Lists
Headings and subheadings
A heading is a thing that acts as a section title inside a list.
Headings are free for everyone.
Why you'd care
Past about thirty things, a list stops being readable. Headings restore the shape, and unlike sublists they keep everything in one list, which matters when you want to see the whole thing at once.
The shortcuts
Type # (a hash and a space) at the start of a thing to make it a heading, or ## for a subheading. The hashes disappear and the rest of the text stays as the title. This works everywhere you type, phone included.
On a keyboard you can also turn an existing thing into a heading:
| Action | Mac | Windows and Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Header | ⌘⌥1 | Ctrl+Alt+1 |
| Subheader | ⌘⌥2 | Ctrl+Alt+2 |
Going further
Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux
Headings give you an outline. Once a list has headings, the side panel gets an Outline tab: every heading and subheading in the list, in order, like a table of contents. Click one to jump straight to it, even when it sits inside a collapsed heading. Open it with ⌘⇧⌥U. See large screens.
Headings collapse. Tapping one folds its section away, which is how a long list becomes navigable. Select all still includes the things inside a collapsed section. See select many things at once.
Headings are not board columns. The Board layout turns a list's sublists into columns, and headings stay as rows. For stages you can drag things between, use sublists. See List, Gallery and Board.
Why is there no heading 3 or 4? On purpose. Twos tries to keep everything as simple as it can, and two levels, headings and subheadings, is enough to give a list shape without turning it into a document to maintain. If you need more depth:
- Indent things under a subheading for one more level. See indent and outdent.
- Make a sublist when a section is big enough to deserve its own list. See sublists.
Heading or divider? A heading names a section. A divider just separates. If you would not give the section a name, you want a divider. See dividers.
Tips
- Add headings when a list crosses about thirty things, not before.
- Collapse everything except the section you are working in. It makes a hundred-item list feel like a ten-item one.