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.

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:

SyntaxFeature
[[Link]]Internal (wiki)link
![[Link]]Embed
![[Link#^id]]Block reference embed
^idBlock 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 &nbsp; 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

StyleSyntax
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==
  • External: [Obsidian Help](https://help.obsidian.md); URLs with spaces: %20-encode or wrap in <…>.
  • External image: ![alt](https://example.com/img.jpg), with size: ![alt|640x480](url) or ![alt|100](url).
  • Obsidian URI links: [Note](obsidian://open?vault=MainVault&file=Note.md).

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:
    TypeAliases
    note—
    abstractsummary, tldr
    info—
    todo—
    tiphint, important
    successcheck, done
    questionhelp, faq
    warningcaution, attention
    failurefail, missing
    dangererror
    bug—
    example—
    quotecite
  • 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

TypeNotes
Textsingle line; URLs and internal links supported (links must be quoted: "[[Note]]")
Listmultiple values, - item per line
Numberliteral numbers only (int/decimal; no expressions)
Checkboxtrue / false (or indeterminate when unset)
Date2020-08-21 (display follows OS locale)
Date & time2020-08-21T10:30:00

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

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

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

OperatorMeaningExample
file:match file namefile:.jpg, file:202209
path:match file pathpath:"Daily notes/2022-07"
content:match file contentcontent:"happy cat"
match-case:force case-sensitivematch-case:HappyCat
ignore-case:force case-insensitiveignore-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 blockblock:(dog cat)
section:(…)terms must share a section (between headings)section:(dog cat)
task:match inside any tasktask:call
task-todo:match in unchecked taskstask-todo:call
task-done:match in checked taskstask-done:call
  • [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:

PluginPurpose
Audio recorderRecord audio into a note
BacklinksLinked & unlinked mentions (§7)
BasesProperty-driven database views (separate spec)
BookmarksSave links to notes, headings, searches, folders, graphs
CanvasInfinite visual board (separate spec)
Command palette§10
Daily notesDate-based note creation/opening
File explorer§3
File recovery§15
Footnotes viewSidebar list of current note’s footnotes
Format converter§16
Graph viewVault link graph + local graph
Note composer§14
Outgoing links§7
OutlineTable of contents of active note
Page previewHover popover previews of links
Properties view§6
PublishPaid service (out of scope)
Quick switcher§10
Random noteOpen a random note
Search§8
Slash commandsRun commands inline with / in the editor
SlidesPresentations from notes (--- separators)
SyncPaid service (out of scope)
Tags viewAll tags with counts
TemplatesInsert predefined content ({{title}}, {{date}}, {{time}})
Unique note creatorTimestamp-prefixed (Zettelkasten) note creation
Web viewerOpen external links inside the app
Word countStatus-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.