Manual Notes on Fireflies Desktop App: Write and Merge Your Own Notes in Meetings

Last updated: May 22, 2026

While Fireflies already generates AI notes and summaries during meetings, there may still be moments when you want to capture your own thoughts, reminders, or decisions in your own words - right as the conversation happens. Manual Notes give you a personal space to do exactly that alongside AI-generated notes and transcripts in the real-time pane on the Fireflies Desktop app.

With Manual Notes, you can:

  • Write your own notes during live meetings

  • Add personal reminders or follow-ups

  • Type notes in your own format or language

  • Keep notes private for yourself

  • Merge notes into the AI-generated meeting summary to share with others

🔑 Prerequisites

Before using Manual Notes on the Fireflies Desktop app, make sure:

  • The Fireflies Desktop app is installed on Windows or macOS

  • A live meeting or recording is active

  • The real-time pane is open during the meeting

  • Manual Notes work in:

    • Bot meetings (Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.)

    • Without-bot recordings using system audio (WhatsApp, phone calls, FaceTime, Discord, etc.)

New to the Fireflies Desktop app? Check out the Getting Started with the Fireflies Desktop App guide to learn how meetings, recordings, and the real-time pane work.

✍ How to Open Manual Notes

Manual Notes become available whenever the real-time pane is open during a meeting or recording.

Option 1: Join a Meeting with a Bot

Join your scheduled calendar meeting:

  1. Start or join your meeting on Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, or any supported platform.

  2. If the meeting is detected automatically, you'll receive a notification - choose to invite Fireflies.ai Notetaker to join.

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To manually add Fireflies to a live meeting

  1. Copy the meeting link.

  2. Open the Fireflies Desktop app and click Capture → Add to live meeting.

  3. Paste the meeting link, name the meeting if needed, and click Start Capturing.

  4. Once Fireflies joins, the real-time pane opens automatically.

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Option 2: Record Meetings (System Audio – No Bot Required)

Quick Notes lets you instantly start capturing system audio and open the real-time pane without inviting a bot. It works for meetings, calls, audio notes, and in-person conversations.

You can do this in two ways:

  • Quick Notes: Click Quick Notes on the Desktop app to instantly start capturing system audio and open the real-time pane, allowing you to take Manual Notes during the conversation.

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  • Automatically: Fireflies auto-captures supported apps and notifies you to Take Notes without a bot or invite Fireflies.ai Notetaker to join.

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The real-time pane opens automatically as a floating overlay on your screen. To learn more about it, see Getting Started with the Fireflies Desktop App.

📝 Use Manual Notes in the Real-Time Pane

Once the real-time pane opens during your meeting or recording:

1. Click the Notes tab in the floating pane.

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2. Inside the floating pane, you'll see three tabs:

  • Notes: Contains both AI Notes and Manual Notes

  • Transcript: Shows the live conversation transcript in real time

  • Prep: Displays meeting prep and related context when available

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3. In the Notes section, use the toggle at the bottom-right corner to switch between:

  • Manual Notes (≡): Your own personal notes area

  • AI Notes (✦≡): AI-generated notes updated during the meeting

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4. Select Manual Notes and start typing your own thoughts, reminders, action items, or discussion points during the meeting.

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5. If you want to merge your Manual Notes with the AI-generated meeting summary, enable the Merge to summary checkbox at the bottom-left corner of the Notes panel.

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✅ Your Manual Notes are saved automatically, and you can access them later in the meeting notepad after the meeting ends.

📒 View Manual Notes After the Meeting

Once the meeting or recording ends, your Manual Notes are saved in the Fireflies meeting notepad.

  1. Open your meeting recap in Fireflies.

  2. In the meeting notepad, you'll see the My Notes section.

  3. Your saved Manual Notes appear there and remain private to you.

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🔄 If You Enabled “Merge to summary”

If you enabled the Merge to summary checkbox during the meeting:

  • Your Manual Notes are merged into the AI-generated meeting summary

  • Anyone with access to the meeting recap can also view the merged content

  • Merged content appears underlined in the summary, making it easy to identify which parts came from your Manual Notes

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🗑 Remove Merged Manual Notes from a Summary

If you want to remove previously merged Manual Notes from a meeting summary:

  1. Open the meeting recap in Fireflies.

  2. Re-select the meeting note template and regenerate the summary.

  3. This removes the previously merged Manual Notes from the AI-generated summary.

👉 Learn more about regenerating and customizing summaries in the Fireflies AI Meeting Summaries: View, Customise, Expand & Regenerate guide.

📌 Important to Know

  • When Merge to summary is enabled, your Manual Notes will be merged into the AI-generated meeting summary and visible to everyone with access to the meeting.

  • Merged notes appear as underlined text inside the summary, so you can identify which parts were influenced by your manual input.

  • Merging may fail if the meeting is using a custom note template, as it can conflict with the template's fixed structure. If this happens, regenerate the summary and re-select a template to remove the merged notes.

  • Your Manual Notes are always visible to you in the meeting notepad after the call, regardless of whether you choose to merge them or not.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can other participants see my Manual Notes?

No. Manual Notes stay private and are only visible to you in the meeting notepad unless you enable Merge to summary.

2. What happens when I enable “Merge to summary”?

  • Your Manual Notes are merged into the AI-generated meeting summary and become visible to everyone who has access to the meeting recap.

  • Merged content appears underlined in the summary, making it easy to identify which parts came from your Manual Notes.

3. Why didn’t my Manual Notes merge into the summary?

  • First, check whether the Merge to summary checkbox was enabled during the meeting.

  • If it was enabled and your notes still didn’t merge, the meeting may be using a custom note template. In some cases, custom template structures can conflict with merged Manual Notes.

4. How do I remove merged Manual Notes from a summary?

Open the meeting recap, regenerate the summary, and re-select the meeting note template.

👉 Learn more about regenerating summaries and changing templates in the Fireflies AI Meeting Summaries guide.

5. Do Manual Notes work without a bot?

Yes. Manual Notes work in both:

  • Meetings where Fireflies.ai Notetaker joins

  • System audio recordings without a bot

6. Can I use Manual Notes during phone calls or WhatsApp calls?

Yes. Manual Notes work during supported system audio recordings, including phone calls, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Discord, Slack Huddles, and other supported apps.

7. Can I type Manual Notes in my own language?

Yes. You can write Manual Notes in any language or format.

🔄 Recap

Manual Notes on the Fireflies Desktop app help you write your own notes during meetings directly inside the real-time pane.

You can:

  • Write personal reminders, action items, and discussion points

  • Keep notes private for yourself

  • Merge notes into the AI-generated meeting summary

  • Use Manual Notes in both bot meetings and system audio recordings

  • Review your notes later from the meeting notepad

🔗 Related Guides

💬 If you feel stuck while using Manual Notes or notice anything that could be improved, we’d really appreciate your feedback. Contact our support team anytime through Fireflies Support.