Everything you need. Nothing to set up.
Nested List is one list that grows in every direction. Here is what you can do with it, grouped by what you are trying to get done.
Get it out of your head.
Every line is a note. Every note can hold more.
A journal you’ll actually keep.
One shortcut opens today’s entry from anywhere. Write a line, or three. Anything you date shows up on that day, so the journal and the calendar tell one story.
Ctrl+J starts today’s entry with the date already in place.
- Write anywhere.Every line is a note; a longer note sits under any line (Shift+Enter).
- Photos and files.Paste, drag in from your desktop, or attach from the menu. Images show right in the list.
- Share from your phone.Share a link or a thought into Nested List and it lands in today’s journal entry.
- Dates in plain words.Type a date and it becomes a chip that links to that day.
- Tags and mentions.Write #tags and @names; click one to see everything that carries it.
See the day you actually have.
Tasks next to meetings, on a page that exists for every day.
Your whole day on one page.
Today’s tasks sit next to today’s meetings. Give any task a time and it appears on the timeline; drag it when the day changes. Your Google Calendar shows alongside, so you plan the day you actually have.
Calendar events are read-only — Nested List never writes to your calendar.
- A page for every day.Today is one tap away; a strip of days lets you hop back and forward.
- Give anything a time.Drag an item onto the timeline; drag the block to move or resize it.
- Your Google Calendar beside it.Today’s events appear on the same timeline, read-only, in their own colours.
- Move to today, tomorrow, next week.From any item’s menu. Nothing is ever marked “overdue”.
- Dated anywhere, found on the day.Any line with a date shows up on that day’s page under References.
Put things under things.
Structure appears as you write it. Rearrange it whenever you like.
Start small, grow without limits.
Write a line. Put the details under it. When a line turns into a project, open it as its own page and keep going. Nothing is ever too big for a list, because a list can hold lists.
Click any bullet to open it as a page; breadcrumbs take you back.
The same item in every place it belongs.
Put the launch checklist under the project and under today. It is one item, not a copy: tick something off in either place and it is done in both.
A diamond bullet marks an item that lives in more than one place.
Done means gone — until you want it back.
Finished items fade out of the way so the list only shows what is left. One click brings them back when you need the record.
⌘Enter completes an item; the eye icon in the header shows or hides completed ones.
- Pin what you use daily.Any line, at any depth, can sit in the sidebar.
- Drag to rearrange.Drag a bullet; its children come along. Drop it into the sidebar to move it across pages.
- Select many, act once.Shift-click a range, then complete, move, indent or delete all of it in one step.
- Undo everything.Every change is undoable, and undo puts the cursor back where it was.
- Fold what you are not using.Collapse any branch; it remembers how you left it.
Remember less. Find more.
One search, across everything, including what is inside your files.
Find anything, even with typos.
One search box covers notes, to-dos, files and the text inside your PDFs and photos. Results say where they came from, and a “Similar” section catches the things you remember by meaning rather than by word.
Press ⌘K anywhere. “Similar” results come from an optional index you can switch off.
Link ideas, and see what links back.
Connect a note to any other note as you write. Each item shows what links to it, with the path it lives under, so an idea is never stranded.
Type [[ to link to any item. Backlinks are one click away in the item’s menu.
Your files live next to your notes.
Drop in photos, PDFs and documents. They stay with the note they belong to, open in place, and the text inside them is searchable.
Paste, drag in from your desktop, or attach from the menu.
- Filter the page you are on.The search box in the header narrows the current page in place, keeping the structure.
- Pin a search.A view you keep coming back to can live in the sidebar.
- Search inside PDFs and photos.PDF text is read on your device. Describing photos is optional and off by default.
Yours, on every device.
On your device first, in the cloud second, and always exportable.
- Works offline.Everything lives on your device. Changes sync when you are back online.
- Every device, one list.Phone, laptop, work machine. If two devices edit the same line, both versions are kept.
- Install it like an app.From your browser’s menu, on desktop and phone.
- Light and dark.Follows your system, or pick one.
- Import from Workflowy.Structure, notes, dates, completed items and mirrored items all come across.
- Export everything, any time.One backup file, or a folder of Markdown documents with your attachments.
The details.
Shortcuts, numbers and formats, for people who like to know.
Keyboard
| Enter | New item |
| Tab / Shift+Tab | Indent / outdent |
| Shift+Enter | Add a note under the item |
| ⌘+Enter | Complete |
| ⌘+. / ⌘+, | Open the item as a page / go back up |
| ⌘+↑ / ↓ | Collapse / expand |
| Alt+↑ / ↓ | Move the item up / down |
| ⌘+K | Search |
| ⌘+Shift+M | Copy as a mirror (paste it anywhere) |
| ⌘+Shift+D | Duplicate with everything under it |
| Ctrl+J | New journal entry |
| Ctrl+T | Go to today |
| [[ | Link to another item |
On Windows and Linux, ⌘ is Ctrl.
Size and speed
Measured on a real 47,000-item list: the page is usable in about a third of a second, a keystroke lands in a few hundredths, and scrolling stays smooth because only the rows on screen are drawn.
Files
Up to 100 MB per file. Images, PDFs, audio, video, text and code all get a preview; PDFs open in place. Photos from an iPhone are converted on the way in.
In and out
Import: Workflowy OPML or API export (also what Dynalist and most outliners write). Export: one JSON backup with every item, or a folder of Markdown documents with attachments — the layout Obsidian expects.
Privacy
A full copy of your list lives in your own browser. Search across meaning and describing photos are separate switches; describing photos is off until you turn it on.
Everything on your mind, in one place.
Open Nested List, type your first line, and put the next thought under it. That is the whole setup.