You will rarely create a classic Note on purpose in a modern org, but it helps to know the path, since older layouts and integrations still use it. Here is how a classic Note gets created through the Notes and Attachments related list. For new notes, prefer the Notes related list and enhanced Notes instead.
- Open the parent record
Navigate to the Account, Contact, Opportunity, or custom record that the note belongs to. The note will attach to this record through its ParentId.
- Find the Notes and Attachments related list
Scroll to the Notes and Attachments related list on the page layout. If you only see a Notes related list, your org uses enhanced Notes, which create ContentNote records instead.
- Click New Note and fill it in
Choose New Note, enter a Title, and type the body as plain text. Remember the 32,000 character cap and that no formatting or images are kept.
- Set privacy and save
Optionally select the private option to set IsPrivate, which hides the note from everyone but you. Save to attach the note to the parent record.
Short label shown in the related list. Keep it descriptive so the note is easy to scan later.
Plain-text content of the note, up to 32,000 characters. No rich text, links, or images are stored.
The record the note attaches to. Set automatically when you create the note from a record's related list.
- A classic Note relates to exactly one parent. If you need a note on several records, use an enhanced Note (ContentNote) instead.
- Setting the note to private (IsPrivate) hides it even from administrators viewing the parent record, which can break audits.
- The Body field strips formatting. Pasting rich text from a document keeps only the plain characters, so long structured content belongs in ContentNote or a file.