diff --git a/src/public/app/widgets/note_tree.js b/src/public/app/widgets/note_tree.js
index 082ca86ec..e2cee7c4f 100644
--- a/src/public/app/widgets/note_tree.js
+++ b/src/public/app/widgets/note_tree.js
@@ -176,6 +176,15 @@ const TPL = `
                       title="Images which are shown in the parent text note will not be displayed in the tree"></span>
             </label>
         </div>
+        <div class="form-check">
+            <label class="form-check-label">
+                <input class="form-check-input auto-collapse-note-tree" type="checkbox" value="">
+                
+                Automatically collapse notes
+                <span class="bx bx-info-circle" 
+                      title="Notes will be collapsed after period of inactivity to declutter the tree."></span>
+            </label>
+        </div>
     
         <br/>
     
@@ -235,6 +244,7 @@ export default class NoteTreeWidget extends TabAwareWidget {
         this.$treeSettingsPopup = this.$widget.find('.tree-settings-popup');
         this.$hideArchivedNotesCheckbox = this.$treeSettingsPopup.find('.hide-archived-notes');
         this.$hideIncludedImages = this.$treeSettingsPopup.find('.hide-included-images');
+        this.$autoCollapseNoteTree = this.$treeSettingsPopup.find('.auto-collapse-note-tree');
 
         this.$treeSettingsButton = this.$widget.find('.tree-settings-button');
         this.$treeSettingsButton.on("click", e => {
@@ -245,6 +255,7 @@ export default class NoteTreeWidget extends TabAwareWidget {
 
             this.$hideArchivedNotesCheckbox.prop("checked", this.hideArchivedNotes);
             this.$hideIncludedImages.prop("checked", this.hideIncludedImages);
+            this.$autoCollapseNoteTree.prop("checked", this.autoCollapseNoteTree);
 
             let top = this.$treeSettingsButton[0].offsetTop;
             let left = this.$treeSettingsButton[0].offsetLeft;
@@ -272,6 +283,7 @@ export default class NoteTreeWidget extends TabAwareWidget {
         this.$saveTreeSettingsButton.on('click', async () => {
             await this.setHideArchivedNotes(this.$hideArchivedNotesCheckbox.prop("checked"));
             await this.setHideIncludedImages(this.$hideIncludedImages.prop("checked"));
+            await this.setAutoCollapseNoteTree(this.$autoCollapseNoteTree.prop("checked"));
 
             this.$treeSettingsPopup.hide();
 
@@ -327,6 +339,14 @@ export default class NoteTreeWidget extends TabAwareWidget {
         await options.save("hideIncludedImages_" + this.treeName, val.toString());
     }
 
+    get autoCollapseNoteTree() {
+        return options.is("autoCollapseNoteTree");
+    }
+
+    async setAutoCollapseNoteTree(val) {
+        await options.save("autoCollapseNoteTree", val.toString());
+    }
+
     initFancyTree() {
         const treeData = [this.prepareRootNode()];
 
@@ -961,6 +981,10 @@ export default class NoteTreeWidget extends TabAwareWidget {
         }
 
         this.autoCollapseTimeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
+            if (!this.autoCollapseNoteTree) {
+                return;
+            }
+
             /*
              * We're collapsing notes after period of inactivity to "cleanup" the tree - users rarely
              * collapse the notes and the tree becomes unusuably large.
diff --git a/src/routes/api/options.js b/src/routes/api/options.js
index d08581037..4928adcce 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/options.js
+++ b/src/routes/api/options.js
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ const ALLOWED_OPTIONS = new Set([
     'attributeListExpanded',
     'promotedAttributesExpanded',
     'similarNotesExpanded',
-    'headingStyle'
+    'headingStyle',
+    'autoCollapseNoteTree'
 ]);
 
 function getOptions() {
diff --git a/src/services/options_init.js b/src/services/options_init.js
index 35b2768de..81ac7b53c 100644
--- a/src/services/options_init.js
+++ b/src/services/options_init.js
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ const defaultOptions = [
     { name: 'similarNotesExpanded', value: 'true', isSynced: true },
     { name: 'debugModeEnabled', value: 'false', isSynced: false },
     { name: 'headingStyle', value: 'markdown', isSynced: true },
+    { name: 'autoCollapseNoteTree', value: 'true', isSynced: true },
 ];
 
 function initStartupOptions() {