diff --git a/lib/core/note.dart b/lib/core/note.dart
index 263b7e24..75ab8239 100644
--- a/lib/core/note.dart
+++ b/lib/core/note.dart
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import 'dart:io';
 
 import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
+import 'package:gitjournal/settings.dart';
 import 'package:gitjournal/utils/markdown.dart';
 import 'package:path/path.dart' as p;
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ class Note with ChangeNotifier implements Comparable<Note> {
   Note(this.parent, this._filePath);
 
   Note.newNote(this.parent) {
-    _created = DateTime.now();
+    created = DateTime.now();
   }
 
   String get filePath {
@@ -55,6 +56,8 @@ class Note with ChangeNotifier implements Comparable<Note> {
   }
 
   set created(DateTime dt) {
+    if (!canHaveMetadata) return;
+
     _created = dt;
     notifyListeners();
   }
@@ -64,6 +67,8 @@ class Note with ChangeNotifier implements Comparable<Note> {
   }
 
   set modified(DateTime dt) {
+    if (!canHaveMetadata) return;
+
     _modified = dt;
     notifyListeners();
   }
@@ -88,10 +93,16 @@ class Note with ChangeNotifier implements Comparable<Note> {
   }
 
   set title(String title) {
+    if (!canHaveMetadata) return;
+
     _title = title;
     notifyListeners();
   }
 
+  bool get canHaveMetadata {
+    return Settings.instance.yamlHeaderEnabled;
+  }
+
   MdYamlDoc get data {
     noteSerializer.encode(this, _data);
     return _data;
diff --git a/lib/core/note_fileName.dart b/lib/core/note_fileName.dart
index a34b030d..8ec1743a 100644
--- a/lib/core/note_fileName.dart
+++ b/lib/core/note_fileName.dart
@@ -6,23 +6,25 @@ import 'package:gitjournal/settings.dart';
 import 'package:path/path.dart' as p;
 
 String getFileName(Note note) {
+  var date =
+      note.created ?? note.modified ?? note.fileLastModified ?? DateTime.now();
   switch (Settings.instance.noteFileNameFormat) {
     case NoteFileNameFormat.FromTitle:
       if (note.title.isNotEmpty) {
         return buildTitleFileName(note.parent.folderPath, note.title);
       } else {
-        return toIso8601WithTimezone(note.created) + ".md";
+        return toIso8601WithTimezone(date) + ".md";
       }
       break;
     case NoteFileNameFormat.Iso8601:
-      return toIso8601(note.created) + ".md";
+      return toIso8601(date) + ".md";
     case NoteFileNameFormat.Iso8601WithTimeZone:
-      return toIso8601WithTimezone(note.created) + ".md";
+      return toIso8601WithTimezone(date) + ".md";
     case NoteFileNameFormat.Iso8601WithTimeZoneWithoutColon:
-      return toIso8601WithTimezone(note.created).replaceAll(":", "_") + ".md";
+      return toIso8601WithTimezone(date).replaceAll(":", "_") + ".md";
   }
 
-  return note.created.toString();
+  return date.toString();
 }
 
 String buildTitleFileName(String parentDir, String title) {
diff --git a/lib/screens/settings_note_metadata.dart b/lib/screens/settings_note_metadata.dart
index 57430df7..7b1d65fd 100644
--- a/lib/screens/settings_note_metadata.dart
+++ b/lib/screens/settings_note_metadata.dart
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ class _NoteMetadataSettingsScreenState
   @override
   Widget build(BuildContext context) {
     var textTheme = Theme.of(context).textTheme;
+    String yamlHeader = "                                      \n";
+    if (Settings.instance.yamlHeaderEnabled) {
+      var map = _buildMap();
+      yamlHeader = MarkdownYAMLCodec.toYamlHeader(map).trim();
+    }
 
     var body = Column(
       children: <Widget>[
@@ -26,9 +31,19 @@ class _NoteMetadataSettingsScreenState
           ),
         ),
         const SizedBox(height: 16.0),
-        NoteMetaDataExample(_buildMap()),
+        NoteMetaDataExample(yamlHeader),
         const SizedBox(height: 16.0),
         const Divider(),
+        SwitchListTile(
+          title: const Text("Enable YAML Header"),
+          value: Settings.instance.yamlHeaderEnabled,
+          onChanged: (bool newVal) {
+            setState(() {
+              Settings.instance.yamlHeaderEnabled = newVal;
+              Settings.instance.save();
+            });
+          },
+        ),
         ListPreference(
           title: "Modified Field",
           options: [
@@ -44,6 +59,7 @@ class _NoteMetadataSettingsScreenState
               Settings.instance.save();
             });
           },
+          enabled: Settings.instance.yamlHeaderEnabled,
         ),
       ],
     );
@@ -75,8 +91,7 @@ class _NoteMetadataSettingsScreenState
 class NoteMetaDataExample extends StatelessWidget {
   final String yamlHeader;
 
-  NoteMetaDataExample(Map<String, dynamic> data)
-      : yamlHeader = MarkdownYAMLCodec.toYamlHeader(data);
+  NoteMetaDataExample(this.yamlHeader);
 
   @override
   Widget build(BuildContext context) {
diff --git a/lib/settings.dart b/lib/settings.dart
index 8d5c71a1..69ad7261 100644
--- a/lib/settings.dart
+++ b/lib/settings.dart
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ class Settings {
   bool collectCrashReports = true;
 
   String yamlModifiedKey = "modified";
+  bool yamlHeaderEnabled = true;
   String defaultNewNoteFolder = "journal";
 
   RemoteSyncFrequency remoteSyncFrequency = RemoteSyncFrequency.Default;
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ class Settings {
         pref.getBool("collectCrashReports") ?? collectCrashReports;
 
     yamlModifiedKey = pref.getString("yamlModifiedKey") ?? yamlModifiedKey;
+    yamlHeaderEnabled = pref.getBool("yamlHeaderEnabled") ?? yamlHeaderEnabled;
     defaultNewNoteFolder =
         pref.getString("defaultNewNoteFolder") ?? defaultNewNoteFolder;
 
@@ -59,6 +61,7 @@ class Settings {
     pref.setBool("collectUsageStatistics", collectUsageStatistics);
     pref.setBool("collectCrashReports", collectCrashReports);
     pref.setString("yamlModifiedKey", yamlModifiedKey);
+    pref.setBool("yamlHeaderEnabled", yamlHeaderEnabled);
     pref.setString("defaultNewNoteFolder", defaultNewNoteFolder);
     pref.setString(
         "remoteSyncFrequency", remoteSyncFrequency.toInternalString());
@@ -80,6 +83,7 @@ class Settings {
       "collectUsageStatistics": collectUsageStatistics,
       "collectCrashReports": collectCrashReports,
       "yamlModifiedKey": yamlModifiedKey,
+      "yamlHeaderEnabled": yamlHeaderEnabled,
       "defaultNewNoteFolder": defaultNewNoteFolder,
       "defaultEditor": defaultEditor.toInternalString(),
       "version": version,