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Database Views#

Database Views let you create filtered, sorted views of your notes — like saved searches with a spreadsheet-style interface.

Creating a View (macOS)#

There are two ways to create a Database View:

  • Keyboard shortcut — Press Cmd+Shift+D to open a new Database View window.
  • Context menu — Right-click the Database Views header in the sidebar and choose New Database View…. Enter a name and click Create.

A newly created view starts with no filters — it shows all notes. Add filters and columns, then save to keep it in your sidebar.

Filters#

Filter notes by any combination of:

  • Tags
  • Title or content text
  • Date ranges (created, modified)
  • Task status (has tasks, overdue tasks)
  • Favourite, trashed, or archived status
  • Front matter properties (custom key-value pairs)
  • Task metadata (due date, priority, project, completion)

Set the match mode to All (every rule must match) or Any (at least one rule matches).

Columns#

Database Views show notes in a table with configurable columns:

  • Title (always shown)
  • Created date, modified date
  • Tags
  • Active, done, and overdue task counts
  • Word count
  • Favourite status
  • Custom front matter properties
  • Computed columns (formulas based on other columns)

Click a column header to sort. Drag column headers to reorder. Add or remove columns from the column picker.

Sorting and Grouping#

Sort by any column — click the header to toggle ascending/descending. You can also group notes by a column (e.g. group by modified date to see notes clustered by day).

Saving and Editing#

Click Save in the toolbar to save a view. Saved views appear in the sidebar under Database Views. If you modify a saved view's filters or columns, an unsaved changes indicator appears — save to keep your changes or revert to the saved version.

To delete a saved view, right-click it in the sidebar and choose Delete.

Interaction#

Click a note in the view to open it in the editor. The view updates live as you edit notes — changes to tags, properties, or task status are reflected immediately.

The collection name appears in the view's title bar when you have multiple collections.

iOS#

Database Views created on macOS sync to iPhone and iPad via iCloud. iPad presents a first-class multi-column table; iPhone shows a single-column list adapted for the smaller screen. Creating views, authoring computed columns, and editing filter rules are macOS-only by design — iOS is a consumer of view definitions.

iPad#

The iPad table is fully featured. The diagram below labels the toolbar buttons and the main interaction points; details follow.

iPad database view toolbar and pinned title column

Layout#

  • Pinned title column (E) — the Title column is permanently locked to the leading edge of the screen. As you scroll the rest of the table horizontally, titles stay where they are so you always know which row you're reading. Section headers (e.g. Has Overdue (3)) live inside the pinned pane too, so group labels are never out of view.
  • Multi-column body — every other visible column appears side by side with type-specific styling (counts right-aligned, dates muted, favourite star, tag list, computed values).
  • Compact title toggle (A) — narrows the Title column to ~160pt so more value columns fit on cramped iPad widths (mini, split view, Stage Manager). Tap again to restore the wider title. Icon: ↔ compress / expand horizontal.
  • Icon-based headers — wider columns (Title, Modified, Created, Tags, Properties, Computed) show an SF Symbol + uppercase label. Narrow numeric columns (Active Tasks, Done, Overdue, Words, Favourite) are icon-only so the label can't wrap.

Sort and group#

  • Tap a column header to sort (F) — the active column shows an ↑ / ↓ indicator. Tap again to reverse direction.
  • Group By button (B) — a single-layer menu listing each column (and None). Sorting is handled at the column-header level, so this button is dedicated to grouping. Sections are separated by labelled bands at every group boundary; the labels stay visible in the pinned pane so you can always see which group a row belongs to.

Filter#

  • Filter button (C) — opens a read-only view of the current filter rules (filters are authored on macOS).
  • The button is greyed out and non-tappable when no filter is active, so you can tell at a glance whether the visible result set is filtered.

Columns and widths#

  • Columns button (D) — opens the column manager. Toggle visibility, drag to reorder, and tap any visible-column row (or its tinted width chip on the trailing edge) to open a slider for that column's width (40–600pt in 10pt steps, with a one-tap Reset to Default button). Title is locked at the top of the list and gets the same width slider as every other column. Computed columns can be reordered but not removed (they can only be authored on Mac).

Tap behaviour (G)#

  • Single tap on a row's Title column opens the note in the editor.
  • Single tap on any other (data) cell just selects the row — it highlights the row in the pinned title pane so keyboard shortcuts have a starting point, but doesn't navigate away. This lets you scrub horizontally through values without accidentally opening a note.
  • Long press on any cell shows the rendered HTML preview as a popover anchored to that row. Same Markdown → HTML pipeline used by the full preview, so code blocks, tables, images, footnotes, and tags all render properly. Wide tables and code blocks scroll horizontally inside their own boxes; the rest of the popover stays put. The preview never opens or modifies the underlying note — it's a pure read-only popover.

See Navigating rows below for the full touch + keyboard interaction table.

Scrolling#

  • Horizontal scroll — when columns exceed the screen, the body scrolls sideways under the pinned title pane. An axis-locked pan keeps the table from drifting diagonally — once your finger commits to horizontal or vertical, it stays on that axis. The trailing-edge elastic bounce is suppressed for a calmer feel.

The iPad database view distinguishes between selecting a row and opening the note, so you can scrub through cells without accidentally jumping into the editor.

Action Touch With keyboard
Open the note Tap the row in the Title column Press Enter on the selected row
Select a row (highlight, no navigation) Tap any data cell (non-title column) Up / Down to move the selection
Show preview Long-press any row Press Space on the selected row
Close preview Tap outside the popover, or press Space again Press Space
Scroll the preview Drag inside the popover Up / Down while the preview is open

When you open the view, the first row is selected automatically so keyboard navigation has a starting point. The selection highlight appears in the title pane and persists as you scroll. The preview is a scrollable HTML popover anchored to the selected row.

iPhone#

iPhone (and any iPad context narrow enough to be in compact size class — Slide Over, half-width split view) shows the view as a single-column list — note title on top, your chosen field as a subtitle. The toolbar's Detail Field picker chooses which column renders below the title. Sort and Group By controls work via the sort-menu toolbar item.

macOS#

macOS mirrors the iPad's single-click HTML preview popover: clicking a row opens the same rich rendered preview anchored to the row, while double-click opens the note in the editor. Sort, group, filter, column visibility, width, and computed-column authoring all live on the Mac toolbar as before.

Capability summary#

Capability iPhone iPad macOS
Browse a saved view
Sort (tap header or menu) menu only
Group by a column
Toggle column visibility detail field only
Reorder visible columns
Adjust column widths
Multi-column table layout
Pinned title column on horizontal scroll
Compact-title toggle for narrow widths
Single-tap HTML preview popover
Create a new view
Edit filter rules
Author computed columns
Inline edit user properties from the table