Smart Folders are like saved searches. You can create these to quickly find files using terms you frequently use.

You can also use these as folders that stay up to date with files that meet specifc search criteria.

When using iA Writer with iCloud your Smart Folders stay in sync across iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices.

Paths

• Parent paths limit results to contents of a particular folder.
• Ancestor paths limit results to contents of a particular folder and all of its subfolders.
• / refers to the default location (iCloud or local).
• Location: / can be used to filter files from custom locations.
• From Other Apps: / is available on iOS.
• Use contextual menu in Library and Organizer to copy paths on macOS.
• Tap and hold items in Library to copy paths on iOS.

Search

Search works like a search engine. It’s optimized to be fast with a large number of files.

Search is available for:

• Names of all files
• Contents of Plain Text files (txt text)
• Contents of Markdown files (md markdown et al.)

Search supports the following queries:

• .png will match all files where extension begins as png*
• ".m" will match all files where extension is m
• text machine will match files where name or text contain words that begin as text* and machine*
• "text* machine" will match all files where name or text contain a phrase with a word that begins as text* and a word machine
• #priority will match text files that contain a hashtag that begins as #priority*
• -microsoft word will match all files that don’t include microsoft* but include word*
• [ ] will match all files that contain an incomplete task list item
• [x] will match all files that contain a completed task list item
• -# will match text files that do not contain a hashtag
• "#diary" will match text files that contain a hashtag #diary
• ^first will match files where the first word of a name or a text is first*
• time AND space will match all files where name or text contain words that begin as time* and space*
• name:alice will match all files where name contains a word that begins as alice*
• name:^"note" will match all files where name begins with a word note
• time OR "space" will match files with time* or space
• time NOT space will match files with time* but not space*
• NEAR(time space) will match files where time* and space* are located with 10 or less words in-between
• NEAR(time "space" "travel" 4) will match files with time*, space, and travel with 3 or less terms in-between
• (time AND life) OR "me" will match files with time* and life*, or me