Plainva

Search

Last reviewed: 2026-08-21

Plainva offers three ways to search: full-text search across the whole vault, the quick switcher for opening files, and find & replace inside a note.

Full-text search across the vault

The search field at the top of the sidebar searches the entire vault — titles and contents. It is backed by a local full-text index (SQLite FTS5) that is built when the vault opens and kept current on every change; search therefore works offline and without noticeable delay.

Search reacts while you type: word prefixes already match (“Projec” finds “Project plan”) — no Enter needed. The X at the right of the field clears the current search (or press Esc); the sidebar then shows the normal file tree again.

The result list shows the hit count at the top and groups the results: File name hits first (the term appears in the note’s name), then Content hits. Every row shows the document icon, the folder path and — for content hits — a text excerpt with the match highlighted. Clicking a result opens the note and jumps straight to the first occurrence; it is selected there. If nothing matches, the list says No results.

The search field also applies to the other sidebar views: in Tags it filters the tag list, in Bookmarks the bookmarks.

Search operators

Quick switcher

Ctrl+O or Ctrl+K opens the quick switcher: type, navigate with the arrow keys, open with Enter. Without input it shows the Recent Files list — the fastest way to jump between your current notes. Matches can also be opened directly in a new tab (the dialog’s footer shows the keys).

Matching is fuzzy: prjplan also finds “Project Plan” — the letters only have to appear in order, and word starts count extra. And when the note does not exist yet, the list shows Create ’…’: Enter creates it right away (in the vault root) and opens it — type a name, press Enter, start writing.

Below the name hits the switcher also shows a Content group: notes whose text matches your input, with a highlighted excerpt of the match. Opening such a hit jumps straight to the match inside the note — just like the sidebar search.

Find & replace inside a note

Ctrl+F opens the editor’s search bar (in Live Preview and source mode):

Across the whole vault

Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F (or Find & replace in vault in the command palette) searches every note at once. Enter a term, press Find, and the matches appear grouped by note with a line of context each. Type a replacement, untick any note you want to leave out, and Replace in N notes rewrites the rest — each note is written back safely (atomic write + a version snapshot), so a stale preview can never overwrite newer content. Match case, whole word and regex work here too; in regex mode $1/$2 backreferences are available in the replacement.

On the phone the same thing runs under the magnifier in the header, then > and Find & replace in vault: matches are grouped per note and collapsed, so a term with forty hits does not bury the action; tap a note to look inside, untick the ones you want left alone, and the button names its own scope (Replace in 2 notes). Leaving the app stops a running replace at the next note — notes already written stay written and are named.

Tags

The sidebar view Tags lists all #tags in the vault with a hit count; a click shows the Files with #tag. Tags work in the text (#project) and in the frontmatter (tags: [project]). The sidebar’s search field filters the tag list as well.

Rename a tag right across the vault: right-click a tag in the Tags view and enter a new name. Plainva rewrites the tag everywhere — in note bodies (#tag and its #tag/child subtags) and in the frontmatter (tags:) — writing each affected note back through the same safe path. Unrelated tags that merely contain the name (for example #area/tag) are left alone.

The Outline in the right sidebar lists all headings of the active note — a click jumps to the spot. For jumping between notes, Backlinks (who links here) and the editor’s Back/Forward buttons help as well.

See also