diff --git a/src/calibre/db/backend.py b/src/calibre/db/backend.py
index c12326182a..b5e3013f61 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/backend.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/backend.py
@@ -1004,7 +1004,7 @@ class DB:
     def unretire_note(self, field, item_id, item_val):
         return self.notes.unretire(self.conn, field, item_id, item_val)
 
-    def notes_search(self,
+    def search_notes(self,
         fts_engine_query, use_stemming, highlight_start, highlight_end, snippet_size, restrict_to_fields, return_text, process_each_result, limit
     ):
         yield from self.notes.search(
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/cache.py b/src/calibre/db/cache.py
index 388b7fa798..7392851156 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/cache.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/cache.py
@@ -741,9 +741,9 @@ class Cache:
         return self.backend.import_note(field, item_id, html, basedir, st.st_ctime, st.st_mtime)
 
     @write_api  # we need to use write locking as SQLITE gives a locked table error if multiple FTS queries are made at the same time
-    def notes_search(
+    def search_notes(
         self,
-        fts_engine_query,
+        fts_engine_query='',
         use_stemming=True,
         highlight_start=None,
         highlight_end=None,
@@ -755,7 +755,7 @@ class Cache:
         limit=None,
     ):
         ' Search the text of notes using an FTS index. If the query is empty return all notes. '
-        return result_type(self.backend.notes_search(
+        return result_type(self.backend.search_notes(
             fts_engine_query,
             use_stemming=use_stemming,
             highlight_start=highlight_start,
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/tests/notes.py b/src/calibre/db/tests/notes.py
index 1fed6b61df..75c8ebd759 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/tests/notes.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/tests/notes.py
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def test_fts(self: 'NotesTest'):
 
     def ids_for_search(x, restrict_to_fields=()):
         return {
-            (x['field'], x['item_id']) for x in cache.notes_search(x, restrict_to_fields=restrict_to_fields)
+            (x['field'], x['item_id']) for x in cache.search_notes(x, restrict_to_fields=restrict_to_fields)
         }
 
     self.ae(ids_for_search('wunderbar'), {('authors', authors[0])})
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/library/notes.py b/src/calibre/gui2/library/notes.py
index 9310ce0a90..d07ee56ec5 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/library/notes.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/library/notes.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import os
 from functools import partial
 from qt.core import (
     QAbstractItemView, QCheckBox, QDialogButtonBox, QFont, QHBoxLayout, QIcon,
-    QKeySequence, QLabel, QMenu, QSize, Qt, QToolButton, QTreeWidget, QTreeWidgetItem,
-    QVBoxLayout, QWidget, pyqtSignal,
+    QKeySequence, QLabel, QMenu, QSize, QSplitter, Qt, QTimer, QToolButton, QTreeWidget,
+    QTreeWidgetItem, QVBoxLayout, QWidget, pyqtSignal,
 )
 
 from calibre.db.backend import FTSQueryError
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ class ResultsList(QTreeWidget):
         for result in results:
             field_map[result['field']]['matches'].append(result)
         for field, entry in field_map.items():
+            if not entry['matches']:
+                continue
             section = QTreeWidgetItem([entry['title']], 1)
             section.setFlags(Qt.ItemFlag.ItemIsEnabled)
             section.setFont(0, self.section_font)
@@ -298,6 +300,13 @@ class NotesBrowser(Dialog):
         self.search_input = si = SearchInput(self)
         l.addWidget(si)
 
+        self.splitter = s = QSplitter(self)
+        l.addWidget(s, stretch=100)
+        s.setChildrenCollapsible(False)
+
+        self.results_list = rl = ResultsList(self)
+        s.addWidget(rl)
+
         self.use_stemmer = us = QCheckBox(_('&Match on related words'))
         us.setChecked(gprefs['browse_notes_use_stemmer'])
         us.setToolTip('<p>' + _(
@@ -308,6 +317,7 @@ class NotesBrowser(Dialog):
         h = QHBoxLayout()
         l.addLayout(h)
         h.addWidget(us), h.addStretch(10), h.addWidget(self.bb)
+        QTimer.singleShot(0, self.do_find)
 
     def do_find(self, backwards=False):
         q = self.search_input.current_query