How do I change how notes are sorted?

Sort one list from its Display options. Sort all the rest at once with Default sort in Settings.

A list’s own sort wins. Set your Default sort to Title (A–Z), sort one notebook by date created, and that notebook stays in date order while everything else goes A to Z.

The Mac works differently: it has one sort for every list. See On a Mac.

Sort one list

Go to the list — All Notes, a notebook, a stack or a tag — and open its Display options:

Web and Windows: the Display options button at the top of the note list. It’s an icon; hover over it to see the name.
iPhone and iPad: tap the filter button at the top of the list, then Display Options.
Android: tap the filter button at the top of the list, then Display options.

Under Sort by, pick Date updated, Date created or Title. Under Direction, pick Descending or Ascending.

Picking a Sort by also picks the direction you most likely want. Title starts A to Z. A date starts newest first. Want it the other way around? Flip Direction.

That list keeps its sort on that device. Your phone and your laptop each remember their own, so sorting a notebook on one doesn’t change it on the other.

Only Sort by and Direction count. Changing View as, Show in preview or Show in groups (by date) doesn’t give a list a sort of its own, so it keeps following your Default sort.

Windows has the same menu, with the sorts laid out a little differently. See On Windows.

Set the Default sort

Default sort is in the Notes & lists part of Settings:

Web: click your name at the bottom of the sidebar, then Settings → Preferences → Notes & lists.
Mac: press ⌘,, then Preferences → Notes & lists.
Windows: press Ctrl+,, then Preferences → Notes & lists.
iPhone and iPad: Settings → Notes & lists. On iPhone, Settings is on the More tab. On iPad, tap Settings at the bottom of the sidebar.
Android: the More tab, then Settings → Notes & lists.

It has six choices:

Date updated (newest)
Date updated (oldest)
Date created (newest)
Date created (oldest)
Title (A–Z)
Title (Z–A)

Harbor starts you on Date updated (newest).

It’s one setting for your whole account. It sorts All Notes, every notebook, every stack and every tag, on every device. The only lists it skips are the ones you’ve sorted yourself on that device.

Change it and your open lists re-sort right away. Your other devices catch up when you switch back to Harbor on them.

With no internet, your lists keep the last Default sort Harbor saw. You can’t change the setting itself until you’re back online. If you try, Harbor tells you it couldn’t save and puts the old choice back.

Trash and search keep their own order

Trash shows the most recently deleted notes first. Search shows the best match first. Your Default sort doesn’t change either one.

You can still sort them yourself in some apps. On iPhone, iPad and Android, Trash has its own Display options. On the web, search results have their own sort menu.

Putting a list back on the Default sort

There’s no button for that. Once a list has a sort of its own, it keeps it. You can pick the same sort as your Default sort so it looks the same, but if you change the Default sort later, that list won’t follow.

On a Mac

The Mac doesn’t keep a sort per list. Every list on the Mac uses your Default sort, Trash and search results included.

Its Display options has the six choices from Settings under Sort by, with no separate Direction. Picking one there is the same as changing your Default sort in Settings: it’s for your whole account. So it also re-sorts the lists you haven’t sorted yourself on your other devices.

Offline, a pick on the Mac re-sorts your lists, but it isn’t saved and there’s no message. Once the Mac is back online, your lists go back to the Default sort you had. Change it again then.

On Windows

Windows keeps a sort per list, the same as the web. Its Display options menu lists the six choices from Settings, like Title (A–Z), instead of Sort by and Direction. Picking one gives that list its own sort, on that PC.

Not working?

Don’t see Default sort in Settings, or your lists don’t follow it? Update Harbor to the latest version.