diff --git a/CliClient/tests/services_SearchEngine.js b/CliClient/tests/services_SearchEngine.js
index f6f2669f3..3caa1ff51 100644
--- a/CliClient/tests/services_SearchEngine.js
+++ b/CliClient/tests/services_SearchEngine.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 require('app-module-path').addPath(__dirname);
 
 const { time } = require('lib/time-utils.js');
-const { fileContentEqual, setupDatabase, setupDatabaseAndSynchronizer, asyncTest, db, synchronizer, fileApi, sleep, clearDatabase, switchClient, syncTargetId, objectsEqual, checkThrowAsync } = require('test-utils.js');
+const { fileContentEqual, setupDatabase, setupDatabaseAndSynchronizer, asyncTest, db, synchronizer, fileApi, sleep, clearDatabase, switchClient, syncTargetId, objectsEqual, checkThrowAsync, mockDate, restoreDate } = require('test-utils.js');
 const SearchEngine = require('lib/services/searchengine/SearchEngine');
 const Note = require('lib/models/Note');
 const ItemChange = require('lib/models/ItemChange');
@@ -33,16 +33,32 @@ const calculateScore = (searchString, notes) => {
 	const numTokens = notes.map(note => note.title.split(' ').length);
 	const avgTokens = Math.round(numTokens.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) / notes.length);
 
-	let titleBM25 = new Array(notes.length).fill(-1);
+	const msSinceEpoch = Math.round(new Date().getTime());
+	const msPerDay = 86400000;
+	const weightForDaysSinceLastUpdate = (row) => {
+		// BM25 weights typically range 0-10, and last updated date should weight similarly, though prioritizing recency logarithmically.
+		// An alpha of 200 ensures matches in the last week will show up front (11.59) and often so for matches within 2 weeks (5.99),
+		// but is much less of a factor at 30 days (2.84) or very little after 90 days (0.95), focusing mostly on content at that point.
+		if (!row.user_updated_time) {
+			return 0;
+		}
+
+		const alpha = 200;
+		const daysSinceLastUpdate = (msSinceEpoch - row.user_updated_time) / msPerDay;
+		return alpha * Math.log(1 + 1 / Math.max(daysSinceLastUpdate, 0.5));
+	};
+
+	let titleBM25WeightedByLastUpdate = new Array(notes.length).fill(-1);
 	if (avgTokens != 0) {
 		for (let i = 0; i < notes.length; i++) {
-			titleBM25[i] = IDF(notes.length, notesWithWord) * ((freqTitle[i] * (K1 + 1)) / (freqTitle[i] + K1 * (1 - B + B * (numTokens[i] / avgTokens))));
+			titleBM25WeightedByLastUpdate[i] = IDF(notes.length, notesWithWord) * ((freqTitle[i] * (K1 + 1)) / (freqTitle[i] + K1 * (1 - B + B * (numTokens[i] / avgTokens))));
+			titleBM25WeightedByLastUpdate[i] += weightForDaysSinceLastUpdate(notes[i]);
 		}
 	}
 
 	const scores = [];
 	for (let i = 0; i < notes.length; i++) {
-		if (freqTitle[i]) scores.push(titleBM25[i]);
+		if (freqTitle[i]) scores.push(titleBM25WeightedByLastUpdate[i]);
 	}
 
 	scores.sort().reverse();
@@ -142,33 +158,54 @@ describe('services_SearchEngine', function() {
 		expect(rows[1].id).toBe(n2.id);
 	}));
 
-	it('should correctly weigh notes using BM25', asyncTest(async () => {
-
+	it('should correctly weigh notes using BM25 and user_updated_time', asyncTest(async () => {
+		await mockDate(2020, 9, 30, 50);
 		const noteData = [
 			{
 				title: 'abc test2 test2',
+				updated_time: 1601425064756,
+				user_updated_time: 1601425064756,
+				created_time: 1601425064756,
+				user_created_time: 1601425064756,
 			},
 			{
 				title: 'foo foo',
+				updated_time: 1601425064758,
+				user_updated_time: 1601425064758,
+				created_time: 1601425064758,
+				user_created_time: 1601425064758,
 			},
 			{
 				title: 'dead beef',
+				updated_time: 1601425064760,
+				user_updated_time: 1601425064760,
+				created_time: 1601425064760,
+				user_created_time: 1601425064760,
 			},
 			{
 				title: 'test2 bar',
+				updated_time: 1601425064761,
+				user_updated_time: 1601425064761,
+				created_time: 1601425064761,
+				user_created_time: 1601425064761,
 			},
 			{
 				title: 'blah blah abc',
+				updated_time: 1601425064763,
+				user_updated_time: 1601425064763,
+				created_time: 1601425064763,
+				user_created_time: 1601425064763,
 			},
 		];
 
-		const n0 = await Note.save(noteData[0]);
-		const n1 = await Note.save(noteData[1]);
-		const n2 = await Note.save(noteData[2]);
-		const n3 = await Note.save(noteData[3]);
-		const n4 = await Note.save(noteData[4]);
-
+		const n0 = await Note.save(noteData[0], { autoTimestamp: false });
+		const n1 = await Note.save(noteData[1], { autoTimestamp: false });
+		const n2 = await Note.save(noteData[2], { autoTimestamp: false });
+		const n3 = await Note.save(noteData[3], { autoTimestamp: false });
+		const n4 = await Note.save(noteData[4], { autoTimestamp: false });
+		restoreDate();
 		await engine.syncTables();
+		await mockDate(2020, 9, 30, 50);
 
 		let searchString = 'abc';
 		let scores = calculateScore(searchString, noteData);
@@ -198,6 +235,7 @@ describe('services_SearchEngine', function() {
 		// console.log(scores);
 
 		expect(rows[0].weight).toEqual(scores[0]);
+		await restoreDate();
 	}));
 
 	it('should tell where the results are found', asyncTest(async () => {
diff --git a/CliClient/tests/test-utils.js b/CliClient/tests/test-utils.js
index ddcf65d70..732afa2b4 100644
--- a/CliClient/tests/test-utils.js
+++ b/CliClient/tests/test-utils.js
@@ -634,6 +634,16 @@ function tempFilePath(ext) {
 	return `${Setting.value('tempDir')}/${md5(Date.now() + Math.random())}.${ext}`;
 }
 
+function mockDate(year, month, day, tick) {
+	const fixedDate = new Date(2020, 0, 1);
+	jasmine.clock().install();
+	jasmine.clock().mockDate(fixedDate);
+}
+
+function restoreDate() {
+	jasmine.clock().uninstall();
+}
+
 // Application for feature integration testing
 class TestApp extends BaseApplication {
 	constructor(hasGui = true) {
@@ -702,4 +712,4 @@ class TestApp extends BaseApplication {
 	}
 }
 
-module.exports = { synchronizerStart, syncTargetName, setSyncTargetName, syncDir, isNetworkSyncTarget, kvStore, expectThrow, logger, expectNotThrow, resourceService, resourceFetcher, tempFilePath, allSyncTargetItemsEncrypted, msleep, setupDatabase, revisionService, setupDatabaseAndSynchronizer, db, synchronizer, fileApi, sleep, clearDatabase, switchClient, syncTargetId, objectsEqual, checkThrowAsync, checkThrow, encryptionService, loadEncryptionMasterKey, fileContentEqual, decryptionWorker, asyncTest, currentClientId, id, ids, sortedIds, at, createNTestNotes, createNTestFolders, createNTestTags, TestApp };
+module.exports = { synchronizerStart, syncTargetName, setSyncTargetName, syncDir, isNetworkSyncTarget, kvStore, expectThrow, logger, expectNotThrow, resourceService, resourceFetcher, tempFilePath, allSyncTargetItemsEncrypted, msleep, setupDatabase, revisionService, setupDatabaseAndSynchronizer, db, synchronizer, fileApi, sleep, clearDatabase, switchClient, syncTargetId, objectsEqual, checkThrowAsync, checkThrow, encryptionService, loadEncryptionMasterKey, fileContentEqual, decryptionWorker, asyncTest, currentClientId, id, ids, sortedIds, at, createNTestNotes, createNTestFolders, createNTestTags, mockDate, restoreDate, TestApp };
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0a1a9b5bd..fa4136680 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ The Web Clipper is a browser extension that allows you to save web pages and scr
 	- [Note History spec](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/dev/readme/spec/history.md)
 	- [Sync Lock spec](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/dev/readme/spec/sync_lock.md)
 	- [Plugin Architecture spec](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/dev/readme/spec/plugins.md)
+  - [Search Sorting spec](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/master/readme/spec/search_sorting.md)
 
 - Google Summer of Code 2020
 
@@ -345,7 +346,7 @@ You can also use search filters to further restrict the search.
 |**resource:**|Filter by attachment MIME type|`resource:image/jpeg` to return notes with a jpeg attachment.<br>`-resource:application/pdf` to return notes without a pdf attachment.<br>`resource:image/*` to return notes with any images.|
 |**sourceurl:**|Filter by source URL|`sourceurl:https://www.google.com`<br>`sourceurl:*joplinapp.org` to perform a wildcard search.|
 
-Note: In CliClient you have to escape the query using `--` when using negated filters. 
+Note: In CliClient you have to escape the query using `--` when using negated filters.
 Eg. `:search -- "-tag:tag1"`.
 
 Notes are sorted by "relevance". Currently it means the notes that contain the requested terms the most times are on top. For queries with multiple terms, it also matters how close to each other the terms are. This is a bit experimental so if you notice a search query that returns unexpected results, please report it in the forum, providing as many details as possible to replicate the issue.
diff --git a/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/searchengine/SearchEngine.js b/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/searchengine/SearchEngine.js
index 53c64f10b..a7deafd96 100644
--- a/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/searchengine/SearchEngine.js
+++ b/ReactNativeClient/lib/services/searchengine/SearchEngine.js
@@ -328,6 +328,21 @@ class SearchEngine {
 			return idf * (freq * (K1 + 1)) / (freq + K1 * (1 - B + B * (numTokens / avgTokens)));
 		};
 
+		const msSinceEpoch = Math.round(new Date().getTime());
+		const msPerDay = 86400000;
+		const weightForDaysSinceLastUpdate = (row) => {
+			// BM25 weights typically range 0-10, and last updated date should weight similarly, though prioritizing recency logarithmically.
+			// An alpha of 200 ensures matches in the last week will show up front (11.59) and often so for matches within 2 weeks (5.99),
+			// but is much less of a factor at 30 days (2.84) or very little after 90 days (0.95), focusing mostly on content at that point.
+			if (!row.user_updated_time) {
+				return 0;
+			}
+
+			const alpha = 200;
+			const daysSinceLastUpdate = (msSinceEpoch - row.user_updated_time) / msPerDay;
+			return alpha * Math.log(1 + 1 / Math.max(daysSinceLastUpdate, 0.5));
+		};
+
 		for (let i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
 			const row = rows[i];
 			row.weight = 0;
@@ -346,6 +361,8 @@ class SearchEngine {
 				});
 				row.wordFound.push(found);
 			}
+
+			row.weight += weightForDaysSinceLastUpdate(row);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/readme/spec/search_sorting.md b/readme/spec/search_sorting.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af9a0e708
--- /dev/null
+++ b/readme/spec/search_sorting.md
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Search Engine
+
+The Search Engine powers the Search input in the note list and the Goto Anything dialog.
+
+## Search algorithm
+
+### Discretely using only the most critical parameter in sorting
+
+Sorting occurs as the Search Engine processes results, after searching for and weighting these results.
+
+Parameters include fuzziness, title matching, weight (based on BM25 and age), the completed status of to-dos, and the note's age.
+
+The Search Engine uses only the first relevant parameter to determine the order, rather than a weighted average.
+In effect, this means search results with note title matches will appear above all results that only matched the note body,
+regardless of weight or other parameters.
+
+### Determining weight as a sorting parameter
+
+The Search Engine determines the weight parameter using both [BM25](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okapi_BM25)
+and the number of days since last user update.
+
+#### BM25
+
+The Search Engine determines BM25 based on "term frequency-inverse document frequency."
+The "TF–IDF" value increases proportionally to the number of times a word appears in the document
+and is offset by the number of documents in the corpus that contain the word, which helps to adjust
+for the fact that some words appear more frequently in general.
+
+BM25 returns weight zero for a search term that occurs in more than half the notes.
+So terms that are abundant in all notes to have zero relevance w.r.t. BM25.
+
+#### Days since last user update
+
+Sorting increases the BM25 weight by the inverse number of days since the note was updated.
+Recent notes will, therefore, be weighted highly in the search results.
+This time-based weight decays logarithmically, becoming less of a factor than BM25 after months have passed.
+