Obsidian Cheat Sheet

Obsidian is a popular note-taking and knowledge management application that uses plain text files for storing and organizing information. Here’s a basic cheat sheet to help you get started with Obsidian:

Note Creation and Navigation

  • Create a New Note:
    • Double-click on an empty space in the Obsidian workspace or use the “New Note” button in the sidebar.
  • Linking Notes:
    • Use double square brackets [[ ]] around a word to create a link to another note.
  • Backlinking:
    • Obsidian automatically creates backlinks when you link to a note. Use the backlinks panel to explore connections.
  • Search Notes:
    • Use the search bar to quickly find notes.
  • Table of Contents:
    • Create a table of contents for a note using the [[toc]] tag.

Markdown Editing

  • Headings:
    • Use # for headings. # for H1, ## for H2, and so on.
  • Bold and Italics:
    • Use **text** for bold and *text* for italics.
  • Lists:
    • Create ordered lists with numbers (1., 2., etc.) and unordered lists with asterisks (*, -).
  • Code Blocks:
    • Use triple backticks () for code blocks. Specify the language for syntax highlighting (e.g., "python”).
  • Quotes:
    • Use > for block quotes.

Tags and Metadata

  • Tags:
    • Add tags to notes by including #tag in the note.
  • Front Matter:
    • Use YAML front matter at the beginning of a note to add metadata.
---
title: My Note
tags: [tag1, tag2]
---

Graph View

  • Graph View:
    • Explore the connections between notes using the graph view.
  • Unlinked Mentions:
    • Detect unlinked mentions in the graph view and create links.

Plugins and Customization

  • Plugin Installation:
    • Enable and install plugins in the settings.
  • Custom CSS:
    • Customize the appearance of Obsidian using custom CSS.

Daily Notes

  • Daily Notes:
    • Create daily notes using the YYYY-MM-DD format. Today’s note is automatically created.
  • Backlinks in Daily Notes:
    • See backlinks for the current date in daily notes.

Version Control

  • File Version History:
    • Obsidian supports file versioning. View and revert to previous versions.
  • Syncing:
    • Sync your Obsidian vault using cloud services like Dropbox or Obsidian Sync.

Obsidian is highly customizable, and users often develop their own workflows and conventions. Explore the Obsidian documentation and community forums for more advanced features and tips.