Use areas to organize your life
Areas let you divide your Nirvana system into separate slices of your life — things like Work, Home, Side Project, or Health. You can assign any task, project, or reference list to one or more areas, then switch your entire view to show only what's relevant to that context.
Unlike other tags, areas drive global area filtering — one click changes not just a single list, but your whole workspace.
Good to know: The free Basic plan includes up to 2 areas. Nirvana Pro gives you unlimited areas.
Create an area
Areas are a special type of tag. You manage them the same way you manage other tags.
On Desktop
Press G to open Manage Tags, or go to Settings → Manage Tags. Under Areas, click + New... and give it a name and color.
On Mobile
Tap Tags in the left navigation menu, then tap Manage (top right). Tap +, choose Area as the type, name it, and pick a color.
Assign an area to a task, project, or list
Assign areas the same way you assign any tag — by editing the item and selecting the area from the tags field. See Add and manage tags for the full process.
Project actions and reference items inherit the area tags of their parent project or list. You can also assign an item to multiple areas if it spans contexts.
Switch your view with global area filtering
On Desktop
The area dropdown sits in the top-left corner of the screen, next to the Nirvana logo. Click it and select an area. The entire app — Next, Projects, References, Focus, and every other list — filters to show only items assigned to that area.
You can also use Shift + [number] to jump directly to an area. Check the dropdown to see which number corresponds to each one.
On Mobile
The area selector appears just below the current list name. Tap it and choose an area.
What stays visible regardless of area
- Inbox items — the Inbox always shows all items, even if they have area tags. This ensures nothing gets missed during processing.
- Unassigned items — by default, items with no area tag show in every area view. You can change this in Settings → Preferences → Include Unassigned Items.
Good to know: Focus is a flag, not a state. Focused Inbox items appear in every area's Focus list, regardless of the area filter.
Filter the Inbox by area
The global area filter doesn't hide Inbox items, but you can still filter them manually:
On Desktop
Set the area filter to All Areas, then select the area from the tag list at the top of the Inbox.
On Mobile
Set All Areas, tap the ⋯ in the top-right, choose Filters, tap Tags, and select the area.
Areas vs. other tags
Areas are the only tag type that triggers global filtering. Other tags (labels, contacts) only filter within individual lists. If you want to segment your whole system by context, use an area. If you just need to group a subset of tasks, a regular label tag is enough.