Hey {{first_name|there}}!
Apple Notes is one of those apps that's on every device you own, that you probably use every day, and that most people have never actually set up.
This week, I'm sharing a handful of features that will change how you use it with no big reorganization required.
Let's get into it.
📝 Notes: The junk drawer problem
Most people use Apple Notes the same way they use a junk drawer.
Things go in. And over time, more and more things go in. But finding a specific thing when you actually need it? That can be a struggle.
If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. In fact, in the reader survey earlier this year, a number of you said you need help organizing all the stuff you have.
The good news is, Notes already has everything you need to stay organized. Most people just haven't been shown where to look.
This week, I want to help you fix that.
How to organize your Notes so you can actually find things
Let's skip the big folder overhaul. You don't need it. What you need are a few habits and a couple of features you might not know about, and you'll spend less time scrolling and more time finding.
Search is smarter than you think
Notes search looks inside your notes, not just the titles — and it even surfaces attachments, tags, and objects.
Most people type something into Notes search and assume it only looks at note titles. It doesn't.
Apple Notes searches inside your notes, including text in photos you've saved, handwritten text, and even scanned documents. If you photographed a receipt, wrote something by hand, or dropped a PDF into a note, search can find text in all of them.
The practical tip here: name your notes in ways that you'll remember to search for. If you're saving a restaurant recommendation someone texted you, don't call the note "Places." Call it "Dinner spots" or "Italian NYC". You can be descriptive, and this will help when you're looking at the list of notes in the search results. Search is your starting point, so give it something to work with.
Tap any tag in the tag browser and Notes instantly shows every note with that tag, no matter which folder it lives in.
Tags in Apple Notes are simple. Anywhere in the body of a note, type a # followed by a word and that note is tagged.
What makes tags useful is that they work across folders. So if you have a recipe note in a "Cooking" folder and a note about a restaurant in a "Dining Out" folder, tagging both with #food means you can surface both at once — without reorganizing anything.
A few other starter tags that work well for most people:
#todo — for action items scattered across notes
#reference — things you look up repeatedly
#waiting — things on hold, pending someone else
You don't need many. With tags, simplicity beats complexity, so try to resist the urge to overcomplicate things by making too many of them.
Smart Folders: let Notes do the organizing for you
Smart Folders are folders that automatically collect notes based on filters you set.
Go to the folder list in Notes, and tap New Folder. Give it a name, tap "Make into a Smart Folder," and then apply any Filters you want to use. To continue our theme, let's add a Tags filter and select the #food tag.
Notes will automatically collect every matching note, regardless of where it lives. The folder updates itself. You never have to move anything.
A good starting Smart Folder: create one for your most-used tag. If you've been tagging things with #recipes, make a Smart Folder for them. Suddenly, all your recipes are in one place, and you didn't have to reorganize a single note to get there. Beautiful.
Smart Folders can filter by tags, attachments, dates, and more — all automatically updated, no manual sorting required.
You can also build Smart Folders around other filters, such as notes created this week, notes with attachments, pinned notes and more.
Pin your most-used notes
Pin your “always need this” notes to keep them at the top of the notes list.
This one's simple but easy to overlook. Long-press any note and tap Pin Note, or you can swipe right and tap the Pin icon. If you have the note open, tap the “…” in the top right and tap Pin Note.
Pinned notes stay at the top of their folder, regardless of when you last edited them. They also appear at the top of the list when viewing all notes.
The best use for pinning will be your "always need this" notes: a grocery list, a running gift idea list, a note you check every week. Pin those, and they'll always be right there at the top when you open the app.
Start simple
You don't need to do all of this today. Pick one thing: better note names, a tag or two, a Smart Folder, and try it this week. And let me know how it goes!
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PS: The reader survey is still open! If you didn’t get a chance to fill it out earlier this year, you can do that today. Your responses will help me decide what content to focus on (like with today’s edition), what to go deeper on, and what might be worth changing or improving.
Your answers are only used by me to improve this newsletter and related content. I won’t sell, share, or give this information to any third party.
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📣 News to Know About
Perhaps you heard? Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO and will become the Executive Chairman on Apple’s board. John Ternus will become Apple’s next CEO on September 1. Here’s a collection of stories about that, plus a few other items of note.
