KeepsakeKeepsake

The Inbox: Sort Your Quick Notes

Capturing and deciding are two different jobs. Do them at the same time and you do both badly: you hesitate, you lose the thought, you get pulled out of the moment. Keepsake separates them. The QuickNote bar, always on screen, takes the thought in three seconds; the Inbox is where you decide what it becomes — later, with a clear head. Empty your head now, sort when you're ready.

Jot now, sort later

The Inbox isn't a to-do list and it isn't an archive. It's a waiting room: every thought you captured sits there, safe, until you give it a place. Nothing is lost while it waits — and nothing asks for a decision while you're busy living.
1

What lands in the Inbox

Every QuickNote you send without a task shortcut: text, links, photos taken from the photo button. The Inbox badge in the sidebar tells you how many are waiting.

2

What skips it

A QuickNote ending with T+1, T+ASAP or T+? becomes a task straight away and never enters the Inbox — see Turn notes into tasks with T+. The T+ shortcut works at capture time only; once a note is in the Inbox, use the Task button below.

3

Mentions are already linked

If you mentioned someone with @, the note is already linked to their profile, where it shows with a to sort badge. Sorting decides what it becomes, not who it belongs to.

Tip

Capture without judging. A half-formed idea in the Inbox is worth more than a perfect idea you've already forgotten.

Sort: Keep as note, Keep to publish, Task, To journal

Each QuickNote has four sort buttons, in the color of what it becomes: Keep as note, Keep to publish, Task and To journal. On a computer they appear when you hover over the note (or reach it with the keyboard); on a phone they stay visible under the note, so sorting takes a single tap. The ⋯ button (More actions) holds the rest.
1

Keep as note — keep it for reference

For an idea, a quote, a piece of information you want to find again. The note leaves the Inbox and joins your Notes (sidebar), still linked to its contacts and pages. Changed your mind? Send the note back to the inbox from Notes. See Notes.

2

Keep to publish — something you want to write

For the seed of a text you might publish one day. The note leaves the Inbox, joins your Notes and enters your publishing flow at the first stage, Idea; it then moves through In progress → To review → Ready → Published at your pace. On a phone, the button reads To publish. See The publishing flow.

3

Task — something to do

The New task panel opens pre-filled with the note's text, contacts and pages. Pick a date (or ASAP, or Someday) and save: the task is created and the note leaves the Inbox. See Capture a task in seconds.

4

To journal — something that happened

For a call, a meeting, a moment with someone. The entry form opens in place of the note, pre-filled with the text, contacts and pages — and, if the note is linked to a day, with that date. Choose the entry type and save: the exchange joins the history of everyone involved.

5

⋯ → Create linked task — keep the note, add an action

For a note you want to keep and act on — meeting minutes with a follow-up, an article idea with research to do. The note stays; a new task is created and linked to it (it inherits the note's pages). You'll find the task at the bottom of the note.

6

⋯ → Publication — ready to be read

For a note that's finished as it is. It goes live right away on your Keepsake Page, at keepsake.place/@username. See Your Keepsake Page.

Shortcut

On a computer, with a note selected using the Tab key: G keep as note · U keep to publish · T task · J to journal · F merge · P pin · Enter edit · Delete delete · ↑/↓ next or previous note

Tip

Not sure? Ask the question the other way round: will I need to do something (task), remember something that happened (journal), reread it (note) or share it one day (keep to publish)?

Merge fragments of the same idea

Ideas rarely arrive in one piece. You jot three lines in the morning, two more on the train, a photo in the evening — all about the same thing. Merge them into a single note before sorting.
1

Choose Merge on the first note

Open the note's ⋯ menu and choose Merge. The note becomes the merge source. The other notes of the Inbox show a ↓ Merge here button.

2

Click ↓ Merge here on the destination

The content of the source is added to the destination note, and the source disappears. Cancel stops the merge at any time.

Tip

Merging before sorting gives you one rich note instead of five thin ones — and a cleaner history on the contact or page it belongs to.

Copy, link, pin, delete

The rest lives in each note's ⋯ menu (More actions):
1

Copy

Copies the note's text, ready to paste into an email or another app.

2

Copy link

Copies the note's internal link, to paste anywhere in Keepsake — in another note, a task, a page description — and jump back to it later.

3

Pin

Also available as a pin icon when you hover over a note on a computer. Keeps the note at the top of the Inbox, out of the waiting count. For what you need in sight for a few days: a door code, a booking reference, a phone number.

4

Delete

Keepsake asks Delete this QuickNote? before removing it. Deleted notes go to the trash and are kept for 30 days.

Sort several notes at once

After a busy day, sorting note by note can feel long. Click Select at the top of the Inbox, tick the notes (or All), and act on the whole batch.
1

Group actions

Copy, Merge (into a single note), Pin, add a Page or a Contact to all of them, Delete.

2

Sort in bulk

Keep as notes sends them all to your Notes. To tasks turns every selected note into a task — you choose one due date for all of them. To publish sends them all to your publishing flow, at the Idea stage.

Tip

Link first, then sort: selecting all the notes about a project and adding its page in one go saves a lot of back-and-forth.

Inbox Zero

When the last note leaves the Inbox, Keepsake celebrates with an Ensō — a Zen circle drawn in a single stroke. Yours is unique: it's drawn from what you did today, with the number of notes you processed and your streak of consecutive days.
1

A rhythm, not a race

Once a day is plenty — in the evening, or first thing in the morning before opening your Today view. Five minutes, a cup of coffee, and your head is clear again.

2

An empty Inbox is a clear head

Every note sorted is a decision you no longer carry. That's the point: you capture freely because you know you'll come back — and you come back because it only takes a few minutes.

Tip

Some days the Inbox won't be empty, and that's fine. What matters is that nothing waits there for weeks.

Related guides

Capture Ideas Instantly with QuickNotes

Learn how to use QuickNotes to capture thoughts, ideas, and reminders in seconds. Works offline, syncs automatically, and connects to your contacts.

Notes: Capture, Process, and Organize

Understand the full lifecycle of notes in Keepsake. From quick capture in the Inbox to keeping them as notes, turning them into tasks or entries, and finding them on contact profiles and pages.

Capture a Task in Seconds — and Turn Any Note into an Action

Learn how to capture a task instantly with QuickNotes, find it in your Inbox, and convert it into a scheduled task in a couple of clicks. Includes the T+ shortcut for ultra-fast task creation.

Entries: Build Your Relationship History

Learn how to use entries in Keepsake to log meetings, calls, and exchanges. Link entries to contacts and pages to build a complete relationship history.

The publishing flow: from idea to published note

Take a note from idea to publication at your own pace: Idea → In progress → To review → Ready → Published. Stages you can customize, a colored badge on each note, "Keep to publish" from the Inbox, and a flow bar in the Notes view.

Your Day: the Today View in Keepsake

Start clear, finish calm: your intention, today's tasks (overdue and ASAP included), your day timeline, your journal, birthdays and snoozing.

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