In Ulysses, the library serves as the central hub for your groups, sheets, and filters. From here you can access all your content. Let's take a closer look at the library and its customization options.

The two main sections of the library are called “Notes” and “Projects”. These are enabled by default. But what exactly are these sections about? 

Notes

Sheets stored in this section tend to be “loose” content like single lists, notes, or texts. Individual sheets are filed in the so-called Inbox. By creating groups, you can organize them more neatly. Find out more in our Sheets & Groups guide.

Projects 

Projects are self-contained and act more or less like independent libraries. This section lets you focus on one project at a time by hiding everything else. Projects provide a predefined distinction between Content and Extras, making it easy to separate chapters from research or contributions from mere ideas. For each project, you can create a specific set of keywords that only works within that project. Furthermore, the app will remember your preferred export style for each project.

For more information, please check our Projects guide.

Customize Your Library

Initially, only the “Notes” and “Projects” sections are enabled. However, you have the option of customizing the library to suit your needs. 

On your iPad/iPhone, tap the gear icon in the library and select Edit Library. On Mac, go to Ulysses › Settings › Sidebar. Here you can see various options:

Global Filters

If you activate this option, a section with various filters will be added at the top of your library for quick access to your content:

• All provides access to all sheets stored in Ulysses in chronological order.
• Last 7 Days provides access to the sheets you’ve created within the last 7 days.
• Favorites lets you quickly access the sheets you’ve marked as favorites. It will only appear once you’ve favorited your first sheet.
• Trash contains the sheets and groups you deleted. To clear the whole trash, right-click it and select “Empty Trash”. On your iPhone or iPad, touch and hold the filter and select “Empty Trash”. 

External Folders

Ulysses is a library-based app. This means that all of the contents live in this library. However, you can also embed external folders in Ulysses that are stored on your local hard drive or on a cloud service and make their contents behave like Ulysses' groups and sheets. You can access these folders via Finder and even open the contained files with third-party apps. 

For more information, check out External Folders and Dropbox.

Advanced Settings

But that's not all. If you select Advanced, you have even more options for customizing your library:

• Enable Always Show Trash to permanently view the trash in your Notes section. If this option is disabled, the trash is only visible if it contains sheets or groups.
• If you have Global Filters activated, you can enable the option Include Projects in Global Filters to show all sheets from your projects in this section.
• Check Show Inbox Counter to display the number of sheets stored in the inbox of the Notes section.
• Select Allow Local Notes to enable a second Notes section called Notes (On My Mac/iPad/iPhone). Anything you create in this section will be stored locally on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone without being synced across your other devices. 

Organize Your Library

Do you want to swap the Notes and Projects section? No problem! On the Mac, you can simply move sections by dragging the section header. On iOS, you can change the order of these sections using the drag handles in the library settings:

If you don't always want to see the contents of the sections, you can also collapse them. On Mac, use the chevron next to the section headers. On iPad/ iPhone, just tap the section headers. With another tap, you can expand them.