🧹 Clean Up Your Apple Notes: The Ultimate Organization Guide! 💡

[@DavidCruz-gw5dl]

This is extremely valuable information. All I would ask is that you switch back and forth from Mac to iPhone for those of us who don't have a Mac and work on a PC but love our iPhone and iPad. I would have loved to find out how to add an emoji to a folder or a pic to a note right from my iPhone. Still, you are amazing, and how you share and train makes learning simple and fun. Thank you for helping, you are appreciated.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks for watching! I try to film some for the phone and some for the computer. Soon, I will add some for the iPad. But because of the way I make videos, it's difficult to do BOTH iPhone and Computer in one video... however, I do appreciate the suggestion and will do my best to accommodate you!!!!

[@DavidCruz-gw5dl]

@@TheMacWhisperer I truly need to get your page in front of my friends and family, as many as possible! Thank you for all you do and for being responsive! I did not expect a reply... you are truly a great individual and a professional. Thank you. I will do my part and highly recommend you.

[@skaylingop9673]

I haven’t watched it yet, but do know, as a pc user, you can access your Apple notes as long as you have them backed up with your iCloud.

[@jimgrant1776]

Dylan, many creative ideas, particularly in regard to "organizing". Here is my favorite Smart Folder: "Edited in the Last 2 Days". Throughout the day, I am frequently creating / updating a variety of notes. Apple Notes doesn't provide a "back" button, so I use this Smart Folder to quickly find notes I was working on earlier in the day. You may wish to include in a future video a discussion about possible generic folder structures. It seems that Apple Notes users, particularly beginners, seem to fall into the organization / structure of their folders by evolution, rather than by design. Here are some options for how a user might organize his/her folders: * Topics (Art, Equipment / Parts, Family, Food, Investing, Medical, Politics, etc.) * Life Roles (Business Owner, Employee, Son, Spouse, Father, Tutor, Chef, Volunteer, Etc.) * Tiago Forte’s PARA Method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) * Days of the Week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) Note that each if the above folder structures should have these additional folders: * Templates * Generic Reference

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Great examples. I suggest a very simple standard file structure that generally includes: FAMILY, FRIENDS, WORK, PERSONAL, FINANCIAL, TRAVEL, TECH, HOMES and a few other basic categories that i recommend to all my clients!

[@lindalyn2490]

Thanks for the great knowledge you share I’m a slow learner I’ll have to repeats watch this video again and again It would be good if I could have you taken me through in one on one in person. like I used to go to Apple Shop with a list of things I like to learn but AppleShop don’t do that anymore. My files are really messy can’t find what I want I know I have but can’t find it when I needed very disappointed. Love your style of teaching ❤

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Glad it was helpful. FYI, I teach a small group course monthly if you want to check it out. You can find more info here: www.themacwhisperer.com/tmw I am also available for one-on-one classes. Email me at [e-mail] for more info.

[@cehand8143]

Cut and paste to combine notes: mind blown! Great video, thank you.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Sometimes it's the simple tips that make the biggest impact! Thanks for watching!

[@normanrehme3836]

Thanks for the idea of opening multiple notes to combine. Excellent

[@TheMacWhisperer]

I spent a lot of time looking at other people's notes, and I find that many people have notes with a single piece of information in them instead of combining all of those pieces into one larger, more effective note 📒 and using folders to organize like-minded notes 📂. I'm glad you saw the value in it. Let me know how it goes! 😊

[@Jbiglin]

Dylan - This was truly AWESOME! I consider myself knowledgeable about  Notes but I still learn more every time I watch one of your videos. Well done, Sir!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Awesome! Thanks for watching!!! Any specific tips that stood out for you?

[@robertweisberg5570]

Great video. I learned alot of tips here I didnt think of. Cleaning up the notes to consolidate like the restaurants was great. Suggestions on not having too many hashtags excellent. I had too many. Better use of Sub folders. Glad I found your channel via YT putting it on my front page. You shoed things that other videos didnt cover.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Welcome! Thanks for checking it out! I hope you find other tidbits in my other videos! Let me know if there are any lessons you would like me to cover!

[@robertweisberg5570]

@@TheMacWhisperer I will say right now that I seem not find performance slow when embedding PDFS in notes. Seems slow in M2 pro iPad and my iPhone 13 Pro.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

It depends on how many you embed. A handful is fine, but I have clients who imported hundreds and hundreds, and suddenly, things started crashing and not synching right. All things in moderation, I suppose.

[@peterc2248]

A very useful overview. I manage a burial ground here in the UK and I spent an entire year converting all the paper records for each grave to digital files. Every document, email or phone call record gets stored by date so I can always understand the history of the grave ownership going back several hundred years. I only hope Apple doesn't change Notes!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Notes have been around for a VERY, VERY long time (since the first iPhone)... so it feels pretty entrenched into their ecosystem at this point. I also hope they keep it around! Thanks for watching!

[@Hiddeny.2044]

Yeah good and bad thing about notes is they don’t update it like crazy and their motto is kinda like KISS so you should be good for a long time.

[@appointedcounsel5550]

Your presentation style, cadence, and clarity are supreme. You should give tutorials to other KZbinrs.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks for that! I really try to keep things simple and practical. It makes a big difference when you're trying to remember how to do things. Feel free to tell any of the KZbinrs that you know about my channel and recommend they watch it for those tips. I just try and keep things easy.

[@havefunbesafe]

Brother, recent sub to your channel…you are the gold standard for Mac!🎉

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks so much for subscribing and the kind words! Please let me know if there are any topics you would like to see me cover in the future! Welcome aboard!

[@get2riz]

Thank you!!! Now I'm happy and hopeful that I can organize my Note.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@OtRatsaphong]

Great lesson, Dylan! Thank you! Now I can get my notes organised 😊

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Awesome!! Let me know how it goes!

[@ResearchAPG]

Great Video! I just can't find anywhere as how to organize my folders alphabetically. Any suggestions?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

There is no automatic system to alphabetize folders, but whenever someone brings up the question of alphabetizing folders, bookmarks, or even photo albums, I let them know that alphabetizing is only necessary when you have so many albums that you can't find them properly otherwise. My recommendation is to create separate folders that are more like categories and create sub-folders for all the other folders you have. That way, rather than working with the alphabet-which is a decent form of organization but slightly arbitrary, assuming that things that start with the letter A are more important than things that start with the letter Z-you can organize more effectively. I recommend creating approximately five basic generic categories or folders: things like friends, family, finances, legal, travel, personal, etc. Then put the subfolders into those separate categories and You won't miss alphabetizing quite so much because, instead of looking at 50 folders, you're looking at five categories and only opening the category you need. You can always manually alphabetize things if you find it necessary, but again, using fewer folders that are more categorical than specific will help you find things even quicker than using the alphabet, in my opinion. Hope that helps.

[@Jlexerama]

Awesome video. I never thought about decorating with emoji and pictures

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks! It keeps it fun and easy to see...

[@stacyambramorin]

Great video! Very helpful. Why does my Notes Ap put notes into categories like: On my Iphone,aol, gmail? how do I fix that. For more info I have a PC, Iphone and Ipad.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

You have more than one service connected to your Notes. Go to Settings, Apps, Notes, and click on Notes Accounts. When you first signed into your Google and AOL accounts, it added those sections. You should move ALL those notes into your iCloud Notes folder and turn off those separate services after you move them. As for the "On My iPhone" section, that is controlled from the Settings section too, and is for people who don't want to sync their notes across devices. Move those notes to iCloud as well and then turn that section off to make it easier to find what you're looking for.

[@rajansomanathan7517]

Presentation is precise and easy to understand. Keep up the good work. Have subscribed and given thumbs up. Cheers.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Welcome aboard! Glad you got good value! Let me know if you have any topics you would like me to cover!

[@rajansomanathan7517]

@@TheMacWhisperer yes, can you make a video on tags in finders??

[@TheMacWhisperer]

I will add it to my list!

[@wot-a-noob7257]

Awesome - much needed! Must watch!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thank you so so much! I appreciate it. Thanks for watching!

[@MartinOcando]

Great info. One thing I'd like Apple to allow is to edit an image size and cropping. Having to move it to photos, edit there and circle back to Notes is a bit inconvenient. I'm coming from Notion, and I'm used to do that there.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

I completely agree. The way Notes deals with images is clunky at best... it's just not something they've gotten around to fixing. When I want to do a document visually, I tend to use Freeform instead of Notes because it really allows you to manipulate and organize things in a million different ways. Notes is more linear and doesn't have those same options. Hopefully they'll add them soon... in the interim, learn how to use Notes for what it's there for, but don't overlook the other tools like Freeform and the Reminders app.

[@MartinOcando]

@@TheMacWhisperer Yeah, Freeform is a great tool, although I see it more like a collab space for my family to plan things like our next Christmas trip. I'm trying to replace Notion with Notes, and so far it's been a very good solution. I didn't really used Notion fancier features, so can't justify the cost. Although is lacking on some basic features, image handling being the most annoying to me.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

I think Reminders may be a better fit. It's what I used to replace notion, and the ability to have columns makes it even more powerful. Checkout this video to learn more: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXSuZGlso86Mack

[@tomi0p]

(13:25) One question: how do you do to have all your new notes windows always appear above the main notes window?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Double-clicking on a note opens it into it's own window.

[@Butterflies.and.Tulips]

I thought the ones in the Notes folder weren’t on the cloud. Thanks for clearing that up for me!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Happy to help!

[@kaykhen9853]

Great video. Thank you for your great service.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks for watching!

[@vaidy2000]

Dear Dylan. Learnt few new things from your tutorial...like cleaning of large no of notes..Thanks a lot....one request- how to notes colourful-changing the color of the fonts etc...if you can do a short video on this it would be grateful.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

You can't do colors form the phone (YET), but on the computer cmd + T brings up the text box to change fonts, colors, formatting and more.

[@vaidy2000]

@@TheMacWhisperer Thank you

[@superpoodlehead]

Great class! Thanks!~subscribed and liked! More power tips on organizing existing notes (I have almost 3,000 😒- I am still unclear about smart folders and using them to sort out unwanted notes/folders. For instance if I am looking for all my notes with my passwords, should I search for "passwords"? Then sort? Other idea: using emojis for searching like priority (like in Apple Reminders) or similar-is that even a good idea? For instance. Priority would be #❗or New Ideas could be represented by # 💡

[@TheMacWhisperer]

First, work to consolidate your notes. If you search passwords (not in a Smart Folder, just a regular search), You can copy and paste and consolidate all those separate notes into one Passwords note (organized alphabetically). You can learn more about my password systems here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6fRnZd_idx_ers Use folders (and subfolders) to organize your notes into simple categories. And use smart folders to search for notes that have not been edited in a long time or with checklists that are incomplete... then you can eliminate or update those notes. For sure, Emojis and tags can help, but leaning into consolidation is the place to start. I have over 3k notes, but 90% of them are current and clean. Hopefully, those tips can help. I will make more notes organization videos soon. Thanks for watching!

[@superpoodlehead]

@@TheMacWhisperer 👏🏼 Ohhhh! Thanks for explaining! I really appreciate this post because I was going to blow money on Obsidian for my “database” but already had a makeshift one in Notes. Please do make more videos on Notes when you get a chance. Obsidian charges to synch to your devices and I thought, wow! Apple Notes already does that! Then I found you! 🙌🏼🙌🏼 I’ll check out your other video as well. 👍🏼

[@carolinebell6087]

Just came across your channel and loving your videos. I have not been able to link a Numbers sheet or Pages document to Notes. Is this possible? Love the Power Tips!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Technically, you can create a share link from Pages or Numbers and copy it into Notes, but I question why you would want that. Before we try to find some intricate way to do what you're looking to do, one of the principles that I teach is to start with the end in mind. What is the long-term purpose of linking numbers or pages to notes? For me I use notes for most of my word processing needs, and notes can easily be exported directly to Pages. But since I'm not using Pages or Numbers for anything important linking it to notes doesn't make a lot of sense to me… So let me know what you're trying to do and let's find the right solution to the problem, rather than linking stuff which may or may not be the smart way to do it.

[@carolinebell6087]

@@TheMacWhisperer Thanks for the response! I wrote this before watching your video on Freeform - I had completely underestimated its functionality and never really looked at it. I am now a convert given it allows me to do everything I was trying to do in Notes. Thanks again!

[@marc31]

Great video ! All your tips will be very useful ! I subscribe.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks for the sub! And please let me know if there’s any specific topics you’d like to learn about.

[@analee1611]

I noticed that there are limitations such as I cannot put a locked file in a Smartlist and a Smartlist under a folder. So, I end up having a longer list of Folders to the left side. (You said having between 5-10 or less is better).

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Both of those limitations are specifically connected to smart lists. I recommend not using very many smart lists and then you won't have that challenge. I only have two or three smart lists and I tend to change them out when I'm searching for specific things. Start with your 5-10 general folders and then put subfolders into them. Don't worry about smart lists until you've got your folder system set up. Smart lists are much less relevant than actual folders, in my opinion.

[@gstev1]

For Imojis on a windows machine, press windows Key + period

[@Whigu]

Is there way to make smart folder where you put all notes which doesn't have tag #example ?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Yes, you can click twice on a tag in the tag section at the bottom left, then right-click and create a smart folder. Or when you create a Smart Folder and select tags, if you click on the tag selected, you can choose "include" or "exclude." Great question. I learned something new by exploring the answer. So thank you! Never occurred to me to even try that before.

[@ArnaudFalchier]

Very useful!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@robertweisberg5570]

The Emojis with folders! I have not seen another mention that.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

❤️👍🤫 I thought that was a fun way to do it! Thanks for noticing!

[@Marpiet13]

great content! Great Value

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Love it!!!! Thanks for watching!

[@ynggues5827]

i have a macbook 2017 that doesnt come with tags and a smartfolder, what do you recommend?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Tags in notes were released as a part of MacOS 13 (Monterey). Which is available for computers as old as 2016. My guess is that you have not updated your computer to at least MacOS 12. I recommend updating it. Also, be aware that the 2017 computers can no longer be updated to the later operating systems. The current MacOs is Sonoma (MacOS 14), and MacOS 15 (Sequoia) will be released in September, so it may be time to consider upgrading your machine in the near future.

[@jellenp]

Thanks!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

So glad you got value! Any specific lesson you would like to share?

[@micheljauvin3536]

very wel explained

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks for watching!

[@DorianGreer]

For a new smart folder I don't get the options (date edited, etc) only a box for the tag so I can't customize (except by tag). I've the latest version. Do the criteria filters not enable on iMac?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

As long as you are on Sonoma (MacOS 14) you should see the same options. Create a new smart folder from the file menu and then click on the tag criteria you can choose additional options.

[@DorianGreer]

@@TheMacWhisperer Monterey: I'll try it on my newer M3 (Sonoma 14.5), just figured it should work on all of them the same. Thanks.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

@@DorianGreer It won't work on Monterey.... it was a recently announced feature for Sonoma.

[@leemiller8258]

Suppose you create a folder for old notes, and you delete the notes you no longer want. Can you then delete the smart folder without deleting the remaining notes, the ones you want to keep?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Smart folders do not actually move the notes. They are like a smart search. So you can delete a Smart Folder anytime you want to without ever deleting any notes. If you want to organize notes you should create real folders not smart folders. And if you do use real folders don’t delete the folder or you will also lose the contents. (But you can always recover an accidentally deleted note for up to 39 days if you need to. )

[@leemiller8258]

@@TheMacWhisperer Very, very helpful, thank you!

[@leemiller8258]

@ very helpful, thank you.

[@status10lm]

Exporting Apple Notes to PDF cuts off handwritten notes (in Ipad):: Is there any solution for this?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Unfortunately not yet.... there are many changes coming in the new OS for the phone/iPad and computers... maybe they will resolve that issue.

[@status10lm]

@@TheMacWhisperer I hope

[@rayw187]

I must be doing something wrong...when I double clicik on note it opens in full screen and I cannot do the cmd x to copy another...is there a setting I need to change?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Yes, full screen mode is one of the banes of my existence because it eliminate so many tools. When you double click on a note and it opens into full screen mode, put your cursor, at the top left corner of your screen so that you see the red orange, orange and green buttons. Click the green button to exit full screen mode, and you will have the ability to resize that notes window. That will enable you to do what you’re trying to do. In the future, when things open into full screen (in any app) I recommend clicking the green button to resize them manually. Many people think the green button is necessary to to make a window larger, but it puts you into full screen mode, which doesn’t give you control. Instead, learn to manually resize windows by stretching them from the bottom left and bottom right corners to the size that you want If you want a window to fill the screen (without entering full screen mode) hold the option button down when you click the green button. Hopefully that helps… Full screen mode is one of the “features“ that I would fully disable if I had the ability… But I don’t.

[@rayw187]

@@TheMacWhisperer Thank you!

[@jeffreydimsdale6508]

6/22/24, 6 pm: is there a way to email a file into a new or existing note?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

I guess I’m a little confused as to why you would want to do that. It’s not really the way notes is set up, but you should be able to copy and paste (or drag) any file from your phone or computer directly into a note. I am curious why you would want to email it… I know that’s something that Evernote and other web-based apps used to do, but it’s not the fashion anymore. It’s so easy to just add anything directly to notes without hassling with email in the first place. Please let me know if you need more Clarity about how to add files.

[@jeffreydimsdale6508]

@@TheMacWhisperer I send an email with two files attached to several people. I want to automatically place hose files in Notrs. That would be the most efficient way store things appropriately.

[@jamesashby4334]

You can drag and drop an email into a note but this just creates a link to the email. To get copies of the attached files into a note you can open the email, press and hold the attached file, and either drag it to a note or use the share sheet to save a copy to a note

[@SirGenesis206]

Like the other comments said, it might be best to share to Notes or drag and drop those two files rather than email it to the note if you want to actually access the attachments later.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Are the two people you are sending the info to on Apple? If so, you could avoid email altogether and just put the files natively (not as an attachment, if possible) into Notes and share the Notes folder with both of them, then everyone has it native in one place. I am holding my breath until the use of email finally dies. If I can avoid sending an email, I always do (text is my first line of defense, especially if people are on Apple products, but Notes works really well, too, for my team!)

[@donbiagio1]

Hi Dylan. Your 👕😎friend here. Awesome as always. Excellent to the extreme. Stay safe Sincerely BIAGIO B👌❤️👕😎

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Hey B! Thanks as always for your support. Hope you got some good tidbits from this one! How's the weather? It was 100 degrees (F) yesterday... almost too hot for any shirt....

[@donbiagio1]

@@TheMacWhisperer hi Dylan. As a matter of fact I was just cleaning my notes right now. Your tips were spot on to taming of the notes all over the place. They were great. The weather has been off and on. Sunny mostly some rain at night. The temperature has been from 24 to 27 Celsius during the day dropping to 12, 14 and 16 at night. The real hot weather will not show up until July August. I will let you know as it develops. Thanks again Biagio Bisignano Take care 👕😎❤️👍

[@jeffreydimsdale6508]

Thank you.

[@TheMacWhisperer]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@jebaker2]

Great video though I don’t want to know what is in the “Masculinity” folder. 😂

[@TheMacWhisperer]

I have been a part of a Men's Support organization for 20 years, so that's where I keep many of the exercises, rituals, and planning sessions for those meetings. Thanks for asking!

[@JohnKaess]

I can't seem to put a smart folder under any other folder. I'd even be happy if i could make a main folder to put all smart folders inside that folder.

[@jamesashby4334]

Yeah. Smart folders reside only in the top level notes folder. You can reorder them but can’t move to a subfolder

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Unfortunately it wasn’t designed that way. Smart folders sit outside the other folders. Ideally you shouldn’t create too many of them. Usually you can get by with 3-5. More than that just tends to get cluttered. And don’t forget you can always edit a smart folder to change the search results on the fly. Plus, in my opinion since smart folders don’t actually move the notes they are a great way for temporary searches but not for long term sorting and organization.

[@TheDude-m2n]

I feel like you gave us quite a lot of your personal life. Do you now have a virtual men circle?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Thanks for asking! For clarity, I have been doing men's work for over 20 years, I spent most of the last 5 years on a virtual men's team, and I still have strong relationships with most of those men and that organization... but I have transitioned to a once a month in-person men's circle at my house. Are you experienced in men's work, curious about it, or just poking at me for giving too much personal information?

[@TheDude-m2n]

@@TheMacWhisperer It was more alarm about how much information you casually shared. I have a big interest in OSINT so I'm naturally nosey and look out for these things. Also, you're the first person I've seen who's got such good organisation in life. Really cool to see someone use Notes to it's potential. We need more people like you organising men circles.

[@TheDude-m2n]

@@TheMacWhisperer apologise if my wording seemed to poke fun. It was not my intention at all.

[@dstein111]

I just use search

[@TheMacWhisperer]

That's fine. It works until it doesn't. At some point, when I was over 2K notes, it took longer to search than go to the folder. The more I rely on search, the less it provides the quick results I need. I have a basic motto: Sort, don't search. It works for me.

[@dstein111]

@@TheMacWhisperer I hear ya. I’m just so far gone at this point with the amount of notes that I have. For me to organize them all would be nuts!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Understood. Maybe it's time to do a little cleanup of some of the oldest ones using my shared tips. For me, it has been worth the investment since I am super impatient when I NEED to find something quickly (especially on my phone), and I LIVE and DIE by my notes and the speed with which I can find what I need.

[@crawford323]

Wait wait wait. This is notes on something other than an iPad?

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Notes exists on iPad, iPhone, and on Mac. I do most of my Notes work on my Mac, so that's how this video was shot. Most of the tips here can work on any device. Let me know if you have a specific question about any tip, and I can teach you how to do it on the iPad...

[@xander2drax]

Thanks!

[@TheMacWhisperer]

You bet!

[@ati6744]

Thank you

[@TheMacWhisperer]

Absolutely! Glad to help! Thanks for watching!