features · Jun 9, 2015
Drill Down
Last updated: July 22, 2026
Last updated: July 22, 2026
Drill down (zoom in) lets you focus on a single task and its subtasks, hiding everything else on a long list. Select the task and press Z to zoom in, then press the Down arrow and Z to go deeper into a subtask. It is the fastest way to shut out the noise of a big project and work on just the branch in front of you.
Sometimes, users would like to focus on only one task and its subtasks on Quire, especially when they have a long task list and want to hide all the other tasks from the screen. This is when the “drill down” (zoom in) feature comes in handy. If you'd rather narrow the list by a task's properties instead of by branch, Quire's filter feature does that job.
Focus is fragile, and a crowded screen is a quiet interruption. Gloria Mark's team at UC Irvine found it takes about 23 minutes to get back into a task after a distraction, which is exactly why narrowing the view to one branch helps.
How do you drill down into a task?
1. Select a task in your project, and press Z to zoom in on it
2. Then, you will only see the task and its subtasks
To further zoom in on a subtask, press the Down arrow key to select it and then press Z.
To zoom out, press A. Z and A join a handful of other shortcuts worth learning; see the full list of Quire keyboard shortcuts.
Read more on other handy shortcuts and UX touches in Quire.
See you in our next post!
Related: 20 Hidden Quire Features You Should Know — drill down is one of several lesser-known shortcuts that speed up daily task management.
How do you drill down, step by step?
Three keystrokes, and the rest of the project gets out of your way.
Drill down shines on long, deep projects, the ones where a single screen shows fifty tasks and finding your three feels like a search. Zoom into the branch you own and the rest disappears until you zoom back out. If you would rather narrow by a task's properties, like assignee or due date, filters do that instead, but for pure focus on one thread of work, drill down is the fastest move.
There is a reason zoom-in tools show up in editors, maps, and design apps: the mind works better on one thing at a time. A project view is no different. When a list runs to dozens of tasks, the ones that matter right now compete with everything you are not doing today, and that competition is a low, constant tax on your attention. Drill down removes it for as long as you need, then hands the full picture back the moment you zoom out. It pairs naturally with a nested task list: the deeper your projects nest, the more a quick zoom saves you from scrolling. Think of it as a spotlight you can switch on for one branch and off again in a keystroke.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the drill down feature in Quire?
It's also called zoom in. It focuses on a single task and its subtasks while hiding everything else on screen, handy for long task lists.
How do you drill down into a task in Quire?
Select a task and press Z to zoom in. You'll then see only that task and its subtasks.
How do you zoom further in or zoom back out when drilling down?
Press the Down arrow to select a subtask, then Z to drill further in. Press A to zoom back out to the full list.
Why use drill down in Quire?
It helps you focus when a task list grows long, since hiding unrelated tasks lets you work through one branch without distraction.
