Search Notes
Need to find a note? Search lets you jump to any note instantly, just start typing.
Opening the Search Dialog
- Click the search icon in the hub
- Press Ctrl+Alt+S from anywhere (global shortcut)
Filtering Notes
Type in the filter field to narrow down your notes. The search updates as you type. No need to press Enter.
- Default: searches both note content and titles
- Title only: check the "Title only" box to search only note titles
Results Table
Each row shows a preview of the note:
| Column | Shows |
|---|---|
| Content | First two non-empty lines of the note |
| Title | The note's title, or "—" if none |
| Modified | When the note was last edited |
Notes With Tabs
Search reads every page of a note, including pages you've never opened and notes that are currently hidden. If your search term appears on two of a note's pages, you get two results (one per page) and the Title column names both the note and the tab:
Groceries › Weekend
Single-page notes look exactly as they always have.
See Note Tabs for how pages work.
Sorting
Click any column header to sort. Click again to reverse the order. By default, notes are sorted by most recently modified first, so the note you were just working on appears at the top.
Date Format
The Modified column uses relative dates for recent notes:
- Today 2:30 PM: edited today
- Yesterday 9:15 AM: edited yesterday
- 3 days ago: edited within the last week
- 1/8 10:30 AM: older notes show the month, day, and time
Dates and times follow your language: the day and month appear in the order your language writes them, and the clock is 12- or 24-hour to match (for example, German shows the same moment as 8.1. 10:30). The tooltip below shows the month as a name rather than a number, also in your language.
Hover over the date to see the full modified and created timestamps in a tooltip.
Opening a Note
Three ways to open a note from search:
- Double-click the row
- Select a row and press Enter
- Select a row and click the Open button
The search dialog closes automatically and the note is brought to focus. If the note was hidden, it becomes visible; if the match was on one of the note's other tabs, the note opens on that page.
Finding Your Match in the Note
Every occurrence of your search term is highlighted in the note's own text color, and the note scrolls to the first one, so you don't have to hunt for it in a long note.
The highlight is only a visual marker: it never becomes part of your note, isn't saved, and can't be undone into your text. It clears as soon as you type, click into the note, press Escape, switch to another tab, or hide the note, and only one note is highlighted at a time, so opening another result clears the previous one.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+S | Open search dialog (global) |
| Enter | Open selected note |
| Escape | Close the dialog |
| Up/Down arrows | Navigate between notes |
Multiple Desktops
Your notes appear on all virtual desktops and KDE Plasma Activities automatically, so opening a note from search always works, no matter which desktop you're on. See Virtual Desktops for details.
See Also
- Getting Started: overview of notes and the hub
- Keyboard Shortcuts: Ctrl+Alt+S and other shortcuts
- Reminders: set reminders on notes so you don't forget them
- Troubleshooting: help with common issues