# Headers in lists cannot be collapsed **URL:** \ **Category:** Bear Bug Report\ **Created:** [May 15, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731 "2025-05-15T18:57:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bpeps563](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/bpeps563/32/4321_2.png) [@bpeps563](https://community.bear.app/u/bpeps563)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/1 "2025-05-15T18:57:36Z")
- **Bear Version** : 2.4.3 - **OS Version** : Mac OS 15.5, and iOS 18.4.1 - **What were you doing** : folding/collapsing lists that included headers - **What feature did you use** : [folding](https://bear.app/faq/how-to-fold-sections-in-bear/) - **What happened** : If a list item is also a header it cannot be folded/collapsed - **What did you expect to happen** : all headers and list items would be foldable/collapsable ![Screenshot 2025-05-15 at 1.55.29 PM](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/bear/original/2X/8/86670c4009b9c67109419fb3d2786e1ea96e8f5c.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![rexikan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/rexikan/32/4117_2.png) [@rexikan](https://community.bear.app/u/rexikan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/2 "2025-05-15T20:52:09Z")
This is by design, and the reason is a bit technical. The use case is rather small and it adds an unproportional amount of complexity to the code. ---
**Author:** ![bpeps563](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/bpeps563/32/4321_2.png) [@bpeps563](https://community.bear.app/u/bpeps563)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/3 "2025-05-16T16:04:20Z")
thanks for clarifying ---
**Author:** ![rinji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/439d5e/32.png) [@rinji](https://community.bear.app/u/rinji)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2025, 7:56am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/4 "2025-07-10T07:56:52Z")
Thanks for clarifying but I don’t agree with this design choice and would like to second [bpeps563](https://community.bear.app/u/bpeps563) issue report. From a users perspective it’s not understandable why the behaviour is different in various cases. In my particular instance it makes the folding feature unusable since I often combine bullet points and headings. ---
**Author:** ![rexikan](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/rexikan/32/4117_2.png) [@rexikan](https://community.bear.app/u/rexikan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2025, 9:45am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/5 "2025-07-10T09:45:47Z")
> [@rinji](#): > > I don’t agree with this design choice We tried to allow it but it made the feature much more complicated to implement. In the end it is about priorities. ---
**Author:** ![AdamRadPro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@AdamRadPro](https://community.bear.app/u/AdamRadPro)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 10:52am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/6 "2025-07-11T10:52:25Z")
I have to agree with the devs on this design. I’ve never seen a heading inside a hierarchy of bullets or adding a bullet to a heading over the years of using various Markdown apps. This would be the first for me. I see headings as the top and everything underneath gets random emphasis. In this case, bold, underline (which is rare), and the new and excellent highlight colors (also rare) would be good to make the emphasis stand out on a bullet. _You could also get creative with the new callouts feature._ If TOC and folding is needed, the best practice I would follow is remove the bullet and make it the next heading in the hierarchy (H2 to H3). I think you’ll find this more common when bouncing to other Markdown apps. ---
**Author:** ![rinji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/439d5e/32.png) [@rinji](https://community.bear.app/u/rinji)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 8:40am UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/7 "2025-07-13T08:40:12Z")
@AdamRadPro Thank you for your input and ideas for possible workarounds. I myself like to structure my notes in a similar fashion to roam research, where I have the possibility to use indentation coupled with sectional hierarchies. This allows for tremendous flexibility in my note taking and greatly improves structurability and therefore readability and scanability of (especially) longer notes. There are many, many examples of similarly structured notes online. See two examples from different online authors of the feature I’m proposing: ![keystone-habits-with-roam-research-thumbnail](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/bear/original/2X/c/c557fc5378b10640faad50ef55417af83450b4b7.jpeg) ![0_bxeRAi4vwvjbCwnx](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/bear/original/2X/d/dd299e68dfdc3264b5e6222a21ea3a18a971c482.png) BTW: Obsidian handles the combination of bullet points and headers as expected and I’m sure that’s no coincidence as the explanation of rexikan seems to suggest. And also Bear allows the combination of these elements, it’s just the folding mechanism that “breaks”. @rexikan Thanks for your clarification. Being an app developer myself I can relate to the importance of prioritisation. The feature request on my part still stands. For the time being I guess I will just not use any folding in my notes 🥲 ---
**Author:** ![krssno](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/krssno/32/1338_2.png) [@krssno](https://community.bear.app/u/krssno)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/headers-in-lists-cannot-be-collapsed/16731/8 "2025-07-13T16:20:50Z")
I would argue from a traditional point of view. The purpose of headings is to structure a text. In this sense, it makes no sense to allow headings within a list at all. I don’t even want to talk about absurd results such as using a higher heading for each deeper level within a list. A heading is a heading and nothing else. I find it confusing that it is even possible to use a heading within a list. On the other hand, however, I find the existing option of using headings within quotations/callouts, for example, at least not absurd, even if I don’t really see the benefit. But then I would at least expect these headings not to be included in the TOC, because they suggest a structure of the text that does not actually exist. These headings do not structure the entire text, but only the text within the callouts. It’s like a matryoshka doll.