The Complete Guide to Notes in 2026

A yellow tree against an orange background and Substack Notes in the center.

Below is my full report and Notes recommendations based on what I’m seeing on the ground with my clients and Premier members, and in light of my experience being in the beta run of Notes two-and-a-half years ago and on Notes since the beginning.

I didn’t rush to write about it when Substack held its Notes party in Manhattan or when Substack’s Head of Machine Learning Mike Cohen revealed more details about the algorithm than they ever had before. I wanted to see how it was really working.

The schedule and strategy below is my proprietary information, which I’ve gleaned from learning about the algorithm from the folks at Substack and from what (really) works for clients.

A BIT ABOUT NOTES

A bit about Notes: Notes is our internal social media network. It’s an amalgamation of the other platforms: old-school Twitter with a dash of Instagram, a dose of Facebook, and a drizzle of LinkedIn.

The best news about Substack Notes: You don’t need to go viral.

Going viral usually doesn’t lead to engaged subscribers.
Likes doesn’t mean subscribers, which is what we want.

Case study: One of my clients had a Note that got 85 likes and a dozen restacks and got 100 subscribers. Another client had a Note that got 12,000 likes and hundreds of restacks and got 100 subscribers.

And the algorithm doesn’t require that you post all the time.

And don’t use AI. Just don’t. Platforms are starting to label content as AI-produced, and I don’t want that for you. It’s embarrassing.

HOW TO APPROACH NOTES

Substack describes Notes as having a “dinner party” dynamic, i.e., posting your Notes won’t get you as much traction as being in conversation with others.

Boosting other publishers and joining the wider conversation are the most effective behaviors for growth.

I love this.

How you restack other people’s posts and Notes, and your replies matters. High-signal interactions (replies that add value) now outrank “hearts” and “love this” comments. Growth is driven by intersecting audiences.

That doesn’t mean you won’t be posting your own Notes. See below for your new Notes schedule.

YOUR NOTES SCHEDULE

Part 1: Post on Notes once daily

Goal: Maintain a steady presence and showcase your Substack DNA.
- Restack your Posts:
  1. Immediately: Restack your new post.
  2. 1–2 Days Later: Restack the post with a note (excerpt or teaser).
- Fresh DNA Notes:
  - Repurpose your posts to Notes: Create fresh notes by copying text from any of your posts. Make sure your Note relates to your Substack DNA and what you do—not in an obvious way and you don’t need a link.
  - “Joy Notes”: Post entertaining content (e.g., photos, quotes) to mix up the feed.

Part 2: High-signal interactions

Restack other people’s Notes and posts with your own insights. Doing so tells the algorithm your interests overlap with that publication, which surfaces your work to their subscribers.
Choose one Substack with strong, but not identical, audience overlap. Make sure the Substack gets a lot of engagement in the comments of their posts and Notes.
- Finding Overlap: Use the “Audience Overlap” section in your Substack stats. Go to dashboard > Stats > Audience > scroll down. It doesn’t have to be these people. You could do it with people in SW@W and in the Notes Boost Challenge. Totally up to you. The point is just to widen how you think about “overlap.”
- Engagement: Engage with their posts and Notes and their commenters to enter new conversations.
- Restack Quotes: Share quotes from their long-form posts (>1,000 words) with your own added note.

POSSIBLE NOTES SCHEDULE

Part 1: Post on Notes once daily (in this example, I post on Tuesdays)

Monday: Fresh DNA Note—excerpt/repurpose text/content from a post
Tuesday: Your post—restack only
Wednesday: Your post—restack post with a Note
Thursday: Fresh DNA Note—excerpt/repurpose text/content from a post
Friday: Fresh DNA Note—excerpt/repurpose text/content from a post
Saturday: Joy/entertainment Note—cat photos, sunsets (could be branding/signature)
Sunday: Joy/entertainment Note—cat photos, sunsets (could be branding/signature)

INTERACT WITH OTHERS

Comment on the people commenting on other people’s Notes and posts
Restack quotes using Substack’s media on “long-form” posts (over 1000 words)

Be selective:
- High Engagement: Choose publications with active, threaded comment sections.
- Outside Your Niche: This avoids a crowded field and attracts a fresh audience.
- Personal Interest: Select publications you genuinely enjoy to make the activity sustainable.
Engagement:
- Leave thoughtful, multi-sentence comments that add to the conversation.
- Restack others’ notes with your own commentary.
- Become a paid subscriber and promote the publications.

The “Notes Bubble” (Oct 2024–June 2025) has burst. While some people had huge growth, some ended up with “lists of emails,” not readerships of humans. (In November 2024, as the Notes bubble was inflating, I predicted the bubble would burst, which it did. And that’s a very, very good thing.)