Note folders

Note folders are the directory structure for your notes. Each note belongs to at most one folder (or to no folder, sitting in the root). Folders nest — you can have a "Work" folder containing "Project A", "Project B", and "Meeting notes" subfolders. The folder tree lives in the sidebar of the notes view and supports drag-drop to move notes between folders.

Folders are the "where" of organisation; tags are the "what". The two systems work together — most users settle on a folder per major area of life (work, personal, family, recipes) and tags within for cross-cutting themes.

What a folder stores

Field	Type	Notes
id	string	Internal identifier
name	string	Display name
parentId	string (optional)	Parent folder ID; absent means root
colour	enum (optional)	Visual coding (same 11-colour palette as notes)
isArchived	boolean	Hidden from main tree but searchable
icon	string (optional)	Icon name for the folder header
notesCount	computed	How many notes live in this folder
createdAt / updatedAt	timestamps

Hierarchy rules

• Single parent: a folder has exactly one parent (the root counts as a virtual root).
• No cycles: you can't move folder A into folder B if B is a descendant of A.
• Notes per folder: any number of notes; no enforced limit (Firestore quota is the only practical ceiling).
• Depth: practically unlimited, but the UI handles up to ~5 levels gracefully; beyond that, consider tagging instead.

Drag-drop interactions

In the folder tree:

• Drag a note onto a folder → moves the note into that folder.
• Drag a folder onto another folder → makes it a subfolder.
• Drag a folder onto "Root" → promotes it to the root level.
• Drag a folder onto its own parent → no-op.
• Drag onto an archived folder → prompts to confirm unarchive + move.

Drag-drop works on web (mouse / trackpad) and on touch devices (long-press to grab, drag, release).

Creating folders

From the folder tree:

1. Hover a parent (or "Root") → click "+" → name the folder → enter.
2. New folder is created at that level.
3. Drag notes into it from the notes list.

Or from a note's context menu → Move to folder → select an existing folder or create a new one inline.

Colour-coding

The 11-colour palette (same as notes) applies to folders too:

• Default (no colour)
• Red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, pink, brown, gray

The folder icon takes the colour; the folder's notes inherit the colour as a subtle hint unless they have their own colour set explicitly.

Suggested folder structures

Folder layouts that work for many users (treat as starting points, not prescriptions):

Personal-life pattern

Personal
  Daily journal
  Reflections
  Goals
Recipes
Travel
  Lisbon 2025
  Tokyo 2024
Family
  Kids
    Names
    Milestones
  Parents
Reference
  Manuals
  Tax info

Work pattern

Work
  Current project
    Meeting notes
    Action items
    Specs
  Past projects
    Project X (archived)
  HR / admin
  Career
    Resume drafts
    Interview prep
Side projects
  Project Y

The principle: top-level for major domains, second level for specific contexts within. Resist creating top-level folders for transient topics — they'll go stale.

Archiving a folder

Archiving a folder hides it from the active tree but keeps its notes searchable. Useful for "I'm done with Project X" — archive the folder, leave the notes intact in case you ever need them.

Restoring is one click — open archived folders, "Unarchive". Notes inside remain in place.

Deleting a folder

Two options:

• Delete folder, keep notes → folder removed; notes move to the root.
• Delete folder and notes → folder + every note inside goes to trash (recoverable for 30 days, then permanent).

Always asks for confirmation if the folder is non-empty.

Folder search

The folder tree has its own search box at the top — substring match against folder names. Useful when you have 50+ folders and need to find "where did I put the dentist note?".

Folder data and sync

• Storage: folder metadata in your Firestore document, per-account.
• No Drive backup for folder structure — folders are just metadata, not media. The folder tree always exists in Firestore.
• Sync: instant via Firestore snapshot listener. Add a folder on one device, see it on another within seconds.
• Offline: the folder tree caches locally; you can create / rename / move offline and changes queue for sync.

What folders don't do

• No sharing. Folders aren't shared between users. Sharing happens at the per-note level via the share link, or at the connection level via data-sharing.
• No auto-organisation. The app doesn't suggest "move this note to that folder" based on content.
• No symlinks / multi-location. A note lives in exactly one folder. Use tags if you want a note to belong to multiple categories.
• No folder-level permissions per partner. Folders are personal organisation, not access control.

Worked example

You have 80 notes spread across work, personal, recipes, and travel. Currently flat.

Reorganisation:

1. Create top-level folders: Work, Personal, Recipes, Travel.
2. Drag-drop 30 work-related notes into Work.
3. Inside Work, create Meetings + Projects subfolders. Move accordingly.
4. Drag recipes into Recipes.
5. Drag the 5 Lisbon notes into Travel → Lisbon 2025.
6. Leave personal journaling notes in Personal.

15 minutes of dragging, and the next time you need a meeting note, you don't have to scroll past 79 other notes to find it.

Frequently asked

Can a note be in multiple folders? No — a note has one parent folder. For multi-categorisation, use tags. A "weekly review" note can be in the Personal folder while tagged "weekly" and "reflection" — those tags are how you also find it from the tag view.

Why no nested deeper than ~5 levels in the UI? The tree renders well up to ~5 levels. Beyond that, indentation eats the space. The system doesn't enforce a limit; the UI just becomes awkward. Reorganise with tags instead.

Can I share a folder with my partner? Folder-level sharing isn't supported. Sharing happens per-note (share link) or per-data-sharing-matrix (visible to connections at level N).

Does the folder structure back up to Google Drive? No — folders are pure metadata in Firestore. The Drive backup is for media (audio, photos) only, not for note organisation.

What if I delete a folder accidentally? You're asked "delete folder + notes" or "delete folder, keep notes". If you picked the wrong one, deleted notes are recoverable from trash for 30 days.

Where to read next

• Notes — what folders organise.
• Memories — different shape of memory keeping.
• Google Drive sync — Drive integration.

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Last updated: 2026-05-11 Author: Ahsan Mahmood