How to organize notes with folders and workspaces

Step 1: Separate the big areas with workspaces

A workspace is a self-contained set of folders and files. Use one for each area that you rarely mix, for example:

• Work: projects, meetings, reference material.
• Personal: plans, lists, journaling.
• Study: one folder per course or subject.

Switching workspaces changes everything you see in the file tree and search, so a work search never turns up your shopping list. Multiple workspaces need a Google sign-in, because each one is stored as its own folder in your Drive. Without an account you have one workspace, and folders (step 2) do the same job.

Step 2: Use a few broad folders, not many narrow ones

Deep folder trees feel organized but make you stop and decide where every note goes. A shallow structure is faster to file into and easier to scan. A layout that works for many people:

• Inbox for anything you have not sorted yet.
• Projects, with one subfolder per active project.
• Reference for things you look up: commands, how-tos, snippets.
• Archive for finished projects you might need again.

Create a folder with Ctrl+Shift+N. When a project is done, move its folder to Archive instead of deleting it.

Step 3: Name files so they sort themselves

Put dates at the start in year-month-day order, such as 2026-10-27 team sync.md. Files then sort in date order automatically. Give each file an extension that matches its content (.md, .txt, .json) so NextNotePad picks the right syntax highlighting.

Step 4: Let daily notes catch everything else

Not every thought deserves its own file. The daily note command opens a file named after today's date inside a Daily Notes folder, creating it if needed. Jot quick thoughts, to-dos and links there, and move anything worth keeping into a project folder at the end of the week.

Step 5: Find instead of browsing

Once notes are named sensibly, you rarely need to click through folders:

• Ctrl+P opens Quick Open: type part of a file name and press Enter.
• Ctrl+Shift+F runs Find in Files across the whole workspace, which is useful when you remember a phrase but not the file.
• Mark the handful of files you open every day as favorites, and use recent files to get back to what you were just working on.

Step 6: Clean up without fear

Deleted files and folders go to the recycle bin, so you can restore anything removed by mistake. Empty it when you are sure. Before a big reorganization, export a ZIP backup of the workspace from the Command Palette.

A five-minute weekly review

1. Empty the Inbox folder into the right project or reference folders.
2. Skim the week's daily notes and move anything important.
3. Move finished projects to Archive.
4. Unfavorite files you no longer open every day.

That is the whole system. For where these notes are physically stored and how to keep them safe, read How to save notes online.