How Get a Disappeared Note List Column Back on Windows 10?

[ln899 16]

In my old Evernote v6 and before, I used to always have three columns displayed on the main window: At the far left, the Side Bar with my list of notebooks, tags etc. Next, at center left, I had what I believe is called the Note List, which listed individual notes.  I had this Note List set to display as Cards. Then the rest of the screen, to the right of the Note List, displayed the current individual note. 

Now, with the latest version 10 release for Windows, when I search for an item and there's only one result, or when I click on a shortcut in the Side Bar, the Note List disappears and I'm left with only two columns, the Side Bar and the current single note.

My question is, in the situation when I only have only the Side Bar and a single note displayed, how to I get the Note List back?

Thanks for any advice.

[gazumped 12,076]

Hi.  Click on a heading in the side bar,  or start a new search?

[ln899 16]

11 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Hi.  Click on a heading in the side bar,  or start a new search?

Thanks, @gazumped. But (my fault) my question wasn't clear.  To clarify, I need to add a phrase: "In the situation when I only have only the Side Bar and a single note displayed, how to I get the Note List back without losing focus on the note that is currently being displayed?

[gazumped 12,076]

Click the three dots and open in new window?

[Mike P 2,982]

8 hours ago, ln899 said:

Thanks, @gazumped. But (my fault) my question wasn't clear.  To clarify, I need to add a phrase: "In the situation when I only have only the Side Bar and a single note displayed, how to I get the Note List back without losing focus on the note that is currently being displayed?

This view is one of the weirdest things in V10. I have not found an easy way of getting to the note in the normal view with the note highlighted in the note list so you can see the context in which it was created.  The hard way of partially doing it (on Windows desktop version) is:

• Copy the note link (alt+ctrl+L)
• Go to Notes so that you get a normal 3 pane view (but obviously without your note in view) (alt+ctrl+2)
• Open the Windows Run command (Win+R)
• Paste the note link and hit enter

An alternative is to paste the link into a new note and then click the link.

This will give you your note in the normal three panel view. However, it will place you at the top of the note list and the note is probably not going to be in view. If you scroll through you will find the note with the blue selection box around it. That's unlikely to be practical and I don't know a way of automatically  jumping to the highlighted note in the note list. 

In practice it might be better to ask why you need the note in the three panel view. For example, it might be easier to do a created date search/filter around the creation date of the note.

The situation is probably worse recently as it is quite possible to have a note in the view pane which is not even in the displayed note list. This has been mentioned in other threads.

[ln899 16]

7 hours ago, gazumped said:

Click the three dots and open in new window?

Interesting idea.  Sadly, not a solution.  Solution may be to (1) Wait for Evernote to fix, or offer retaining the three panels as an option, or change many years of Evernote work habits. Hmmm.

[ln899 16]

7 hours ago, Mike P said:

This view is one of the weirdest things in V10. I have not found an easy way of getting to the note in the normal view with the note highlighted in the note list so you can see the context in which it was created.  The hard way of partially doing it (on Windows desktop version) is . . . . .

In practice it might be better to ask why you need the note in the three panel view. For example, it might be easier to do a created date search/filter around the creation date of the note.

The situation is probably worse recently as it is quite possible to have a note in the view pane which is not even in the displayed note list. This has been mentioned in other threads.

Interesting and ingenious. Thanks, @Mike P. This behavior is weird indeed. The hard way is a fascinating exercise, but way to hard. As to why I need the three panel view, perhaps it's just habit. I like to see the note in context, I guess. That's the way my Evernote has worked for the last 14 years.

In any event, it appears that, as things stand in v10, there is no solution.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

On 12/13/2023 at 8:47 PM, ln899 said:

"In the situation when I only have only the Side Bar and a single note displayed, how to I get the Note List back without losing focus on the note that is currently being displayed?

Make sure you click in the displayed note as if to edit it, then press Ctrl+Alt+2, which is the shortcut for the Note List and should leave the focus on the note. This works for me with a note that I displayed from a shortcut. It doesn't work with notes from the Recent Notes segment. 

[ln899 16]

20 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Make sure you click in the displayed note as if to edit it, then press Ctrl+Alt+2, which is the shortcut for the Note List and should leave the focus on the note. This works for me with a note that I displayed from a shortcut. It doesn't work with notes from the Recent Notes segment. 

Ah ha!  That's almost it.  Thanks very much, @Dave-in-Decatur. This move does bring back the note list.  The note list appears in its panel.  But the card for the displayed note in the main panel is not shown. Nor the cards for notes related to the search that found the displayed note.  It appears to be just the list of all notes, in whatever sort order is specified. Not especially useful in the end.

[Mike P 2,982]

41 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Make sure you click in the displayed note as if to edit it, then press Ctrl+Alt+2, which is the shortcut for the Note List and should leave the focus on the note. This works for me with a note that I displayed from a shortcut. It doesn't work with notes from the Recent Notes segment. 

For me the focus becomes the top note in "Notes" and that is the one that is displayed. My original note is no longer in view.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,006]

1 minute ago, Mike P said:

For me the focus becomes the top note in "Notes" and that is the one that is displayed. My original note is no longer in view.

Hmm.... As I say, for me this only works for a note selected from the Shortcuts list.

[ln899 16]

Friends,

This is not a "solution" per se, but as I continue to become more familiar with v10, I have discovered that there is a simple and perhaps too obvious way to avoid this issue.

(1) Open the search menu.
(2) Type in your search term(s).
(3) Hit return without clicking on any of the items presented in the Go to . . . list.

For me, again in my Windows 10 desktop setup, this presents me with the good old, three-pane view, with what appears to be pretty much the same "Go to . . ." list options, now displayed in the center-left Notes List

 

 

[Mike P 2,982]

6 hours ago, ln899 said:

This is not a "solution" per se, but as I continue to become more familiar with v10, I have discovered that there is a simple and perhaps too obvious way to avoid this issue.

I agree that this works in this specific circumstance. However there are many other ways of getting the view. This is probably not an exhaustive list:

• Going to a note in shortcuts
• Going to a note from recent notes
• Hitting a backlink from a note
• A note accessed from ctrl+Q
• Going to the parent note from a task in the task view

[ln899 16]

9 hours ago, Mike P said:

I agree that this works in this specific circumstance. However there are many other ways of getting the view. This is probably not an exhaustive list:

• Going to a note in shortcuts
• Going to a note from recent notes
• Hitting a backlink from a note
• A note accessed from ctrl+Q
• Going to the parent note from a task in the task view

• Going to a note in shortcuts Doesn't show the Notes List.
• Going to a note from recent notes Doesn't show the Notes List
• Hitting a backlink from a note Shows the Notes List, but changes the note displayed in the right-hand pane
• A note accessed from ctrl+Q Doesn't show the Notes List
• Going to the parent note from a task in the task view Not sure about this. I don't use tasks.

@Mike P, working through this was a learning experience, for which thanks. Not really solutions to my issue, however.

[Schooner 28]

Now mine is doing the same thing:  was fine, including on latest ENWIN 10.98.3, before a reinstall occasioned by dead-slow behavior for a couple of days in last 10.98.3 and prior version.  Issue resolved by deleting/rebuilding local database etc.

Resolved the slowdown - but now I can't get a stable "middle column" notes view.
I can indeed "trick" EN into displaying the old middle-column all-notes view as described above (search without selecting, eliminate the filters in the resulting middle-column list) but the column evaporates instantly if anything in the left column "shortcuts" is selected.  While it's there, the old "view options" menu is available atop the list - but once the middle list disappears, no such option exists.

Any ideas?  For clarity:  what I want is the 3-column mode:  Left sidebar, middle All-Notes list, right currently-selected note.  Especially bewildering as the same ENWIN version permitted the persistent middle column just fine until reinstalled.

[Edit:  it occurs to me that I reinstalled from MS Store owing to reports of avoiding extremely slow reinstall/rebuild.  Perhaps the column issue is confined to "store" version?]

 

/Schooner

[Schooner 28]

I see the note list still reappears upon CTRL/ALT/2  key combo.

That will do.

Nevermind...

/Schooner

[ln899 16]

Yes, that seems our best recourse, though I'd prefer an option--perhaps in settings--to return to the "stable middle column" behavior.

[kw2012 0]

Hi!

I have also had this problem with EN after the legacy version expired.

I have a sort of solution for getting the shortcuts/notebooks, the recent items and the current note displayed at the same time.

1. Go to the current notebook in the left pane.
2. Right-click it and select to add it to shortcuts.
3. I move the shortcut to the top position among the shortcuts for convenience and click it if needed.