The Evernote feature I taught their product lead
May 12 2025 | Issue 43 | Link to this issue | Subscribe
Hi Reader –
Last year, when I presented at Tiago Forte’s Building A Second Brain Summit, Evernote's head of product Federico Simionato heard me give a talk about top power-user Evernote features. When I covered today's tip, he said, "You taught me something!"
Granted, he inherited the tool a couple of years ago when his company bought Evernote. But, if he didn't know about this feature, I'm guessing it's new to a few of you too.
The Hidden "Close All Windows" Command
If you're using Evernote's Desktop app, there's a menu option that can instantly clear your digital workspace by closing all open windows.
This simple command closes every note window you have open and returns you to just the main Evernote application. It's perfect for quickly tidying up your workspace after a busy session.
➡️ Note: This feature is exclusively available in the Desktop client (download for free here).
But here's why many users miss it – this menu option only appears when you have at least one note open in its own window. If you don't see it in your menu, it’s because you don’t have any open note windows:
🧠 Academy Members: Refresh yourself on the Window > Close All Windows feature in lesson 27 of the Foundations & Training Tips Course.
Two Scenarios Where This Is Very Helpful
Here are a couple of scenarios when this command comes in handy:
1. When Working with Multiple Notes
If you’ve discovered the “Open in New Window” feature (which I covered in a previous newsletter), you might open several notes to compare information or reference multiple notes while working.
Instead of clicking the “X” on each window individually, one command closes them all.
2. When Batch Scanning Documents
This is where I use it most often. When scanning multiple paper documents to Evernote using certain scanners (like my ScanSnap), each scan creates a new note in its own window.
After scanning 20+ documents, my screen can get quite cluttered. The “Close All Note Windows” command instantly cleans everything up.
🧠 Academy Members: Learn more about these and other desktop-specific features in our Understanding Evernote Desktop vs Web training.
While this feature may seem small, all of these micro-efficiencies add up to big time savings when you're working with dozens or hundreds of notes.
Cheers to your productivity –
Stacey
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