Create a series of rules for a Notes smart folder to define the content that appears in it
Notes’ smart folders were basic in previous versions of macOS; before Ventura, a smart folder could be created that shows notes containing specific tags, but that was it. Notes in Ventura are much more powerful and rules can be defined to determine the notes that appear in a smart folder.
The rules are similar in some ways to the ones used to create smart folders and searches in Finder, or to take actions on incoming emails in Mail. You create a rule that says something like, if a note has this or that, and was created before a certain date, then show it. If you collect a lot of information in Notes, you can easily find it.
Smart folders deconstructed
Rules and conditions to define contents
Step-by-step Create rules for smart folders
Open Notes and select View>Show Folders or press opt+cmd+S if the sidebar is not visible. Click the ‘+’ button at the bottom of the sidebar to add a new folder.
Previously, there was a menu to choose a normal or smart folder. Now a normal folder is the default. Name the folder and click the checkbox ‘Make into Smart Folder’.
When there are multiple rules, as we will create in a minute, notes can
