Notion has so many features built into a sleek interface that some are easy to miss if you don't spend a lot of time on the platform. Whether you're using Notion to stay on top of your life or expanding your app integrations, if you dig deep, you'll find all kinds of functionality.

While templates and common integrations are among the most well-known Notion features, there are also many lesser-known power-user features, from custom integrations to turning databases into visual charts.

6 Custom integrations

Expanding the possible integrations for Notion

While most Notion users are aware that you can connect other apps to the productivity suite, there is also the option to create custom integrations. To create an integration, you will need to be a workspace owner. Setting up this integration gives you an internal integration token, which you can then use with API-based automations and workflows. This token also allows you to connect your workspace to certain partner platforms.

You can find the option to create a custom integration in Notion by going to Settings -> Connections -> Develop or manage integrations. Once you have created an integration, you can use the settings to adjust the permissions the token grants. This includes permissions like reading and writing content, as well as what user information the integration can access.

It's worth checking if there's an automation service like Zapier or Automate.io that you can use to set up your custom integration. Depending on your development skills, you can also develop your own solution.

5 App embeds

Turn a link into an embed

According to Notion, the software supports embed features for over 500 services. This includes the ability to embed Google Drive documents, Google Maps addresses, YouTube videos, and more.

You can do this by pasting a link and selecting the Embed option. Notion will sometimes ask you to allow access to the service if you haven't linked it to your account already. You can also use the /embed command to see which apps and services you can embed, but I found that pasting the link directly into Notion works better.

I did notice that even though the /embed command includes certain apps and services, these links don't always work. If you paste the link directly and embeds are not supported for that platform, Notion will turn it into a bookmark instead. This happened when I tried to embed Trello links, for example.

4 Publishing a website

A useful feature for quick sites

While Notion isn't the most feature-rich solution for publishing a website, it's great for publishing small sites quickly. You can do this through the site publishing tool. This doesn't only work with Notion website templates, but also with any Notion page, you want to make publicly accessible through a web link.

To access the site publishing options, select Share at the top of your Notion page and select the Publish option. While you can publish a website for free, certain features are locked behind the Notion Plus subscription. You can also set whether the site is indexed by search engines.

I used a Notion template and the site publishing tool to create a resume site with my work history and biography. You can also unpublish the site if you no longer want it to be accessible via a public URL.

3 Creating synced blocks

A great tool for repeated content

If you're using a certain element across multiple Notion documents, you can create a synced block. This block is viewable and can be edited wherever you add it. For example, I created a synced block with a short bio that I included in both my rate card and my resume website.

If you edit the block, you can sync it so it updates across every instance. Another handy feature is that you don't have to create a synced block from scratch; you can select an element or paragraph, click for more options, and select Turn into -> Synced block to turn an existing block into one that syncs across documents.

When you want to add your block to a new document, click on it, select the Copy and sync option, copy the block, and then paste it into the other document.

2 Using third-party widgets

No coding skills required

The same embed functionality that allows you to embed apps in Notion also allows you to embed widgets. However, you need to use a third-party service like Indify to create your widgets, which you can then paste into Notion.

You don't even need to connect Indify to your Notion account to use the feature. I created a free Indify account, created a few widgets (including a weather, clock, and image gallery widget), and was able to add the links to a Notion document to embed the widgets.

1 Creating charts based on databases

Give Excel a run for its money

While I'd say visualizing data in Excel is more common, Notion also provides the ability to turn your databases into visual charts. This means that you can take the entries in a table and quickly switch them over to a bar graph or donut chart to create a visual overview of your data.

This is useful when creating a subscription tracker in Notion or keeping up with your expenses using the productivity platform. However, the caveat is that you can only have one chart on a free account. So, if you want to use charts across a variety of documents, you'll need to pay for a premium tier.

Notion is packed with features

While I've touched on some lesser-known Notion features that are great for power users, there's still a lot more to uncover with the app. Your options will depend a lot on what you want to get out of the platform and the level of your database and coding skills. Make sure to explore what types of integrations are possible and dive deep into context menus to unearth more features that you can use.