Apply Template to Note

Created a note manually — with Cmd/Ctrl+N, the Quick Switcher, or by clicking a link to a file that didn't exist yet — and then realized you forgot to use your template? You no longer need to delete the note and recreate it.

The QuickAdd: Apply template to active note command applies a template to the note you already have open.

You can also right-click a markdown file (in the file explorer, tab header, etc.) and pick Apply QuickAdd template to target that file directly.

How it works

1. Run the command while a markdown note is active.
2. Pick what to apply. The picker lists your Template choices first (including ones nested in Multi choices), followed by template files from your configured templates folder that aren't already covered by a choice.
3. Pick how to apply it (skipped for empty notes — see below):
   • Insert at cursor: inserts the template at the cursor position. Only offered when the note is open in the active editor.
   • Insert at top: inserts the template below the note's frontmatter, or at the very top if there is none.
   • Append to bottom: adds the template content to the end of the note.
   • Replace note content: replaces the entire note content with the template.

The template runs through the full QuickAdd format syntax pipeline, and Templater syntax is processed as usual.

Only markdown templates can be applied: canvas (.canvas) and base (.base) templates contain data for their own file types and are excluded from the picker (use a regular Template choice to create those). Likewise, the target must be a markdown note.

Smart behaviors

Empty-note fast path. If the note is empty (or contains only whitespace), the "how to apply" prompt is skipped and the template is applied as the note's full content — the most common case is a freshly created blank note.

Title pre-fill. The note already has a name, so {{title}} and the unnamed {{VALUE}}/{{NAME}} resolve to the note's basename instead of prompting. Named values like {{VALUE:project}} still prompt as usual.

Frontmatter merge. For the Insert at top, Append to bottom, and Insert at cursor modes, the template's frontmatter is not inserted as a second --- block. Instead, its properties are merged into the note's existing frontmatter — and existing values in your note always win. Properties that are missing or empty in the note are filled from the template. (Replace note content replaces the whole note, frontmatter included.)

Move/rename to match the choice. If you picked a Template choice that has a folder and/or file name format configured, and the note's current location or name doesn't match what the choice would have produced, QuickAdd offers to move/rename the note to match. Links to the note are updated automatically. This is skipped when the choice's folder settings require a runtime folder picker, or when a file already exists at the target path.

From scripts and macros

The QuickAdd API exposes the same functionality without any prompts:

await quickAddApi.applyTemplateToActiveFile("templates/meeting.md", {
  mode: "top", // "cursor" | "top" | "bottom" | "replace"
});

When mode is omitted, empty notes get replace and non-empty notes get bottom.