitations

• References can be copied only from a note being edited, and not in the mobile layout.
• An include of a range that covers only part of a list or a quote, such as from its second item to a paragraph after it, cannot be edited in place.
• Deleting a block breaks the references to it.
• Block references are not kept when exporting to Markdown. On a shared page, a block reference opens the whole note.