diff --git a/Search.php b/Search.php
index 19a2724..90dfe0f 100644
--- a/Search.php
+++ b/Search.php
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ class Search
      * @var bool also sorts the namespaces
      */
     private $nsort;
+    /**
+     * @var bool Group the namespaces and page and sort separately, or mix them and sort together
+     */
+    private $group;
     /**
      * @var bool Sort the headpages as defined by global config setting startpage to the top
      */
@@ -35,6 +39,7 @@ class Search
      *   $sort['msort']
      *   $sort['rsort']
      *   $sort['nsort']
+     *   $sort['group']
      *   $sort['hsort'];
      */
     public function __construct($sort)
@@ -43,6 +48,7 @@ public function __construct($sort)
         $this->msort = $sort['msort'];
         $this->rsort = $sort['rsort'];
         $this->nsort = $sort['nsort'];
+        $this->group = $sort['group'];
         $this->hsort = $sort['hsort'];
     }
 
@@ -657,8 +663,15 @@ public function customSearch(&$data, $base, $func, $opts, $dir = '', $lvl = 1)
             foreach ($dirs as $dir) {
                 call_user_func_array($func, [&$dirs_tmp, $base, $dir, 'd', $lvl, $opts]);
             }
-            //combine directories and pages and sort together
-            $dirsAndFiles = array_merge($dirs_tmp, $files_tmp);
+            if($this->group) {
+                //group directories and pages, and sort separately
+                $dirsAndFiles = $dirs_tmp;
+            } else {
+                // no grouping
+                //mix directories and pages and sort together
+                $dirsAndFiles = array_merge($dirs_tmp, $files_tmp);
+            }
+
             usort($dirsAndFiles, [$this, "compareNodes"]);
 
             //add and search each directory
@@ -688,7 +701,7 @@ public function customSearch(&$data, $base, $func, $opts, $dir = '', $lvl = 1)
             if (!$lastItem['hns']) {
                 array_pop($data);
             }
-        } elseif (!$this->nsort) {
+        } elseif (!($this->nsort && !$this->group)) {
             //add files to index
             $data = array_merge($data, $files_tmp);
         }
diff --git a/action.php b/action.php
index 035b280..e413c63 100644
--- a/action.php
+++ b/action.php
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ private function getDataFancyTree()
             'msort' => $INPUT->str('msort'),
             'rsort' => $INPUT->bool('rsort'),
             'nsort' => $INPUT->bool('nsort'),
+            'group' => $INPUT->bool('group'),
             'hsort' => $INPUT->bool('hsort')
         ];
 
@@ -475,6 +476,7 @@ private function printIndex($ns)
         $sort['msort'] = $INPUT->str('msort', '', true);
         $sort['rsort'] = $INPUT->bool('rsort', false, true);
         $sort['nsort'] = $INPUT->bool('nsort', false, true);
+        $sort['group'] = $INPUT->bool('group', false, true);
         $sort['hsort'] = $INPUT->bool('hsort', false, true);
         $search = new Search($sort);
         $fsdir = "/" . utf8_encodeFN(str_replace(':', '/', $ns));
diff --git a/script.js b/script.js
index 93d48d3..c66d194 100644
--- a/script.js
+++ b/script.js
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ jQuery(function(){  // on page load
                     msort: options.sort.msort ? options.sort.msort : 0, //'indexmenu_n', or metadata 'key subkey' TODO is empty handled correctly?
                     rsort: options.sort.rsort ? 1 : 0,
                     nsort: options.sort.nsort ? 1 : 0,
+                    group: options.sort.group ? 1 : 0,
                     hsort: options.sort.hsort ? 1 : 0,
 
                     init: 1
@@ -285,6 +286,7 @@ jQuery(function(){  // on page load
                         msort: options.sort.msort ? options.sort.msort : 0,
                         rsort: options.sort.rsort ? 1 : 0,
                         nsort: options.sort.nsort ? 1 : 0,
+                        group: options.sort.group ? 1 : 0,
                         hsort: options.sort.hsort ? 1 : 0,
 
                         init: 0
diff --git a/syntax/indexmenu.php b/syntax/indexmenu.php
index 766ef31..b27c2bc 100644
--- a/syntax/indexmenu.php
+++ b/syntax/indexmenu.php
@@ -160,6 +160,9 @@ public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
         }
         //sort directories in the same way as files
         $nsort = $this->hasOption($defaults, $opts, 'nsort');
+        //group namespaces and pages both sorted separately with same sorting, or nogroup: mix them and sort together
+        $group = !$this->hasOption($defaults, $opts, 'nogroup');
+
         //sort headpages up
         $hsort = $this->hasOption($defaults, $opts, 'hsort');
         //Metadata sort method
@@ -175,6 +178,7 @@ public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
         if ($msort) $jsAjax .= "&msort=" . $msort;
         if ($rsort) $jsAjax .= "&rsort=1";
         if ($nsort) $jsAjax .= "&nsort=1";
+        if ($group) $jsAjax .= "&group=1";
         if ($hsort) $jsAjax .= "&hsort=1";
         if ($nopg) $jsAjax .= "&nopg=1";
 
@@ -317,7 +321,8 @@ public function handle($match, $state, $pos, Doku_Handler $handler)
                 'msort' => $msort,
                 'rsort' => $rsort,
                 'nsort' => $nsort,
-                'hsort' => $hsort,
+                'group' => $group,
+                'hsort' => $hsort
             ],
             [ //3=opts
                 'level' => $level, // requested depth of initial opened nodes, -1:all
@@ -408,7 +413,7 @@ public function render($format, Doku_Renderer $renderer, $data)
         $ns = $data[0];
         //theme, identifier, nocookie, navbar, noscroll, maxJs, notoc, jsAjax, context, nomenu
         $js_dTreeOpts = $data[1];
-        //sort, msort, rsort, nsort, hsort
+        //sort, msort, rsort, nsort, group, hsort
         $sort = $data[2];
         //opts for search(): level, nons, nopg, subnss, max, maxajax, js, skipns, skipfile, skipnscombined,
         //skipfilecombined, headpage, hide_headpage
@@ -488,7 +493,7 @@ public function render($format, Doku_Renderer $renderer, $data)
      * @param string $ns
      * @param array $js_dTreeOpts entries: theme, identifier, nocookie, navbar, noscroll, maxJs, notoc, jsAjax, context,
      *                          nomenu
-     * @param array $sort entries: sort, msort, rsort, nsort, hsort
+     * @param array $sort entries: sort, msort, rsort, nsort, group, hsort
      * @param array $opts entries of opts for search(): level, nons, nopg, nss, max, maxajax, js, skipns, skipfile,
      *                     skipnscombined, skipfilecombined, headpage, hide_headpage
      * @param int $jsVersion