How to search and organize your HoldSay library
Use filters, stars, and search to find any note.
A useful local archive depends on titles, filters and a small amount of regular cleanup.
HoldSay keeps dictations, recordings and imported files in one library, with filters that narrow the view without changing where anything is stored.
Type a word you remember — the library brings back every note that said it.
Open your library before looking for one note
Use this workflow when you know a note exists but cannot immediately remember whether it was a quick dictation, a meeting recording, or an imported file. Open History, the HoldSay area for completed notes. This is where you can review work that has already been processed rather than checking the floating card used for held key dictation and REC recording.
Start by noticing what you remember about the item. A client name, a project phrase, the type of conversation, or a title word is usually enough to begin. If you only remember that you spoke the text into another app, look for a dictation. If you remember recorded audio, an interview, a lecture, a meeting, or an imported audio or video file, look for a recording after it has finished processing.
All keeps dictations, recordings and imported files in one searchable local library.
When you open a completed note, the available views can include Raw, Speakers, Polish, or Summary, depending on what applies to that source. These views help you recognize the note before making changes to it. For example, a summary may confirm that you found the right meeting, while Raw can help you check the original wording.
Narrow the library with the right filter
The library opens with All. Use this view when you remember a word in the title but do not remember how the note was created. All is also useful during a general review because it keeps completed dictations and recordings in the same place.
Start with the filter that matches how the note was created.
When the list is busy, choose the view that matches the source. Dictations shows text that was sent to a cursor in another app. This is the best place to look for a message, draft, or short spoken note that began with held key dictation. Recordings is for meetings, interviews, lectures, and notes made from imported audio or video. It is also where to find an imported file once it is no longer waiting in Files.
Use Starred items when you have already marked a note for return visits. This view is useful for active work, but it should not be your only organization method because it only shows notes that you deliberately starred.
- Open History and begin in All if the source is uncertain.
- Choose Dictations when you are looking for text sent to another app.
- Choose Recordings for recorded conversations and completed file imports.
- Open Files instead when an import may still be queued, transcribing, paused, or waiting for attention.
Verify the filter by checking that the results match the kind of work you expected. Changing a filter only narrows the current view. It does not move, rename, or remove the notes in your library.
Search for something you remember
After choosing the most likely filter, enter a distinctive title word, person name, or phrase in the main Search. Specific terms work better than broad topics. For example, search for Maya, onboarding, or a phrase you remember from a conversation instead of searching for a general word that may appear in many notes.
Search by a distinctive title, person or phrase instead of opening notes one by one.
Open a likely result rather than relying on the list alone. HoldSay highlights matching text in the note and shows how many matches it found. Read the surrounding passage to determine whether the match belongs to the conversation or dictation you need. A name can occur in several meetings, so the nearby discussion often provides the clearest confirmation.
When exact wording matters, use the attached audio to verify it. This is especially useful for names, dates, commitments, quoted language, or technical terms that may be difficult to identify from a short search match. Search helps you locate the likely note, while the note and its audio help you confirm that it is the correct source.
- The matching text is highlighted in the open note.
- The match count shows that HoldSay found the term in that note.
- The surrounding passage matches the subject, person, or event you were looking for.
- Attached audio confirms wording when accuracy is important.
Use titles and stars deliberately
A clear title makes future search and review faster. Rename a note soon after the conversation, while the participants, purpose, and decisions are still clear. A title such as Client onboarding with Maya gives you useful search terms and context. A date alone or a recorder filename may be enough to identify a recent item, but it becomes less useful once the library contains many similar recordings.
Choose titles that describe the subject in language you are likely to remember later. For a meeting, include the project or person that distinguishes it from other meetings. For a dictation, use the task or message purpose when that is more useful than the time it was created. The goal is not to make every title long. The goal is to make it recognizable in a result list and searchable by a meaningful word.
A clear title and a star make important work faster to find later.
Star notes that remain active, important, or worth reusing. A star gives you a focused return list through Starred items, which is useful for current projects and reference conversations. Review stars as work changes. Remove a star when the project no longer needs special attention, while keeping the note in the library if you still want the record.
- Open the completed note you want to keep easy to find.
- Rename it with a specific subject, person, or purpose.
- Star it if you expect to return to it regularly.
- Later, use Starred items to review active notes and remove stars that no longer serve that purpose.
Remove work you no longer need
Cleanup is for notes that no longer need to remain in your local library. Before deleting anything, check whether its audio, transcript, or summary may still be needed outside HoldSay. A note can contain more than the text you first searched for, particularly when it came from a recording or imported file.
Review the selected notes before removing them from the local library.
If the work has legal, research, or business value, keep a separate backup before cleaning the library. Export or back up important work first. Local file library export is optional, so do not treat a mirrored Finder folder as the only copy of a note in HoldSay. Removing a mirrored folder does not establish that the HoldSay note has been removed.
When you are ready to remove items, select one note or enter batch selection mode for a group. Confirm that the selected notes are the intended items, then delete them. Deletion can remove the local source and its note, including local audio, transcript, and summary. This makes a final review important when several similarly named recordings appear together.
A note's context menu keeps Favorites, Rename, Show in Finder, Select… and Delete in one place.
- Select the note, or use batch selection mode for several notes.
- Confirm that no audio, transcript, or summary still needs to be exported.
- Keep a separate backup if the material has continuing legal, research, or business value.
- Delete the selected items only after that review.
Common questions
Can I search my HoldSay library?
Yes. Choose a library filter, then enter a title word, name, or phrase in the main Search. Open a result to review highlighted matches and the match count.
How should I organize HoldSay recordings?
Give important notes specific titles, use the Recordings view for meetings and finished file imports, and star items you need to return to regularly.
What happens when I delete a HoldSay note?
Deleting a note can remove its local audio, transcript, and summary. Export or keep a separate backup of important work before deleting it.
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