How to use the links in your digital planner

The short version

Import the PDF file itself into your note app, not a screenshot, an image or a printed copy.
GoodNotes on iPad or iPhone: tap the tab.
GoodNotes on Android, Windows or Web: switch to Read Only Mode first, then tap (GoodNotes Support).
Still nothing? Open the same PDF in another PDF reader. If the link works there, the file is fine and the app is the problem.

1. Start with the PDF file

Links live inside the PDF. They come with the file when you import it, and they are lost if the planner is turned into pictures. So:

Download the PDF from your Etsy purchase (or the link the seller gave you) and open it with your note app: GoodNotes, Notability or any PDF reader.
Do not import screenshots or page images. A picture of a tab is not a link.
If the download is a ZIP file, unzip it first and import the PDF inside.

2. Tap the links in GoodNotes

GoodNotes documents how links in an imported PDF open, and it depends on the device (GoodNotes Support: Open hyperlinks in imported PDFs):

iPad and iPhone

Tap the linked tab, month or day.

Android, Windows and Web

Turn on Read Only Mode, then tap the link. In Edit Mode, press and hold the link instead, then choose Open Link.

Switching modes: in the document, tap the editing-mode button on the toolbar. In Read Only Mode the toolbar is hidden and the bar at the top turns white; in Edit Mode it turns blue (GoodNotes Support: Read Only Mode). Switch back to Edit Mode when you want to write.

3. If a link does nothing

Check the mode. On Android, Windows or Web, make sure you are in Read Only Mode, or use press and hold, then Open Link.
Try another PDF reader. GoodNotes suggests opening the original PDF in a different viewer and testing the same link. If it fails there too, the file may not contain a working link: tell the seller which page and which tab. If it works elsewhere, it is an app problem and GoodNotes Support can help (GoodNotes Support).
Did you export and re-import it? If you exported the planner from GoodNotes as a Flattened PDF, its original links stop working. Export it again with PDF Data Format set to Editable (GoodNotes Support), or re-import the original download.
Tell the seller. Say which app and device you use, the page number and the tab you tapped. That is everything they need to fix it.

Other apps

Notability, Samsung Notes, Xodo, Noteshelf and desktop PDF readers can also open PDF links, but PlannerHop has not tested them yet, so this page does not give steps for them. Check the app's own help pages, and the compatibility table for what has been tested.

For sellers

You can link this page in your listing or your "read me first" PDF so buyers know how to open their planner:

https://plannerhop.com/how-to-use-planner-links/

Want to check that every link in your planner works before buyers try it? Use the free link checker.

How to use the links in your planner