How to organise Apple Notes

If you're an Apple Notes user, one of the main questions you'll need to think about when organising your notes is how best to organise your notes and whether to use Notebooks or Tags.
Notebooks - Think of these as the big categories. Or just think of them as actual notebooks i.e. you have one notebook for work, one for home, one for studying.
Tags - These are the topics that could be used within any note across notebooks. e.g. #howto #receipt #inspiration. Remember you can apply multiple tags but a note can only live in one notebook at a time.
0:00 - Introduction
0:52 - Folders
4:59 - Tags
7:10 - Smart folders
8:26 - Sorting folders
9:25 - Pin your notes
9:47 - Outro
Enjoy my productivity training videos and learn more about how to be more organised and get more done in less time.
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[@callmeNeno]

You're making me a Apple stock apps enthousiast ~~

[@paulminors]

😀

[@jimgrant1776]

Paul - Excellent video. Here are some additional organizational ideas. You’re welcome to enhance them and incorporate them into another video. Folder Organization / Structure - It seems that 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, Entertainment, Family, Food, Investing, Medical, Politics, etc.) Life Roles (Son, spouse, father, businessman, teacher, chef. Etc.) Tiago Forte’s PARA Method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) Days of the Week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) Tags - I think of tags as “meta” data. That is, they are information “about” a Note and not the part of the “content” of the Note itself. As with folders, there are a variety of ways a user can organize his/her tags. Here are some examples: Type of Note (Article, instructions, invoice, map, receipt, etc.) Status (Planned, Active, Completed, etc.) Locations (San Diego, Home, Farm, Ohio, etc.) Sources (Email, boss, teacher, Internet, etc.) Retentions (DeleteAfter2023Q2, DeleteAfter2023Q3, DeleteAfter2023312023, etc.) Smart folders - There are many options for specifying criteria for Notes selected by a Smart Folder. One I use almost everyday is “Edited in the last 3 Days”.

[@paulminors]

Great suggestions. I particularly like the idea of using tags for location.

[@BenSussmanpro]

Anal retentive much😆 . Seems like using tags is all you need.

[@juanantonio6867]

Thank you Paul. You are the first to have made it simple to understand the foundation or beginning of using notes. I just couldn't pick up what everyone else was talking about. Senior moment maybe. Anyway thank you

[@paulminors]

Thanks, I'm glad I could make this clear 👍

[@Bazzo61]

First video I've watched of yours and love the clear and informative style. Have immediately subscribed.

[@paulminors]

Thanks, I'm glad the video was useful 😀

[@skeche]

Glad i've stumbled across your channel Paul, your explanation is clear succinct and easy to understand.

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad the video was useful!

[@clintcarter50]

Super helpful!! Thank you so much for providing such valuable, clear content.

[@paulminors]

You're welcome 😀

[@BojanKnezevic]

after aobut 2h of youtube browsing, finally, a video that shows how to keep notes in advanced way

[@paulminors]

Glad I could help 😀

[@clarencepayne6243]

Paul - Excellent video. Very helpful. Thank you.

[@paulminors]

You're welcome 😀

[@tomthumb2062]

Cheers Paul, after 12 years of throwing various creative ideas into notes, you’ve finally shown me the way to turn these ideas into reality. I just subscribed too, keep up the great content 👏🏻🇬🇧

[@paulminors]

Thanks, I'm really glad this helped!

[@UrsulaJStLouis]

Great info. Glad I found you. Thank you!

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad this was useful!

[@creamosmx]

Quite useful video, specially the way you titled your journal entries. It's interesting how you can benefit on the organization decisions of another person. Thanks.

[@paulminors]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@PatikornHomswad]

Thanks for the great advice. The lectures are short and understandable.

[@paulminors]

Glad I could help!

[@rudyelizondo1935]

Great vid, I’ve got my folders etc pretty well organized now

[@paulminors]

Glad this was useful!

[@gregorydebeer4531]

Finally ! Thank you for the video.

[@paulminors]

You're welcome 😀

[@clintga912]

Great video! Thank you!

[@paulminors]

Thanks 😀

[@howwonderful9258]

Thank you so very much for giving me the exact help I needed!!!! I have been going crazy trying to find apps & wasting time finding nothing useful. You explained everything so clearly and I was able to follow along. And now I finally have my notes organized thanks to you!!!! You are an amazing instructor & I am so appreciative😊😊😊

[@paulminors]

Haha, thank you for the kind comment. Glad this helped!

[@RevoNo.1]

A fantastic video. Put it in use today and interested to see how it works. Very heplful. Thank you

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad the video was useful!

[@joannbisnath6738]

Very helpful thank you!

[@paulminors]

Thanks!

[@ny6901]

Love it! Didn't know what "pin" meant and how to use! Thank you

[@paulminors]

Glad I could help!

[@user-lf2pt4gi8s]

Great video. Very clear explanation

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad I could help!

[@singhsaurabh13]

Thanks for making things understandable in an easy way…

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad I could help!

[@Permitmon]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@paulminors]

You're welcome 😀

[@RameshKumar-ng3nf]

Very informative Bro 👌. Thanks for sharing. I am new to your channel and subscribed.

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad I could help!

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Personally I don’t have a lot of notes but I find using spotlight is much easier than folders and smart folders or tags. I did change my system when I saw your paperless video long time ago but I went back to not writing much notes. 😊

[@paulminors]

Yeah Spotlight is great for finding notes as well 😀

[@fidoalca9]

Thanks!

[@paulminors]

Thank you for the kind gesture!

[@EZEvans1]

Great Video. I like your presentation and communication style (perhaps they are the same thing) and the quality of the audio and video.

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad you liked the video 👍

[@brandonbutler2794]

Had to let u know that I subbed for that clothes change transition honesty😂👌🏽

[@paulminors]

Haha, glad you enjoyed that

[@robynflynnlarge]

Great video. I think Apple Notes is under-rated and I’m guilty of looking for something newer or fancier. In the end, it just works too well to move. I use smart folders a lot because I re-use notes. Eg I had a folder for a trip we took to Europe. Also, a folder for learning French. When my daughter was heading to Cannes, I flicked through these folders and did a spotlight search on “France”, adding the tag “CassFrance” to any that were applicable. This then built me a Smart Folder full of useful notes without moving them from their original folders. This does mean I have a lot of folders, but I’ve created sort of divider folder that look like ----Archive---- and once I’ve finished with a folder, I drag it underneath this line. I can still find the notes in a search but it sits at the bottom of my page.

[@paulminors]

I agree. It's not the most powerful Notes app but it's simple and easy to use and does everything I need. Nice use of Smart Folders 😀

[@raycornbill2741]

Excellent.

[@paulminors]

Thanks!

[@classicathy]

OMG, finally your video answered my question: "What's the difference between a smart folder and a folder? ANd why can't I move any notes to my smart folder?". Thank you so much!

[@paulminors]

You don't MOVE notes into a Smart Folder. The Smart Folder shows you notes that meet the criteria of the folder.

[@carolinestill607]

Love the info, I do have a ? on smart folders, how do I add a note to an existing smart folder ?

[@paulminors]

Thanks! You would need to create or update a note so that satisfies the criteria of that smart folder.

[@brucebailey1371]

Paul, I just purchased an iPad and learned quite a bit from your video about Apple Notes. It is quite helpful. I have a PC at work, but use a MAC laptop at home and now have an iPad for travel, which leads to my question about Smart Folders. Are they only available when using the Mac and not available when using an iPad? I haven't seen any menus as are in your video where one can find the Smart Folder option. Thanks.

[@paulminors]

Yes, if you click the new folder button on the bottom left of the sidebar, there is an option to create a folder. In the popup, you can make it a smartfolder.

[@JulianLeach-ep7jd]

Thanks Paul! Having watched a couple of your other videos, I'm intrigued to know when you use Apple Notes vs. the notes in Pipedrive and Asana. Is Apple Notes only for personal stuff, and all your client-related notes are in Pipedrive (prospect) and Asana (paying customer)?

[@paulminors]

Yeah that's basically it. Pipedrive notes are for sales/client related notes. Apple Notes is mostly personal stuff.

[@JulianLeach-ep7jd]

Thanks Paul!

[@d_a_r_i_o]

Excellent presentation! Apple Notes is underrated for sure. It is robust, tactile and very friendly to use across devices. It has grounded me to the point I am heading back to stock apps (Mail only exception)

[@paulminors]

Yeah, it's come a long way in the last few years.

[@hn29723]

M 4:28 maybe worth to mention, that Apple support up to 5 folder levels. - good video - thanks for sharing

[@paulminors]

Thanks for the tip!

[@briand3200]

Great video. I'm actually moving off of Evernote. I don't like that they took away the feature where I can store local notes. I have a question for you (or anyone else)... it concerns the age old topic of tags vs folders. I like you chose both. My issue with tags is that important files tend to get "lost". For example, in Evernote I used a notebook called "File Cabinet" and then I used tags for the year (i.e. "Tax" and "Fiscal 2022"). The issue I had is that I would have important tax files (such as a big donation) because I mis-tagged it. I either leave out "Tax" or "Fiscal YYYY". Whereas with nested folders it's much less likely I will do that. Plus as tax season approaches it's really easy to see what files I "actioned" and which I didn't. Does that make sense? I'm asking this because as I dump Evernote, I want to see if I should try Notes or just stick with the good 'ol file system. Thoughts?

[@paulminors]

I guess either method, tags or folders, would work. But as you've highlighted, you need to remember to apply the tag. So if folders is going to be more reliable for you, I'd suggest just having more nested-folders.

[@waterfire6131]

Great Video!!! How to I stop Notes from pasting 'Excerpt From and the author/book information every time I copy/paste from a book pdf I have?

[@paulminors]

I think this is how the information copies from the book (it's not anything Apple Notes is doing).

[@carlosrebolo5901]

Hi Paul, congratulations for the video, really helpful. I see that one of the options for smart folders filters is the use of @mentions . However, I am struggling how can I make a valid mention inside a Note . Any insights on that, please? Thank you so much

[@paulminors]

Hi Carlos, make sure you have shared the note with others first, otherwise you probably won't see anyone to @mention.

[@carlosrebolo5901]

@@paulminors super, Paul. Thanks a lot

[@davidpatrick1813]

I just got a first generation apple pencil for my 9.7 Pro.. Can I have it always converts my writing in notes to ext?

[@paulminors]

I'm not sure sorry. I think it depends on the OS version you're running and I'm not sure if the first gen supports this.

[@koekiemonsterization]

This was very helpful, thanks! But I'm left with a problem. I changed the structure in my notes a few months ago, and since then it has made copies of existing notes when I modify them, like when I add something to an existing note. And I don't dare delete them, as I'm afraid I'll delete the whole thing! How can I switch this of??

[@paulminors]

Hm, sounds like a bit of a bug or something. Why don't you just try deleting one as a test to see what happens? If it's fine, you could clean up the rest.

[@judyclancy7361]

I enjoyed your video. I am new to apple notes. Where can I find many simple how to set up apple notes

[@paulminors]

Thanks, glad this was useful.

[@SeanChandler067]

Interesting- when a PDF, photo etc is added to a note, is a copy made, or is the original file location referenced?

[@paulminors]

The PDF is uploaded and added to the note. So even if you delete it from the original location, it's still in the note.

[@SeanChandler067]

@@paulminors Thanks for confirming !

[@tobiasantolini1052]

Helpful! But can you categorize folders from A to Z? Not doing it by hand..

[@paulminors]

It doesn't appear so

[@jocelyngeraghty5267]

How do you get that sidebar up. I’m using Notes for journaling. I have to scroll through from the first entry before I can start a new entry.

[@paulminors]

Go to 'View » Show Folders' to see the sidebar.

[@javiersantos1775]

Excellent video. I have a question. Why Don’t you use sub-folders?? I mean, a folder inside to other folder? Thanks

[@paulminors]

Funny you ask, since recording this video I have actually started using subfolders to create more organisation.

[@vidform]

Can you zoom in and out of Notes with two-finger pinch?

[@paulminors]

I'm afraid not.

[@J4Jad]

Is there an easy way to export notes? Multiple notes or folder wise or tag wise export? Is the data kep hostage on icloud or easy to export in user friendly format?

[@paulminors]

Yes, you can easily export notes to PDF 👍

[@TJ-22]

Is it possible to eventually export data from the Notes app and transfer it elsewhere?

[@paulminors]

I'm not sure, I haven't tried to be honest.

[@shaneramnarain786]

On apple note, when u take pictures, will they not disapear after some times?

[@paulminors]

No, they will stay in the note 😀

[@cottagekeeper]

Can you speak to how sharing folders works? I use folders and subfolders. I have a folder for our construction company (ABC Construction) in that folder I have subfolders (HR), (Documents), (Clients), in the Clients Subfolders I have a folder for each client. I want to share with our clients their subfolder so we can communicate throughout the construction process. I'm concerned that If I share the clients folders they will have access to all folders within the (ABC Construction) folder. Is this true? If it is how do I set up folders for our clients so we can collaborate on their project in Apple notes?

[@paulminors]

Good question, although I'm actually not sure what would happen here and I looked on Apple's website and they don't make it clear either. I would assume they would see any child folders, so I'd suggest doing a test first.

[@fxallen1]

How can we reduce or archive our Notes file after we've been using it for a few years? File size gets so large it slows down my older iMac

[@paulminors]

I'm afraid there is no archive option. Your best option would be to delete the note if it's no longer needed.

[@JeffMathe]

Very helpful. Subscribed ! Thanks. But I have a question. How do I transfer my notes to another apple account? I can’t copy all thousands and thousands of notes. Is there a simple way to import to another account?

[@paulminors]

I haven't tried this myself so I'm not sure if it would work. But the first thing I'd try is to connect the new iCloud account to the Notes app on my Mac. Then move all the notes to a new notebook in the new account.

[@EUAccount]

Yes - THIS - no one talks about "accounts" - - I'm here because I lost ALL of my notes because while organizing a very old iphone, I deleted the notes on that device, while trying to free up some space.. guess what... I deleted my entire Notes Collection across ALL OF MY DEVICES... very big bummer.

[@JeffMathe]

@@paulminorsit doesn’t work. As soon as you change the account, all notes disappear because they were all attached to the other iCloud account. And when you reconnect to the previous one, you have to redownload the old notes from iCloud. All this because one changed to another region (for work purpose) and some apps not available to that region, etc, etc… 😢! Apple gymnastics…

[@anchitchakrabarti2179]

I have one question, is there any way to navigate sideways to create an infinite canvas? Like we can scroll down infinitely

[@paulminors]

I'm afraid not.

[@anchitchakrabarti2179]

@@paulminors this is the only reason I do not like that app

[@WikiPal]

Thanks for your excellent video, you are Great! But, alas! When I put an hashtag in different notes and I create a Smart folder based on a particular hashtag, the folder contains the different notes. Instead I would like to see the smart folder to contain ALL the contents of the notes hashtagged. For instance, if I have different folders, say: "Walmart", "CostCo", "Sprouts", etc. and each folders contains the hashtag "Shopping" and a list of various items to buy, the Smart folder based on #Shopping, will contain the all the folders which have something to buy listed but not the single items.

[@paulminors]

I think I understand what you mean but I don't think this is possible I'm afraid. When you create the smart folder, it's going to display a list of notes with that tag.

[@betsyh6882]

Read that the smart folders don't show on iCloud. They're not showing on Apple Notes on my iPhone.

[@paulminors]

Ah, I didn't realise. Thanks for sharing!

[@LubaLuba1]

How to create categories on my note app on iPhone like I can on Samsung phone??

[@paulminors]

You can create folders or tags (as shown in the video) which I guess are like categories?

[@LubaLuba1]

@@paulminors Yes folder I know I can do but Tags what exactly is that and how can I create them ?

[@anandshah71]

How to take webpages snapshot and tag them like we do in web clipper in evernote

[@paulminors]

I'm afraid this isn't possible with Apple Notes. The best you can do is take a screenshot and add it to the note.

[@kanagordon]

I just want to manually organise my notes in each folder. Like pick up and drag into my own order of importance rather than alphabetically or by date. Can’t seem to find a way??

[@willdoyle29]

just change title

[@paulminors]

I'm afraid there is no manual sorting in Apple Notes.

[@skyrunnernl]

Apple notes is pretty great. Good video! Personally I just can't commit to going all Apple, I find the company just too unsympathetic, so Apple notes becomes unsuitable since it's not cross platform.

[@paulminors]

It works well if you're entirely in the ecosystem but yeah, if you're using non-Apple devices, it's probably not the best

[@kiley07]

I have 109 notes in my All iCloud folder and 109 in Notes folder. Why do I have the same in each and you don't? thanks!

[@paulminors]

I don't leave my notes in the Notes folder. I move them to other folders that have better names.

[@brianwallington9744]

why can't I rename notes ? seems a really stupid thing that this is not possible..what do you think about this..Plus I apparently cannot export my notes to other applications ???

[@paulminors]

You can rename it by changing the title at the top of the page. Make sure you use the heading format.

[@brianwallington9744]

@@paulminors Thank you Paul for your kind reply, you take care now

[@ny6901]

I have the question about using notes created in the notes app in other apps on Mac as well. Did you figure out if it is possible? If so which apps are compatible?

[@danilopetrovic5438]

Can I open notes on my apple watch? I am struggling...

[@paulminors]

I'm afraid not.

[@ralphmichaelferraro2398]

can folders be alphabatized ?

[@paulminors]

They can't be sorted. But you can drag and drop them into the order you want.

[@xpress7578]

Isn’t the pond sign £. I think you are referring to a hash tag #. Please correct me if I misunderstood. Cheers

[@paulminors]

# is also referred to as a pound sign (before it was known as a hashtag)

[@IreneBlaston]

@@paulminors - in America. But in England it has always been a hashtag with £ being the pound sign (Sterling)

[@yakkyuu12]

Can you put links into your notes?

[@paulminors]

Yes, you can paste the link.

[@shamanbeartwo3819]

Alas, one of the main questions is to check and see if your old MacBookPro will do half the things folks talk about in Notes videos like tagging or even Quick Notes.

[@paulminors]

How old is your MacBook?

[@shamanbeartwo3819]

2014.

[@terryclyde9794]

7:22 I must be missing something on the use of Tags in Apple notes because I'm having to type out the entire tag and I shouldn't have to do that.

[@paulminors]

Are you doing this on a Mac or iPad/iPhone?

[@terryclyde9794]

@@paulminors iPhone 14; iOS 17

[@StevenMichels]

I vote yes on the beard.

[@paulminors]

👍

[@niklastoelke5647]

Why do you journal in latin???

[@paulminors]

So my journals can't be read by most people 😉

[@geekmeee]

With using tags, why even use folders?? I use tags for researching topics and keep a ongoing journal of the books I am reading.

[@paulminors]

You may use tags for grouping notes across folders e.g. 'Receipts' that may live in a personal or work folder.

[@geekmeee]

@@paulminors Why would 'Receipts' live in folders? When tags would group everything. I know this has to do a lot with personal preference, but once I discovered tags, personally, I found no use for folders. Just trying to break people free from old habits.

[@TalibannedProduction]

Apple needs to let you sort folders alphabetically.

[@paulminors]

Agreed!

[@mikewright9547]

Agreed. Tim Apple needs to step it up.

[@Mustangous]

You can sort the folders how ever you like, but I guess that depends if you know the alphabet.

[@Jp.088]

You spelled organize wrong

[@skaterdude14b]

Saw bitcoin: slight red flag. Saw crossfit: whew saved me 5m11s

[@paulminors]

Haha, I'm not totally insane then

[@HighFLYER-9000]

The black background makes it unexciting, you shouldn’t have used the night mode to illustrate this.

[@andrewrussell5545]

You misspelled Organize

[@paulminors]

In New Zealand we spell 'Organise' using the English (UK) spelling 😀

[@DorianGreer]

After all this time, still no way to sort folders (i.e., alphabetically). Yes you can sort the contents, but not the folders. No markup beyond the very basic. Simple things like this is why I don't think Apple have intended this to be a serious note-taking application. Just something quick and dirty for on the fly stuff. That being said, it IS very simple to use for quick and basic stuff.

[@paulminors]

Yeah, it's funny that isn't an option. You could just manually sort them if it's not too many.

[@thomasayau9911]

Thank you for posting this, before I chase this down a rabbit hole. I’m disappointed. This comment should be pinned if not already.

[@Missmay777]

One way I organize my folders is by adding a sequence to the title such as: (A), (B), ….. and so on, as a unique identifier. Then you can add other sequences once you already used one and need another, such as: (I), (II), …. (1), (2),…. Etc… (thus allowing your folders to be sorted alphabetically /numerically but you need to put the parentheses around the first letter and space between the remaining part of the folder title (just to be sure, BUT, I’ve actually had it working for a while without even doing this, it was automatically alphabetically sorting the folders - but I think I had all of the detailed “group by date” selections to “off” which is different from the individual notes feature “sort by date” which I always sort by “title” so that I can numerically or alphabetically organize). Ultimately this process will organize your folders/notes accordingly to the sequences’ hierarchy you have inputted in the folder/note title. Lastly, it will automatically organize your folders by using this method unless you edit the folders and manually move them out of sequence, by which you’ll need to go back and manually move it back to alphabetical or numerical order. But initially, it will sort according to the sequence’s numerical or alphabetical order. As for notes, it won’t automatically sort in the sequence order until after you remove the defaulted “sort by date” and select the sort to “title.” Hope this helps! 😬

[@DorianGreer]

@@Missmay777 Thanks your for suggestion but I'm not sure I understand. I have notes on everything from Art to Trading with sub-topics within each (also nested by folder). How does putting a "A" or a "A1" before or in a Folder Title help me to sort folders, for example by topic? For example: I create a new Folder and add "A1" to the title. How do I then sort folders by "A1" in the title? The point is, it won't let me sort folders, (not by A1, not by Trading, not by anything). I have to manually move the folders around myself, one at a time. I'd have to do this whether I have an "A1" in the title or not. No organizational gain.

[@jasona.2044]

That’s the amazing thing about Apple Notes. It was absolutely only meant to be a very basic tool, Apple makes the basics and lets devs come up with the really cutting edge stuff. Sometimes basic is better. It’s funny and I’m one of them, but people are using simple Apple notes in a more advanced fashion. After using different project managers and systems for my side consulting job Apple notes and reminders works the best. All the other things like Monday, Asana or Notion are just a bit too… complicated is not the word but unnecessary for ind indie. I switched to exclusively using Notes and Reminders. The way they play together is not the best but it is just good enough to work for me and many other people. Remember KISS.

[@victors3803]

It is worse than you think! If you ever consider to move your notes from apple to Microsoft one note or Evernote or etc, you will see that it is impossible. I need to do that, but I can't! And apple support cannot help to export notes. You can only export notes in a pdf format. And I have all my education and work notes there. With videos and pictures. I cannot get out of apple notes now! I have thousands of them!!! Never! Never use Apple notes! This company makes everything to make you stay with apple forever.

[@paulminors]

I'm not surprised but this. I'm finding other apps are starting to do the same to keep you in their system as well.

[@PeterDoesFarming]

You can write something in shortcuts to get content of notes and then save it where ever you want.

[@ausmiku]

Notes is rubbish, unintuitive. What's with the fixed "Notes" folder which can't be renamed ? No explanation from Apple !

[@paulminors]

Yeah, it's odd that you can't rename or delete this.