Part 6: Search & Filters

Learn more about:

Besides the Command Bar ( CMD+J) which you can use to switch quickly between notes, you will find the need for a more fine-grained search. 

To find overdue tasks and more, click on "Filter" in the left sidebar.

🍿 Watch here the latest about filters

Filters

You will find a few predefined and editable "Filters" in this view: 

All Tasks:
Shows all open tasks in your Project Notes and Daily Notes. This means "closed" tasks (canceled or completed) are not shown. 

Note Tasks:
Shows open (and scheduled) tasks that exist only in your Project Notes. The tasks from your Daily Notes are ignored. 

Overdue:
Shows all open or scheduled tasks which are in the past. Tasks, which you have scheduled from a Project Note are also included here. 

Upcoming:
Shows all open or scheduled tasks which are due today or in the future. As above, scheduled project tasks are included.

Customize Filters

If you need a very specific search not covered above, you can add or modify your own filters. Click on "New Filter", choose a name, and select what you are looking for: 

First, select the task type you're interested in: Open, Done, Canceled, Scheduled, or anything that's not a task (which includes bullet points, checklists, and plain text for broader searches).

Next, refine your search by filtering tasks. You can search for tasks that include specific text, hashtags, or mentions. Additionally, you can limit your search to tasks originating from a particular folder or note, but this is restricted to tasks from regular notes only.
Tip: If you are using PARA to organize your folders, point this to the Projects folder to see all open tasks in your projects.
Below this, there are two sections for further specifying where NotePlan should look for tasks: "in Notes" and "in Calendar".
  • In the "in Notes" section, the only option available is "Regular Notes". This means that NotePlan will search for tasks within the notes displayed in the left sidebar. The search results will be organized by the note in which each task was found.
  • In the "in Calendar" section, you can choose to display dated tasks (e.g., tasks that have been scheduled from your regular notes into the calendar with a format like "* some task >2024-01-26"). 
  • NotePlan can also search within Calendar Notes, Events, and Reminders. You can narrow down the search results by selecting a specific timeframe, such as "This Month" or "This Week". There's also a sorting option to arrange tasks by either the oldest or newest at the top of the list.
Note: Tasks that you have scheduled from your regular notes into a specific day using the format >YYYY-MM-DD will also appear in the "Dated Tasks" section. If you wish to see these tasks under "Regular Notes" as well, ensure you select "Scheduled" in the "Tasks:" search section.

Tip: The results of filters and search are editable and you can also add tasks. Choose a closed timeframe like "This Month", and NotePlan will display also empty days, so you can add tasks directly or drag them from other days there to plan ahead. 


Search for anything  inside your notes. This will search in your Project and Daily Notes and return any paragraphs where the keyword could be found. Click on the search result and it will open the note and scroll to the paragraph with the keyword.

It's your turn

Click on "Filters" in the sidebar and check all your overdue tasks. If needed, close them right here. 

Then create your own filter by clicking on "New Filter", name it "Completed". Set it up so you can see all the completed tasks in the past. 

Pro Tips

  • Use #tags or @mentions with the "Search by" field of a filter. This way you can search for overdue or upcoming tasks which are flagged as #waiting for example or are assigned to @someone.
  • Search for #tags or @mentions directly by clicking on them in the sidebar. They are indexed and will return immediately.
  • You can also start a search from the Command Bar by selecting "Search '...' in tasks and paragraphs" from the results.
  • Complete tasks directly from the search and review results by clicking on the task circle.

Next up: → Part 7: Important Places

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