Geode documentation

Core App Specification

Vaults, files/folders, the editor, Obsidian Flavored Markdown, properties, linking, search, workspace, hotkeys, settings, and appearance.

Source of truth for cloning Obsidian’s core application features. Reverse-engineered from the official documentation at https://help.obsidian.md (canonical host: https://obsidian.md/help/), fetched 2026-06-10.

Using Geode? This page preserves Obsidian’s reference behavior, including its .obsidian/themes/ paths and theme marketplace workflow. For Geode’s current .geode/themes/ workflow, see Install and manage community themes.

Scope: vaults, files/folders, editor, Obsidian Flavored Markdown, properties, linking, search, workspace, command palette, quick switcher, hotkeys, settings, appearance, note composer, file recovery, format converter, help/sandbox. Excludes paid services (Sync, Publish), Canvas, Bases, Web Clipper, and the plugin API (covered in the Plugin & Theme API and Core Plugins docs).

1. Product Overview

Obsidian is “a Markdown editor and a knowledge base app.” Local-first: all data is stored as Markdown-formatted plain-text files on disk, never required to be in the cloud.
Notes can be edited by external editors/file managers; the app watches the filesystem and refreshes automatically to reflect external changes.
Philosophy: links between notes are first-class; the app is a foundation of optional building blocks (core plugins) rather than one opinionated workflow.
Customizable via CSS snippets, community themes, and community plugins.

Data storage

A vault = a folder on the local filesystem, including all subfolders.
Each vault contains a hidden .obsidian configuration folder at its root holding vault-specific settings: hotkeys, themes, community plugins, CSS snippets, and workspace state (workspace.json, workspaces.json — these change frequently; users often gitignore them).
Global (per-device) settings locations:
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/obsidian
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Obsidian\
- Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/obsidian/ or ~/.config/obsidian/
Metadata cache: IndexedDB-backed cache of file metadata (powers Graph view, Outline, link resolution); persists across app restarts.

2. Vaults

Concept

A vault is a folder containing notes, attachments, and the .obsidian config folder.
Vault-level configuration lives in .obsidian; copying that folder into another vault root (then restarting) transfers settings between vaults.

Vault switcher (“Manage vaults”)

Opens automatically on first launch (first-run experience).
Access from a vault: Vault profile icon at the bottom-left of the sidebar (chevrons-up-down icon), or Command palette → “Open another vault”.
Operations from the vault switcher:
- Create new vault: name + Browse to pick parent location + Create.
- Open folder as vault: pick any existing folder.
- Open vault from Obsidian Sync (remote vault — out of scope for core).
- Per-vault More options (…) menu: Rename vault (renames the underlying folder), Move vault, Remove from list.
Removing a vault only removes it from the vault list — the folder stays on disk.
Moving a vault manually (close app, move folder, re-open via “Open folder as vault”) is supported; community plugins must be re-enabled afterwards (restricted mode prompt).

Configuration folder override

Settings → Files and Links → Override config folder: use a different dotfolder name (e.g. .obsidian-awesome) as the vault’s config profile; requires relaunch. Old config folder remains; settings do not auto-migrate.

3. Files & Folders

Accepted file formats (natively supported)

Markdown: .md
Canvas: .canvas (JSON Canvas)
Database: .base
Images: .avif, .bmp, .gif, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .svg, .webp
Audio: .flac, .m4a, .mp3, .ogg, .wav, .webm, .3gp
Video: .mkv, .mov, .mp4, .ogv, .webm
PDF: .pdf
Audio/video playback depends on device codecs. Other formats can be added by community plugins.

Note operations

Create: Ctrl/Cmd+N, file explorer “New note” button, or Command palette. Type name, Enter, start editing.
Filename restrictions follow the OS; cross-device users should keep names safe for all operating systems. Characters invalid in linkable filenames: # | ^ : %% [[ ]].
Rename: click the note title (inline title) or press F2; or rename from file explorer without opening. All internal links to the file update automatically (when “Automatically update internal links” is on).
Delete: note More options menu → Delete file; Command palette → “Delete current file”; or file explorer context menu (with confirmation prompt).
Deleted-file destination (Settings → Files & Links → Trash):
- System trash (default) — OS trash, recoverable.
- Obsidian trash — .trash folder inside the vault.
- Permanently delete — no recovery.
- “Confirm file deletion” toggle.
Default location for new notes (Settings → Files & Links): vault root, same folder as current file, or a specified folder.

File explorer (core plugin)

Tree view of all files/folders in the vault (left sidebar tab).
Top toolbar: New note, New folder, Change sort order, Expand all / Collapse all, Auto-reveal active file toggle (scrolls to and highlights the open note).
Sort orders: file name, modified time, created time — each ascending/descending.
Context menu: New note (in folder), New folder (subfolder), Rename, Delete, “Move file to…” (search-and-pick destination), “Merge entire file with…” (Note composer), Open in new window, etc.
Multi-select: Alt-click (Win/Linux) / Opt-click (macOS) for individual files; Shift-click for ranges; selections can be dragged together.
“Show all file types” setting (Files & Links) reveals unrecognized extensions in the explorer.
Excluded files setting (Files & Links → Advanced): path/filter patterns; excluded files are hidden or deprioritized in search, quick switcher, unlinked mentions, etc.

Drag and drop

Drag sources: file explorer items, search results, backlink/unlinked-mention results, links inside notes (reading view).
Drop targets:
- Tab header / tab group → opens the file there (hold Alt, or Shift on macOS, to drop anywhere in a tab group rather than only on headers).
- Folder in explorer → moves the file.
- Editor → inserts a link to the file (respects wikilink/markdown link preference).
- Bookmarks tab → bookmarks the file.
From outside the app:
- HTML dragged from a browser is converted to Markdown.
- Native files are copied into the vault (attachment folder rules) and linked. Hold Ctrl (Win/Linux) / Option (macOS) while dropping to create an absolute file:/// link instead of importing.
Dragging a note out of Obsidian to another app yields an obsidian:// URL.

Attachments

Added by copy/paste into the editor, drag-and-drop, or saving files directly into the vault. Pasted/dropped files are copied to the default attachment location and embedded automatically.
Default location for new attachments (Settings → Files & Links), four options:
1. Vault folder (root)
2. In the folder specified below (fixed folder)
3. Same folder as current file
4. In subfolder under current folder (subfolder created on demand)
Attachments are plain files, accessible through the OS file system.

4. Editor

Views and modes

Reading view: rendered output, no Markdown syntax visible; read-only presentation.
Editing view, with two modes:
- Live Preview (default): formatted text rendered inline; the raw Markdown syntax is revealed for the element under the cursor/selection.
- Source mode: raw Markdown exactly as written.
Switching:
- View switcher icon in the tab’s upper-right corner; Ctrl/Cmd-click it to open Reading + Editing side by side (linked).
- Status bar mode indicator (clickable; choose Reading view / Live Preview / Source mode).
- Ctrl/Cmd+E = “Toggle Reading view”.
- Command “Toggle Live Preview/Source mode” (assignable hotkey).
Defaults (Settings → Editor): “Default view for new tabs” (Reading or Editing); “Default editing mode” (Live Preview or Source mode); “Focus new tabs”; status-bar editing-mode indicator toggle.

Editing features

Multiple cursors: Alt/Opt+click adds a cursor; click without modifier or Escape clears extras. Rectangular (column) selection: Shift+Alt (Shift+Option on macOS) + drag, or middle-mouse drag.
Folding: fold headings and indented lists via the chevron in the gutter (fold arrows persist when folded). Settings → Editor: “Fold heading” and “Fold indent” toggles. Commands: “Fold all headings and lists”, “Unfold all headings and lists”, “Fold more”, “Fold less”.
Spellcheck (Settings → Editor → Behavior): toggle, custom dictionary management, spellcheck language selection.
Vim key bindings (Settings → Editor → Behavior): optional modal editing.
Auto-pair brackets and auto-pair Markdown syntax; Smart lists (auto-continue list markers); Tab vs spaces indentation + visual indent width; line numbers; indentation guides; readable line length (max line width); RTL text direction; “Convert pasted HTML to Markdown”; strict line breaks toggle; properties display mode.
Editing shortcuts (defaults; not remappable text-editing primitives):

Windows/Linux: Copy Ctrl+C, Cut Ctrl+X, Paste Ctrl+V, Paste without formatting Ctrl+Shift+V, Undo Ctrl+Z, Redo Ctrl+Shift+Z/Ctrl+Y; copy/cut with no selection acts on the paragraph; Delete line Ctrl+Shift+K; delete prev/next word Ctrl+Backspace/Ctrl+Delete; navigation Home/End, Ctrl+Home/End (note start/end), Ctrl+←/→ (word), PageUp/PageDown; selection = same + Shift; Escape simplifies selection; Ctrl+A select all.

macOS: Cmd equivalents; Bold Cmd+B, Italic Cmd+I; delete word Opt+Backspace/Opt+Delete; delete to line start/end Cmd+Backspace/Cmd+Delete; line start/end Cmd+←/→; word Opt+←/→; note start/end Cmd+↑/↓; page Fn+↑/↓; selection variants with Shift.

Mobile editor

Mobile toolbar (formatting toolbar) appears above the keyboard while editing; horizontally scrollable when crowded; customizable (add/remove/reorder actions; add any global command) via the wrench icon or Settings → Mobile → Manage toolbar options.
Navigation bar (bottom, when not editing): back/forward, create/find note (Quick switcher), tab counter, “Open menu” (replaces the ribbon).
Quick Action: pull-down-from-top gesture runs one configurable command (default: Command palette).
Sidebars open via left/right swipe gestures.

5. Obsidian Flavored Markdown

Baseline: CommonMark + GitHub Flavored Markdown + LaTeX, plus Obsidian extensions. Markdown is deliberately not rendered inside HTML tags (<div>, <span>, <table>, …).

Obsidian-specific extension summary:

Syntax	Feature
`[[Link]]`	Internal (wiki)link
`![[Link]]`	Embed
`![[Link#^id]]`	Block reference embed
`^id`	Block definition
`[^id]`	Footnote
`%%Text%%`	Comment (editing view only)
`~~Text~~`	Strikethrough
`==Text==`	Highlight
`> [!note]`	Callout
`- [ ]` / `- [x]`	Task list

Paragraphs & line breaks

Blank line separates paragraphs. Multiple spaces collapse in reading view (use   or <br> to force).
Line break inside a paragraph: two trailing spaces + Enter, or Shift+Enter.
Strict line breaks setting: when on, single newlines join lines (CommonMark behavior); 2+ trailing spaces produce <br>; double newline produces separate <p>.

Headings

# through ###### for H1–H6.

Text styling

Style	Syntax
Bold	`text` or `__text__`
Italic	`text` or `_text_`
Bold+italic	`*text*` or `___text___`
Bold w/ nested italic	`Bold and _nested italic_`
Strikethrough	`~~text~~`
Highlight	`==text==`

Quotes

> quoted text; becomes a callout if the first line is [!type].

Lists

Unordered: -, *, or +.
Ordered: 1. or 1).
Nesting by indentation; Tab/Shift+Tab to indent/outdent; mixed list types allowed.
Task lists: - [ ] incomplete, - [x] complete; any character in the brackets ([?], [-], …) renders as completed/checked-style.

Horizontal rules

Three or more ***, ---, or ___ (spaces between characters allowed).

Code

Inline: `code`; to include backticks, use double-backtick delimiters.
Fenced blocks: triple backticks with optional language for syntax highlighting (Prism-based). Indented blocks (4 spaces / tab) also work.
Nesting fences: outer fence uses 4+ backticks/tildes.

Footnotes

Simple footnote[^1]. Named footnote[^note].

[^1]: Referenced text.
[^note]: Named footnotes render as numbers.

Inline footnotes: ^[This is an inline footnote.] (renders in reading view only).
A Footnotes view core plugin lists the current note’s footnotes in the sidebar.

Comments

%%inline comment%% and multi-line %% … %% blocks — visible only in editing view, stripped in reading view.

Escaping

Backslash-escape: \*, \_, \#, \`, \|, \~. Escape an accidental ordered list with 1\..

Tables

| First name | Last name |
| ---------- | --------- |
| Max        | Planck    |

Alignment row: :-- left, :--: center, --: right.
Inside tables, escape pipes in wikilinks/image sizes: [[Page\|Alias]], ![[img.jpg\|200]].

Math (MathJax / LaTeX)

Block: $$ … $$ (multi-line allowed) — e.g. $$\begin{vmatrix}a & b\\ c & d\end{vmatrix}=ad-bc$$
Inline: $e^{2i\pi} = 1$

Diagrams

```mermaid code blocks render Mermaid diagrams (sequence diagrams, flowcharts, etc).
Internal links inside diagrams: class NodeA,NodeB internal-link;

Callouts

Syntax: blockquote whose first line is > [!type], body in following > lines.
Custom title: > [!tip] Callouts can have custom titles. Title-only callouts allowed (no body). Default title = type identifier in Title Case.
Body supports Markdown, wikilinks, embeds.
Foldable: > [!faq]- collapsed by default, > [!faq]+ expanded by default (clickable fold).
Nesting: > [!a] containing > > [!b] containing > > > [!c].
Type identifiers are case-insensitive; unknown types render as note.

Built-in types and aliases:

Type	Aliases
`note`	—
`abstract`	`summary`, `tldr`
`info`	—
`todo`	—
`tip`	`hint`, `important`
`success`	`check`, `done`
`question`	`help`, `faq`
`warning`	`caution`, `attention`
`failure`	`fail`, `missing`
`danger`	`error`
`bug`	—
`example`	—
`quote`	`cite`

Custom types via CSS: .callout[data-callout="custom"] { --callout-color: R, G, B; --callout-icon: lucide-icon-id; }.

Tags (inline syntax)

#tag anywhere in body text. Must contain at least one non-numeric character (#1984 invalid, #y1984 valid).
Allowed characters: letters, digits, _, -, / (nesting), plus Unicode/emoji. No spaces — use #camelCase, #PascalCase, #snake_case, #kebab-case.
Nested tags: #inbox/to-read; searching/filtering tag:inbox matches all descendants.
Case-insensitive matching; displayed with first-created casing in the Tags view.
Clicking a tag opens search for it. Tags view core plugin lists all vault tags with counts.

HTML

Inline HTML is allowed, but Markdown inside HTML elements is not processed.

6. Properties (YAML frontmatter)

Format

YAML block at the very top of the file between --- delimiters; name: value (colon + space). Property names unique per note.
JSON frontmatter is also accepted but is read/interpreted/re-saved as YAML.
Not supported: nested properties, bulk editing in-app, Markdown rendering inside property values.

Adding properties

Command “Add file property”; hotkey Ctrl/Cmd+;; note More-actions menu → Add file property; or type --- on the first line.

Property types

Type	Notes
Text	single line; URLs and internal links supported (links must be quoted: `"[[Note]]"`)
List	multiple values, `- item` per line
Number	literal numbers only (int/decimal; no expressions)
Checkbox	`true` / `false` (or indeterminate when unset)
Date	`2020-08-21` (display follows OS locale)
Date & time	`2020-08-21T10:30:00`

Default/special properties

tags (list), aliases (list), cssclasses (list — applies CSS classes to the note’s container).
Publish-related: publish, permalink, description, image, cover.
Deprecated singular forms tag, alias, cssclass (removed in v1.9; Format converter migrates them).

Property editor UI

Rendered as a typed key/value editor above the note content in Live Preview/Reading view, with type icons, value autocomplete (e.g. existing tags), and add/remove controls.
Display setting (Settings → Editor → “Properties in document”): Visible (default), Hidden, Source (raw YAML).
Keyboard: add property Cmd/Ctrl+;, delete property Cmd/Ctrl+Backspace, next/prev field Tab/Shift+Tab or arrows, jump into editor Alt+Down.

Properties view (core plugin)

File properties sidebar view: properties of the active note.
All properties sidebar view: every property in the vault; sortable by name or frequency; click a property to launch a property search; right-click → rename property across the entire vault.

Aliases

Defined via the aliases list property.
Link autocomplete matches aliases and shows them with a curved-arrow icon; selecting one inserts [[Actual Note|Alias]].
Aliases participate in unlinked-mention detection (Backlinks pane) and Quick switcher matching; converting an aliased unlinked mention creates [[Note|alias-text]].

7. Linking

Internal link syntax

Wikilink: [[Three laws of motion]] (extension optional for .md; required for non-Markdown files, e.g. [[Figure 1.png]]).
Markdown link equivalent: [Three laws of motion](Three%20laws%20of%20motion.md) (URL-encoded).
Display text: [[Note|Custom display]] / [Custom display](Note.md).

Heading links

Same note: [[#Heading]]; other note: [[Note#Heading]]; subheading chains: [[Note#Heading#Subheading]].
Vault-wide heading search in autocomplete: type [[## + term.

Block links

[[Note#^37066d]] — auto-generated 6-char block ID appended to the target block as ^37066d.
Custom human-readable IDs: ^quote-of-the-day (Latin letters, digits, dashes); structured blocks (lists, quotes, tables, callouts) need the ^id on its own line surrounded by blank lines.
Vault-wide block search in autocomplete: [[^^ + term.
Block references are an Obsidian-only extension (not portable Markdown).

Autocomplete & creation

Typing [[ triggers the link suggester (notes, aliases, headings with #, blocks with ^).
Select text then type [[ to wrap the selection into a link; command “Add internal link”.
Linking to a non-existent note creates an “unresolved” link; opening it creates the note.

Settings (Files & Links)

New link format: shortest path when possible / relative path / absolute path in vault.
Use [[Wikilinks]] toggle — off = generate standard Markdown links.
Automatically update internal links on file rename/move.

Embeds

Embed any file: ![[filename]].
Note: ![[Internal links]]; heading section: ![[Internal links#Link to a heading]]; block: ![[Internal links#^b15695]].
Image: ![[Engelbart.jpg]]; sized ![[Engelbart.jpg|640x480]]; width-only ![[Engelbart.jpg|100]] (proportional). External image with size: ![250](https://example.com/image.jpg).
Audio: ![[Recording.ogg]] (inline player). Video: same ![[movie.mp4]] pattern (player; codec-dependent).
PDF: ![[Document.pdf]]; specific page ![[Document.pdf#page=3]]; viewer height ![[Document.pdf#height=400]].
Canvas: ![[My canvas.canvas]] (shapes render, card text doesn’t).
List block embed: tag the list with ^my-list-id, then ![[My note#^my-list-id]].
Search results: embedded ```query blocks (see §8).

Backlinks (core plugin)

Right-sidebar tab for the active note with two collapsible sections:
- Linked mentions — notes containing internal links to this note.
- Unlinked mentions — plain-text occurrences of the note’s name (or aliases); each row has a Link button to convert the mention into a real link. Excluded files don’t appear.
View controls: Collapse results, Show more context, Change sort order, Show search filter (filter mentions by term).
“Backlinks in document”: command “Toggle backlinks in document” or per-plugin setting renders a backlinks section at the bottom of every note.
“Open backlinks for the current note” opens a standalone, persistent backlinks tab for a specific note.

Outgoing links (core plugin)

Right-sidebar tab, inverse of backlinks:
- Links — all links in the active note (click to open).
- Unlinked mentions — text in this note matching names/aliases of other notes, with one-click linking; hovering shows full path when names are ambiguous; excluded files omitted.

Page preview (core plugin)

Hovering a link (with Ctrl/Cmd by default) shows a popover preview of the target note.

8. Search

Search view (core plugin)

Left-sidebar tab; hotkey Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F (“Search: Search in all files”). Opening with text selected pre-fills the query. Empty query shows recent searches.

Term syntax

Space-separated terms = implicit AND: meeting work.
OR: meeting OR work.
Negation: -work, -(work meetup).
Grouping: meeting (work OR meetup) personal.
Exact phrase: "star wars"; escaped quotes inside phrases: "they said \"hello\"".
Regex: /\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/ (JavaScript flavor); combinable with operators (path:/\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/).

Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example
`file:`	match file name	`file:.jpg`, `file:202209`
`path:`	match file path	`path:"Daily notes/2022-07"`
`content:`	match file content	`content:"happy cat"`
`match-case:`	force case-sensitive	`match-case:HappyCat`
`ignore-case:`	force case-insensitive	`ignore-case:ikea`
`tag:`	match tag (skips code blocks; includes nested tags)	`tag:#work`, `tag:inbox`
`line:(…)`	terms must share a line; negatable `-line:`	`line:(mix flour)`
`block:(…)`	terms must share a block	`block:(dog cat)`
`section:(…)`	terms must share a section (between headings)	`section:(dog cat)`
`task:`	match inside any task	`task:call`
`task-todo:`	match in unchecked tasks	`task-todo:call`
`task-done:`	match in checked tasks	`task-done:call`

Property search

[property] — files having the property.
[property:value] — property equals/contains value: [status:Draft].
[property:null] — property empty/absent value.
Sub-queries inside the value: [status:Draft OR Published], quotes and regex allowed.
Comparison operators in bracketed queries: [duration:<5], [duration:>5].

UI features

Match case toggle button (default insensitive).
Settings (gear icon): Explain search term (natural-language breakdown of the query), Collapse results, Show more context.
Sort order: file name A→Z (default) / Z→A, modified time (new/old), created time (new/old).
Copy search results (… menu) — copies results list (with link-style options).
Excluded files are filtered/deprioritized in results.

Embedded queries

Render live search results inside a note:

```query
embed OR search
```

9. Workspace & Window Management

Layout regions (desktop)

Ribbon: vertical icon toolbar on the far left. Defaults include vault switcher/profile, help, settings + plugin-contributed actions (Quick switcher, Graph, Canvas, Daily note…). Drag to reorder; right-click empty area to hide individual actions or the whole ribbon; Settings → Appearance → Advanced → “Show ribbon”. Ribbon layout syncs via workspace config.
Left & right sidebars (docks): hold plugin tabs (File explorer, Search, Bookmarks on the left; Backlinks, Outgoing links, Tags, Outline, Properties on the right, by convention). Collapsible (per-side toggle icons / commands), resizable, vertically splittable into multiple tab groups; tabs can be dragged between groups, into the main area, and notes can be dragged into a sidebar to keep them visible.
Main area: tab groups, splittable horizontally and vertically without limit.
Status bar (bottom-right): per-file/system info — backlink count, current editing mode, word & character count (Word count plugin); plugin items may be interactive (e.g. Sync status/log). Core and community plugins can add items.

Tabs

New tab: Ctrl/Cmd+T or “+” button. Close: Ctrl/Cmd+W. Reopen closed: Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+T.
Open links: click = active tab; Ctrl/Cmd+click = new tab; Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+click = new tab group (split); Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+click = new window. (Source mode adds Shift to the modifier combos.)
Navigation: next/prev tab Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab; jump to tab N Ctrl/Cmd+1…8; last tab Ctrl/Cmd+9.
Drag to reorder tabs, drag between groups/windows, drag to a group edge to create a split.
Context menu: Split right / Split down, Pin, Open in new window, Move to new window, Close, Close others, etc.
Pinned tabs: pinned tabs never navigate away — links open elsewhere. Pinned sidebar panes (e.g. Backlinks) stay focused on the last note.
Stacked tabs: per tab group toggle (“Stack tabs”) — tabs render as sliding cards stacked side-by-side (Andy Matuschak mode).
Linked views: tab More options → “Open linked view” → Graph / Backlinks / Outline (or linked Reading view); linked tabs scroll/update with their source tab.

Splits & resizing

Split any tab group right (vertical divider) or down (horizontal divider); resize by dragging highlighted group edges.

Pop-out windows (desktop only)

Open a note or tab in a separate OS window: file explorer right-click → “Open in new window”; Command palette → “Open current tab in new window” / “Move current tab to new window”; tab context menu; right-click a link.
Move tabs between windows by dragging or via commands. Windows belong to their vault — closing the vault window closes its pop-outs; tabs can only move between windows of the same vault.

Workspaces (core plugin — saved layouts)

Save/load/delete named layouts via ribbon button or command “Manage workspace layouts”.
A workspace stores open files/tabs, sidebar widths, and sidebar visibility.
Saving with an existing name overwrites (update); deletion via “Delete layout” button.

10. Command Palette & Quick Switcher

Command palette (core plugin)

Open: Ctrl/Cmd+P or ribbon icon.
Fuzzy matching (“scf” → “Save current file”); recently used commands float to the top (v1.8.3+), with shorter commands prioritized while filtering.
Shows each command’s assigned hotkey inline; arrow keys + Enter to run.
Pinned commands: Settings → Command palette → “New pinned command” — pinned commands appear at the top of the empty palette; remove via X icon.

Quick switcher (core plugin)

Open: Ctrl/Cmd+O, ribbon button, or mobile create/find button.
Type to fuzzy-match notes by name or alias; arrows + Enter to open; Ctrl/Cmd+Enter opens in a new tab; Shift+Enter creates a note with the exact typed name; Enter on a non-matching term creates a new note.
Empty query shows recently opened notes (quick toggle between two notes).
Excluded files are deprioritized. With ≥10,000 vault items the matcher falls back to a simpler algorithm for performance.
Plugin options include showing existing files only / attachments / all file types (controls whether non-md and not-yet-created items appear).

11. Hotkeys

Settings → Hotkeys: searchable list of every command; assign with the “+” icon (press the combo, Save); remove with the X icon; multiple combos per command supported; filter icon shows only commands with assignments; conflicts are highlighted.
Hotkeys display using US-keyboard labels but trigger by physical key pressed (layout-independent once assigned).
Custom hotkeys are stored per-vault in .obsidian/hotkeys.json.
Notable defaults (beyond OS text-editing): New note Ctrl/Cmd+N, Quick switcher Ctrl/Cmd+O, Command palette Ctrl/Cmd+P, Global search Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F, Toggle reading view Ctrl/Cmd+E, New tab Ctrl/Cmd+T, Reopen closed tab Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+T, Add file property Ctrl/Cmd+;, Rename F2, Bold Ctrl/Cmd+B, Italic Ctrl/Cmd+I, tab cycling Ctrl+Tab/Ctrl+Shift+Tab, tab jump Ctrl/Cmd+1…9.

12. Settings Organization

Settings dialog is divided into Options, Core plugins, and Community plugins sections.

General

App version + update check, “Automatic updates” toggle, early-access/insider builds (Catalyst license).
Interface language selection.
Help resources; account sign-in (username/email/sign out); Catalyst & Commercial license activation; notices.

Editor

Display: readable line length; strict line breaks; properties in document (Visible/Hidden/Source); fold heading; fold indent; show line numbers; show indentation guides; RTL support.
Behavior: spellcheck (+ custom dictionary, languages); auto-pair brackets; auto-pair Markdown syntax; smart lists; indent with tabs vs spaces + tab size; auto-convert HTML on paste; vim key bindings.
Tabs/views: focus new tabs; default view for new tabs (Reading/Editing); default editing mode (Live Preview/Source); show editing-mode status-bar item.

Files & Links

Confirm file deletion; deleted-files destination (system trash / Obsidian trash / permanent).
Default location for new notes; default location for new attachments (4 options).
New link format (shortest / relative / absolute); use Wikilinks toggle; automatically update internal links.
Detect all file extensions (“Show all file types”).
Excluded files (filters); Override config folder; URI callbacks; rebuild vault cache.

Appearance

Base color scheme: adapt to system / light / dark.
Accent color picker.
Themes: current theme, Manage (browse/install/update community themes).
Fonts: interface font, text font (editor/reading), monospace font; font size slider + quick adjust (keyboard/trackpad).
Interface: show inline title; show tab title bar; ribbon visibility & menu configuration.
Advanced: zoom level; native menus; window frame style (Obsidian frame / native / hidden); custom app icon (.icns/.ico/.png/.svg); translucent window (macOS); hardware acceleration toggle.
CSS snippets list: open snippets folder, reload, per-snippet toggles.

Hotkeys

Search/assign/remove keyboard shortcuts (see §11).

Core plugins

Toggle list of all built-in plugins; gear icon for per-plugin options; some are off by default.

Community plugins

Restricted mode toggle (disables third-party code); Browse/install/update community plugins; per-plugin enable toggles and options.

Per-plugin option tabs

Enabled plugins with settings get their own tab under “Plugin options” (e.g. Command palette pinned commands, File recovery intervals, Note composer templates).

13. Appearance & Theming

Color scheme: light, dark, or follow OS.
Accent color: user-selectable; flows through UI via CSS variables.
Themes (community): Settings → Appearance → Themes → Manage → browse → “Install and use”. “Stop using this theme” reverts to default. Manual updates: per-theme “Check for updates” → Update, or “Check for updates → Update all” for bulk. Uninstall from the same manager. Themes are CSS packages stored in .obsidian/themes/.
CSS snippets: .css files in <config folder>/snippets/. Enable via Settings → Appearance → CSS snippets (Open snippets folder / Reload snippets / per-snippet toggle). Changes to snippet files are detected and applied live on save. Styling hooks include CSS variables (e.g. --h1-color) and per-note classes via the cssclasses property.
Fonts & zoom: interface/text/monospace font overrides, font-size slider, app-wide zoom level, quick font-size gestures.
Window chrome: native vs custom frame, native menus, translucency (macOS), custom app icon, hardware acceleration.

14. Note Composer (core plugin)

Merge two notes: file explorer right-click → “Merge entire file with…” or command “Note composer: Merge current file with another file…”. Pick destination; Enter appends source at end, Shift+Enter prepends at start, Ctrl/Cmd+Enter merges into a brand-new note. The source note is deleted and all links to it are redirected to the merged note. Confirmation prompt by default; recoverable via File recovery.
Extract selection: select text → right-click “Extract current selection…” or command. Same Enter/Shift+Enter/Ctrl+Enter placement choices.
Link handling setting: after extraction, replace extracted text with a link to the destination (default), an embed, or nothing.
Template setting: optional template file applied to merged/extracted content with variables {{content}}, {{fromTitle}}, {{newTitle}}, {{date:FORMAT}}.

15. File Recovery (core plugin)

Automatic snapshots of modified files: default minimum interval 5 minutes, retained 7 days; both configurable (Settings → Core plugins → File recovery).
Only .md and .canvas files are snapshotted.
Snapshots are stored in global settings outside the vault, keyed by absolute path → device-local, not synced; moving a vault outside the vault switcher can orphan snapshots.
Restore flow: Settings → File recovery → Snapshots → View → search by filename → pick snapshot → Copy (into a new note) or Restore (overwrite current file).
Show changes toggle: diff view (additions/removals) between versions.
Clear history: irreversibly deletes all snapshots (confirmation required).

16. Format Converter (core plugin)

Vault-wide Markdown dialect converter (Command palette → “Open format converter”, or ribbon icon). Warn users to back up first — it converts the entire vault per its toggles.
Conversions:
- Roam: #tag / #[[tag]] → [[tag]]; ^^highlight^^ → ==highlight==; {{[[TODO]]}} → [ ].
- Bear: ::highlight:: → ==highlight==.
- Zettelkasten links: [[UID]] → [[UID File Name]] or pretty [[UID File Name|File Name]].
- Deprecated properties (v1.9.3+): alias:→aliases:, tag:→tags:, cssclass:→cssclasses: (all to list form).

17. Help, Onboarding & Sandbox

First run: vault switcher opens; user creates or opens a vault.
Help ribbon/sidebar icon: opens help resources (help site, docs are themselves an Obsidian vault published online; downloadable from the obsidian-help GitHub repo).
Sandbox vault: built-in demo vault for safely exploring features and debugging (isolating whether a problem comes from plugins/themes vs the app). Open via Help icon → “Open” next to Sandbox vault, or command “Open sandbox vault”. Desktop only (mobile users can download a copy of the help vault). Closing its window closes it.
Settings → General links to help and update channels.

Complete core-plugin list (each a toggleable built-in; some off by default) — see Core Plugins for the full behavior spec of each:

Plugin	Purpose
Audio recorder	Record audio into a note
Backlinks	Linked & unlinked mentions (§7)
Bases	Property-driven database views (separate spec)
Bookmarks	Save links to notes, headings, searches, folders, graphs
Canvas	Infinite visual board (separate spec)
Command palette	§10
Daily notes	Date-based note creation/opening
File explorer	§3
File recovery	§15
Footnotes view	Sidebar list of current note’s footnotes
Format converter	§16
Graph view	Vault link graph + local graph
Note composer	§14
Outgoing links	§7
Outline	Table of contents of active note
Page preview	Hover popover previews of links
Properties view	§6
Publish	Paid service (out of scope)
Quick switcher	§10
Random note	Open a random note
Search	§8
Slash commands	Run commands inline with `/` in the editor
Slides	Presentations from notes (`---` separators)
Sync	Paid service (out of scope)
Tags view	All tags with counts
Templates	Insert predefined content (`{{title}}`, `{{date}}`, `{{time}}`)
Unique note creator	Timestamp-prefixed (Zettelkasten) note creation
Web viewer	Open external links inside the app
Word count	Status-bar words/characters
Workspaces	§9 saved layouts

Appendix: Source Pages

All under https://obsidian.md/help/ (redirect target of help.obsidian.md): manage-vaults, data-storage, configuration-folder, file-formats, manage-notes, attachments, plugins/file-explorer, drag-and-drop, edit-and-read, syntax, advanced-syntax, obsidian-flavored-markdown, links, embeds, callouts, tags, aliases, properties, plugins/properties, plugins/backlinks, plugins/outgoing-links, plugins/search, workspace, tabs, sidebar, ribbon, status-bar, pop-out-windows, plugins/workspaces, plugins/command-palette, plugins/quick-switcher, hotkeys, editing-shortcuts, settings, appearance, themes, snippets, plugins/note-composer, plugins/file-recovery, plugins/format-converter, sandbox, mobile, multiple-cursors, folding, plugins, obsidian.