Views
Save any set of filters as a view, use the built-in views such as Needs me and Overdue, and ask for a view in plain English.
A view is a page of entries with its filters, search, order and layout kept together. All items, Projects, Tasks and Knowledge are views, and so are the built-in views in the sidebar such as Needs me. You can save any page as a view of your own, and on Pro you can ask for one in plain English.
Save a view
- Open any entries page, such as All items or Tasks.
- Change something: add a filter, type in the search bar, change the order or switch the layout.
- Save as view appears in the page header. Click it.
- Give the view a name and pick an icon, then save.
The new view appears in the Views section of the sidebar. To start one from scratch, open the menu on the Views heading in the sidebar and click New view.
Every change you make to a page is in its link, so you can bookmark a view, or send the link to yourself on another computer, and it opens the same way.
Change a view
When you change one of your own views, the page header shows:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Save | Keeps the change in the view |
| Reset | Goes back to the view as it was saved |
| Save as view | Saves the changed page as a new view, leaving this one as it was |
On a built-in view, Reset and Save as view appear, but not Save.
Keep an entry out of a view
Select entries, then click Hide from view. They stay out of that view whatever its filters say. The header then shows how many are hidden; click that to show them again.
The view menu
The three dots in the page header open the view’s menu:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name and icon | Rename the view or change its icon (your own views only) |
| Clone | Make a copy you can change |
| Copy link | Copy the view’s link |
| Delete view | Delete the view (your own views only). Its entries are not touched |
Built-in views can be cloned, not changed.
The Views section
Your own views and the built-in views sit in the Views section of the sidebar, each with a count of the entries it holds. Drag your own views into the order you want.
The menu on the Views section heading has:
- New view;
- Built-in views (Stale, Needs me…): switch off to hide the built-in views;
- How many each holds: switch off to hide the counts;
- Hide from the sidebar: hides the whole section. Show it again in Settings > Navigation.
Built-in views
| View | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Stale | Entries with an open status that have not changed for 7 days, oldest first |
| Needs me | Entries waiting on you that are not done |
| Waiting on others | Entries waiting on anyone but you that are not done |
| Overdue (Pro) | Open entries past their due date, most overdue first |
| This week | Entries due this week, Monday to Sunday, that are not done |
| Recently captured | Everything you saved in the last 7 days |
Overdue is part of Pro. On the Free plan, opening it offers See plans instead.
Ask for a view
Ask is part of Pro. It turns a sentence into filters.
- Click the speech bubble next to Display options in the page header, or press A anywhere outside a text box.
- Type what you want, such as “overdue tasks waiting on Barnaby” or “everything about Earl from last month as a board”.
- Press Enter.
Ask sets the filters, the search, the order and the layout, matching names to your own topics, people and statuses. If there is something to tell you, such as a name it could not match, it says so with how many filters it set; otherwise it just closes. The filters show as chips you can check and change.
Ask changes the page you are on, not a saved view. If you like the result, click Save as view.
On the Free plan, Ask says it uses AI, which is part of Pro, and offers See plans.
Every layout
A view can be shown as a list, table, board, calendar or canvas. The layout is part of the view, so a saved view opens the way you left it. See Lists, tables and boards and Canvas views.
Start on a view
Settings > Navigation > Startup page can open Ultrathink on any view, built-in or your own. Home in the sidebar goes there too. See Appearance and navigation.
Tips
- Build a view for each thing you check every day, such as “Earl tasks this week”, and drag it to the top of the Views section.
- Clone a built-in view to change it: clone Needs me, then add a topic filter.
- AI tools connected through the MCP server can list your entries with the same filters, and make or change views for you.