Bring back sorting by tags

[kunzjun 29]

This should be a no brainer and is amply discussed in the forum as a how-to since it was removed. It used to be possible to sort notes by tags. The logic would be that tags are sorted consistently anyway, so sorting for them enables using Evernote with tags for GTD, which used to be a hugely popular and highly productive option. There are websites and blogs galore, teaching people how to do this efficiently.

Sorting for date created or edited makes Evernote treat notes like documents, at that point I might as well use Word documents -  no reason to pay then. Might even bring it as a paid feature if it's too tricky to maintain.

[PLV 19]

This feature is crucial for my usage of Evernote. My workflows depend on it, and having a premium subscription only makes sense if critical features, that are really important for you, don't get removed.

Don't understand why it was removed 😔

Please, bring it back!

[jinjingwen111 6]

I was really disappointed when discovered that this feature was gone, and Evernote has been much less useful for me since dropping this feature. I am a premium version user for multiple years, and have been waiting for all these months for this feature to be back. I will have to seriously consider stop using Evernote if this feature is not back in the next update.

[mtulett 1]

Yeah, this is pretty much essential and believe me, if I go through the time and effort to move my stuff to another app, I will not be coming back.

As for @PinkElephant suggestion - yeah, I could do that, but I could just move to another platform and not have to botch my way around a broken system that may well stop working altogether with another release

[OTJoe48076 13]

Agreed. I use Evernote at work and personally; separate accounts to keep my work/personal lives separate. My personal Evernote account is a paid account. I updated the app on my work Mac today, and saw that sorting by tags is no longer possible. I won't be updating the app on my personal Mac or devices until this feature is returned. As @kunzjun mentioned, those of us who use the GTD method of task/project management depend on sorting by tags.

If I simply needed to keep notes and sort by date, I could use the Notes app on my OSX/iOS devices or a number of free alternatives. I pay for my personal Evernote account because it has value, and have paid for it for years. By removing this feature a large part of Evernote's value I pay for has been removed. I may have to reevaluate Evernote's value if this feature is not added back to the product.

[gmiller367 9]

Agreed 110%. When selecting a tag now to "view" I need to be able to sort by reminder/due date. Not having that feature renders the new version EN largely useless to me on both desktop and iOS.

[Robin Vanderbilt 7]

So mad this hasn't been fixed yet. I have so much content and tags was the only way for me to sub-categorise them all! Grrrr.

[japosc 3]

I just updated and discovered that this crucial feature has been dropped. Please bring it back for all other reasons that the others mentioned in this thread. That feature was pretty crucial for how I use Evernote. 

[shaolin007 9]

+1 I user it for GTD and not being able to sort by tags is a huge problem for me.

[Veronica Paz 3]

Yes!  This too is a huge issue for me as well.  Not sure why this was eliminated since it was so useful to me and my productivity. 

[daudaxx 8]

+1

[jerryj5000 4]

Very disappointed this and other functionality have been eliminated. I had a whole organization system that depended on being able to sort notes by tag, with tags indicating the note's priority. Big time bummer, total loss of utility. A very considerable amount of my valuable time and work setting this system up are now totally out the window, because of the whims of the evernote team. My daily workflow destroyed. Why would evernote do this? Such a total lack of consideration as to how the functionality that they eliminate will affect paying users who depend on that functionality. Now what should I do, reinvent it all? Thoroughly disappointed!

-> Would you recommend Evernote to a friend? NEVER AGAIN

And, the whole app slowed down with the latest update. 

[TwoPieceOB166 5]

On 3/6/2021 at 6:26 PM, shaolin007 said:

+1 I user it for GTD and not being able to sort by tags is a huge problem for me.

I follow GTD with Evernote. The people at Tonic had a great tutorial years ago and called it the secret weapon (for Getting Things Done). Anyways... sorting by tags is crucial. It's how I can sort all of my notes @Work and 1-Now as when it's due. Then the 2-Next tagged tasks would follow, with 3-Soon, you get the idea. I need sorting by tags. I pay for Evernote and I feel like a feature I was paying for has been removed without warning.

I need to know when this feature will be restored, or if it's not in your product roadmap to restore it so I can evaluate other note/task software.

[Chukky4 0]

I can't upgrade until this feature is implemented. I also adopted Evernote after reading GTD.

[maxbrunner 0]

+1 here too! I can't upgrade until this feature is in place and I will certainly cancel my subscription of Evernote if this feature is not added when "Evernote Legacy" is deprecated.

[troutio 17]

Seems like a huge number of users have asked for this (this isn't the only thread on the topic), but no joy. 

I've quit my Premium account, will be using legacy while it's still supported, but expect I'll be moving over to Things or ToDoist instead. Gutted - TSW has been my system for about 9 years.

Please listen to your users, Evernote! 

[Liamat 12]

+1 to all of the above.  Been a paid users for 5+ years and now I am considering leaving.  I don't understand how evernote could break the GTD workflow like they did.  Who is managing product over there?  Also, could we get some response from evernote to find out if they are even listening to us?

[Ric_ds 10]

On 3/26/2021 at 2:07 AM, TwoPieceOB166 said:

I follow GTD with Evernote. The people at Tonic had a great tutorial years ago and called it the secret weapon (for Getting Things Done). Anyways... sorting by tags is crucial. It's how I can sort all of my notes @Work and 1-Now as when it's due. Then the 2-Next tagged tasks would follow, with 3-Soon, you get the idea. I need sorting by tags. I pay for Evernote and I feel like a feature I was paying for has been removed without warning.

I need to know when this feature will be restored, or if it's not in your product roadmap to restore it so I can evaluate other note/task software.

+1 here as well. I've been using TSW for GTD for the past years and this missinf feature is very annoying!

[amincgf 2]

Please bring this back. It is unfathomable to me that such a simple, yet necessary, feature would be removed from a supposed UI/UX "upgrade"...

[ChristianV 1]

I also miss this feature and I am considering looking for an alternative notes app (OneNote) because it seems that Evernote is not really listening to their (paid) users

[Markshankel 2]

I too will be considering alternatives, not only can you not sort by tag, but I was also in the habit of dragging a note to tags organized in a certain way in shortcuts.  This no longer works, dragging as note to a tag in shortcuts results in the note itself being added to the shortcut list under the tag.  I also read somewhere in the New Evernote you could not add tags to shortcuts, but that seems to already be back, I just added some.  Let's reiterate for the Evernote marketing team... WITHOUT SORT BY AND DRAG TO TAGS ONENOTE WILL BE A BETTER CHOICE FOR MOST PEOPLE. and I absolutely hate and never use all-caps...

[PinkElephant 8,819]

The marketing team probably won’t read this.

If you want to send something directly into product management you could use the feedback option build into the clients.

[OTJoe48076 13]

On 7/18/2021 at 3:53 AM, PinkElephant said:

The marketing team probably won’t read this.

If you want to send something directly into product management you could use the feedback option build into the clients.

Per your comment I have looked for a feedback option in the client, but I can't seem to locate it. Can you share what menu its under? Thanks!!! :-)

[PinkElephant 8,819]

On my Mac it is the 3rd option from the top in the help menu.

On iOS it is in the apps settings, support.

[kglah 2]

Agree ...use this feature to identify untagged notes

[DTLow 5,745]

13 minutes ago, kglah said:

use this feature to identify untagged notes

Search   * -tag:*

[misterq32 1]

Well. It was a good run. I will now seek another product to meet my needs.

[Eric215 1]

+1 I user it for GTD and not being able to sort by tags is a huge problem for me. Uggg!!!

•  

[SteveVV 2]

Sorting By Tags is an essential feature for those who follow David Allen's GTD method (Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity). His best-selling book suggests how to implement these methods, and an approach based on Evernote is suggested on thesecretweapon.org web site.

Ever since Evernote removed sorting by tags, this approach is now broken. Because evernote was my primary tool for GTD, I have also stopped using it for note taking.

[PinkElephant 8,819]

You can more or less work around the missing „sort by tags“ feature with these workarounds:

• Install legacy, run it side by side with v10. Bam, sorting by tags is back (rsp. never went away).
• Implement „saved searches“ for most GTD actions (usually the number of tags to control the GTD flow is relatively small) and use them instead of sorting.

GTD is all about getting it done - which as well means being creative and adaptive, not sticking „by the book“ when other methods or tools could be applied to reach the same goal.

[Bengt Meuller 2]

I stopped using evernote and that meens stopped paying for it. Nothing else to do. Its completely useless as it is now!

[PinkElephant 8,819]

Just go ahead - your post adds nothing for other forum members. Others have reported about where the went, and how moving worked out. But this means some serious work, probably too much to ask for.

[Bengt Meuller 2]

Well, thanks! But I disagree. Telling that this is so important to you that you are leaving an entire system because of this idiotic change tells Evernote they need to fix things or lose customers. Sorry this doesn't help you personally but that's your opinion.

Hope you have a better day now 😊

[PinkElephant 8,819]

The forum is user to user.

Venting emotions here makes you feel better, with the price that other users have no benefit, just longer threads.

Sharing factual information helps - whether about EN, or about how moving to other apps work. 

That is the very simple difference between dropping emotional content void of facts, and trying to help fellow users.

[Boot17 1,539]

I have seen reviews for software where people really like the software, but instead of giving it 5 stars (as they otherwise would because they really like it), they give it 4 stars and hold that remaining star "ransom" until the developer adds this one feature that they want.

Some of the comments in this thread remind me of that.

[MvdH 490]

Venting emotions can be valuable. It can reassure or validate emotions you experience yourself. Having said that. Telling that you are leaving for another product is also valuable. I read this thread today, and am wondering what all the TSW/GTD people have done so far. I have a variant thought out myself in use, that NEEDS (must-have) sorting of tags per note, and sorting the list. Therefor I'm still using legacy in the hope v10 gets my needed features....

+1 

[PinkElephant 8,819]

Only users here. If you want to reach EN about a missing feature, use the feedback function build into the clients. It is passed on to EN PM, and they promised to read it all.

[Trahern 0]

+1

[PinkElephant 8,819]

My opinion is that sort by Tag is one of the most overestimated „missing“ features.

Why ?

Well, my notes typically hold more than one tag. But „sort by tags“ will first only sort by one tag, usually it will be the „first“ - which means in alphanumeric order. If there is a tag starting with a number, it will be used to sort first, and everything else goes after it. But not every note will carry a numerical tag, and this is where the problem starts.

The result is a useless sort order, because it is more or less accidental. It looks orderly, but it does not really produce something to rely on. To go for tags, the filter element is much better, especially since it has the nesting views as an option now.

[MvdH 490]

On 8/15/2022 at 11:08 PM, PinkElephant said:

My opinion is that sort by Tag is one of the most overestimated „missing“ features.

Why ?

Well, my notes typically hold more than one tag. But „sort by tags“ will first only sort by one tag, usually it will be the „first“ - which means in alphanumeric order. If there is a tag starting with a number, it will be used to sort first, and everything else goes after it. But not every note will carry a numerical tag, and this is where the problem starts.

The result is a useless sort order, because it is more or less accidental. It looks orderly, but it does not really produce something to rely on. To go for tags, the filter element is much better, especially since it has the nesting views as an option now.

My notes contain 5 tags on average I think. For my TSW/GTD workflow sorting in tags, and sorting by tags is essential. I have no accidental sorting as you mention, cause I prefix different types of tags by different types of characters. As shown here: 

 

For you it might be a useless sort order, for my current workflow crucial. I open all notes related to e.g. a person, a place, etc., and they are sorted by focus/type/workorder automatically. I'll stick to legacy for as long as I can, and search an alternative or try the new EN when needed. 🙂 

[daudaxx 8]

It looks like you are not familiar with GTD method applied to Evernote, where no "accidental" order exists... instead it is very precise and the core of that method.

Anyway, ClickUp replaced efficiently this huge missing feature in the new version of Evernote.

Former paying EN user.

[Mike P 2,980]

On 8/15/2022 at 10:08 PM, PinkElephant said:

My opinion is that sort by Tag is one of the most overestimated „missing“ features.

But there are times when there is no alternative. In V10 I cannot find notes which contain only one specified tag and none of the sub tags without scrolling through the entire list. Generally I agree that search/filter works well.

[PinkElephant 8,819]

It plain makes no sense to quote GTD here. The sort by tags feature puts all tags into an alphabetical order, and sorts by the first one of them. It does not work well if there is more than 1 tag per note, and does not work if there is not tag at all. Just open and try "sort by tag" in a legacy client to see why the resulting order is accidentally.

A feature that only returns results if you restrict yourself to reduce tag usage to exactly one tag per note is not needed - the group of users who will restrict their usage of EN tags to only 1 tag is probably very small.

Filtering on the other hand (done with a saved search or by the filter tool) works on any tag, independently whether it is in a note the alphabetically 1st, 2nd, 3rd or whatever ranking tag. It is found and the list reduced to the logical core content of the filter.

[daudaxx 8]

Yes it does make sense instead. Ever heard about TSW for Evernote? It is a GTD-based system applied to Evernote, in which tags are sorted with a special character that groups them by type (when, what, where, ...), so that when you sort by tag (huge missing feature in the new version of Evernote) you see what has highest priority, and for the same priority, what has to be done today or tomorrow or next week (also sorted), and so on.

Many people, it turned out, were using this system fruitfully. Unfortunately it was removed by Evernote, making it useless TSW-wise, with no explanation on the cause and no reply about the possibility to have it back.

This led to a deep and long research for alternatives, that resulted in CLICK-UP, a more complete and cheaper alternative, and to my unsubscription from premium EN user after more than 8 years.

 

 

[PinkElephant 8,819]

Are TSW followers able to adopt a simple concept called „filters“ to their use of EN ? I think yes. Else the forum would resonate differently. Sort by tags is gone since 2 years now.

If it is a mainstream application to „pervert“ the tagging system with special characters just to enforce sortability can anybody decide for himselve. TSW is a very specific flavor of GTD - it is not the GTD promoted by the David Allen organization.

The problem remains that sort (opposite to filters) only works on the alphanumerically first tag. This makes it a pretty useless feature for the vast majority of users.

You can contact EN through feedback or a support ticket. Meanwhile there is the legacy client.

[Mike P 2,980]

13 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

A feature that only returns results if you restrict yourself to reduce tag usage to exactly one tag per note is not needed - the group of users who will restrict their usage of EN tags to only 1 tag is probably very small.

In my case I want to find all the notes for which I have accidentally only added one top level tag. It's part of my audit process rather than for finding information.

[PinkElephant 8,819]

You can do two things with the same result:

Add a saved search, with your top level tags (use the „any“ parameter to make a logical OR search). Don’t include child tags. If you don‘t apply your top level tags, the search should come out empty.

Go to the Tags section, look up which notes have the top level tag. Switch on notes count makes this easy. Your top tags need to have „0“ notes associated, then you have none applied.

[Mike P 2,980]

14 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

You can do two things with the same result:

Add a saved search, with your top level tags (use the „any“ parameter to make a logical OR search). Don’t include child tags. If you don‘t apply your top level tags, the search should come out empty.

Go to the Tags section, look up which notes have the top level tag. Switch on notes count makes this easy. Your top tags need to have „0“ notes associated, then you have none applied.

Good solution to a diferent problem. 

18 hours ago, Mike P said:

In my case I want to find all the notes for which I have accidentally only added one top level tag.

I want to find notes which only have the top level tag and none of the child tags so that I can then add child tags

[PinkElephant 8,819]

Just checked on my last audit: I hat 1 note that had somehow caught a top level tag. I don‘t apply the first level tags.

So I opened the note, it had no other tag applied - a clear mistyping when tagging. So I added what should be there, and removed the top level tag. All done by checking into the tagging section in the left panel, not even with a search or a filter.

It surely depends on the tagging strategy. I don‘t see that EN needs to build a sorting index just to please the few users who followed us until here. Because a sorting index means system load, and any additional index means more load. It is clearly a conflict of interest - less performance for everybody vs. some users who may use the result. I would be surprised if this sorting option would be back any time soon.

[Mike P 2,980]

You are right. I can select the top level tag and scroll through hundreds of notes to check if there are any that only have that one tag applied. 

Found one!

[mrkmax 12]

+1 Love Evernote and would love to see this feature brought back in the latest version. I've been using the legacy client and putting off an upgrade to Mac Big Sur for several months hoping.

Thanks for listening!

-mark

[Liamat 12]

Please bring back sort by tags.  I can't leave evernote legacy till you do.

[Liamat 12]

And sorting by tags should be the same way evernote legacy does it.  By selecting the tags column.

[PinkElephant 8,819]

No double posts, see forum rules for reference.

[jmint0 4]

This is why I'm canceling my Evernote subscription on March 23. Without tag sorting, Evernote is useless to me. Tags are not even a second class citizen right now.

Tag management in the v10 client is unusable when you have a large number of tags. At the very least, they need to bring that feature back. I just went through and fixed my tag nesting order with Legacy, because that isn't going to be possible next month.

It's not just GTD that requires tag sorting. There are so many other workflows. Evernote's insistence that they know what's best for us is taking away it's universal ability to support other workflows. It's stifling, condescending and frustrating to lose something that's been so useful for so long.

See you later Evernote. It'd been fun while it lasted.

[VincentC 349]

Just as a fact-check, and not to start a big back-and-forth -- I know quite a few people who are "religious" GTD users, use Evernote to manage their GTD system, and don't use tags.   I sincerely wish you luck finding an application that suits your own implementation of GTD better,

 

Vinnie

[Mike P 2,980]

This has been a contentious issue ever since the introduction of V10. As users we have absolutrely no idea whether EN will ever allow us to sort by all the parameters that you can put in a side or top list. There are some uses of sort by tags for which I don't think there are workarounds - see my post above about the  desire to find notes containing only one particular tag and no other tags.

However in the vast majority of cases it is possible to replace sorting with searching/filtering. With the increased white space in the new UI I find myself filtering more than I did in the past just to be able to see all my results on screen (or at least with less scrolling). This is a pain but does actaully increase my focus on the critical notes/tasks.

One trick that people may not be aware of is that if you put a top level tag into the shortcuts you also get easy access to all the sub tags using the expand triangle that appears next to the tag in the shortcuts.

Obviously, if sorting by tags is critical to somebody's workflow and they are not able or willing to modify it, then they will need to go elsewhere. If on balance EN does most of what you want it to do, and other apps don't, then it really is worth rethinking your workflow. I know you shouldn't have to, but I live in the real world, where app suppliers change stuff and I have to either adapt or move on.

[kell 7]

I appreciate your comment/suggestion to display sub-tags from top level tag. I wasn't aware of this.

I still want to sort on the tag column, but thanks for your help.