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Outline lists

docs/help/contents/rich-text-editor/outline-lists.md

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Outline lists <PlanTag plan="essential" />

An outline list is a nested list whose items fold. Any item with children gets a collapse arrow, so a hundred-line outline can sit in a note as five visible lines until you open the branch you need.

That is the whole difference from a normal bullet list: a bullet list nests too, but everything in it is always visible. An outline list hides and shows branches, which makes it the better choice for meeting structures, project breakdowns, book outlines and anything else you scroll past more often than you read.

Create an outline list

  1. Place the cursor on an empty line, or select the lines you want to convert.
  2. Click the + (Insert) button in the toolbar.
  3. Choose {{outlineList}}.

Ctrl+Shift+O (⌘+Shift+O on macOS) does the same thing, and toggles the list back to plain paragraphs if you press it inside one.

Press Enter to start the next item, exactly as in any other list.

Type -o instead

On an empty line, type -o followed by a space and the line becomes the first item of an outline list.

::: info Markdown shortcuts need to be enabled -o is a Markdown shortcut. Markdown shortcuts are off by default on web and desktop: turn on {{mardownShortcuts}} in {{settings}} → {{customization}} → {{editor}}. On mobile they are on by default. The toolbar button and Ctrl+Shift+O do not depend on that setting.

:::

Nest an item under another

  1. Put the cursor in the item you want to move in.
  2. Press Tab to nest it under the item above.
  3. Press Shift+Tab to move it back out one level.

As soon as an item has something nested under it, it becomes a parent and grows a collapse arrow.

Collapse and expand a branch

  1. Click the arrow in the margin to the left of a parent item — or put the cursor anywhere in that item and press Ctrl+Space (⌘+Space on macOS).
  2. Everything nested under it folds away; the item itself stays visible.

Repeat to expand it again.

Items with no children have nothing to fold, so no arrow appears on them. The collapsed state is saved with the note, so a branch you folded is still folded next time you open the note, on any device.

<!-- TODO: screenshot — an outline list with one branch collapsed -->

::: tip ⌘+Space on macOS macOS assigns ⌘+Space to Spotlight by default. If nothing happens when you press it in the editor, use the collapse arrow instead, or rebind Spotlight in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts.

:::