Wikilinks

Obsidian's signature feature. Type [[ and an auto-complete menu surfaces every note in your vault. Wikilinks resolve by note title, so renaming a note updates every link automatically.

[[Note Title]]

[[Note Title|Display Text]]

[[Note Title#Heading]]

[[Note Title#^block-id]]

Embeds (Transclusion)

Prepend any wikilink with ! to embed the target inline. Obsidian renders the embedded content directly inside the current note — text, images, audio, video, and PDFs all work.

![[Note Title]]

![[Note Title#Heading]]

![[Note Title#^block-id]]

![[image.png]]

![[video.mp4]]

Block References

Tag any paragraph, list item, or table row with a unique block ID, then link or embed it from anywhere. Obsidian generates the ID for you when you Ctrl/Cmd-drag a reference into a target note.

This paragraph has a block ID. ^my-quote

[[Other Note#^my-quote]]
![[Other Note#^my-quote]]

Tags

Tags are vault-wide labels for organizing and searching notes. They appear in the Tags pane, the graph view, and search queries (tag:#project).

#project

#project/research/draft

#2026-Q2

---
tags:
  - project
  - research
---

Callouts

Obsidian callouts use the same > [!type] syntax as GitHub alerts, but Obsidian supports 13 built-in types and lets you make them collapsible by appending + (open) or - (closed).

> [!note]
> Default callout. Use for general notes and side commentary.

> [!tip]
> Helpful advice or shortcuts. Aliases: hint, important.

> [!success]
> Positive outcomes or completed work. Aliases: check, done.

> [!warning]
> Cautions or risks. Aliases: caution, attention.

> [!danger]
> Critical hazards. Aliases: error.

> [!note]+ Title (opens by default)
> Click the chevron to collapse.

> [!warning]- Title (closed by default)
> Click the chevron to expand.

Highlights

Wrap text in double equals signs (==text==) to highlight it. Obsidian renders this as yellow-highlighted text. This is not part of standard CommonMark — GitHub, Notion, Reddit, Slack, and Discord all render it as literal text.

This sentence has ==highlighted text== in the middle.

Math (KaTeX)

Inline math uses single $...$. Block math uses double $$...$$ on their own lines. Obsidian uses KaTeX, the same engine GitHub uses, so most LaTeX syntax renders identically across both platforms.

The Pythagorean theorem is $a^2 + b^2 = c^2$.

$$
\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6}
$$

Comments

Wrap text in double percent signs (%%hidden%%) to hide it from Reading view and Live Preview. The text is still visible in Source mode and is preserved in the file. Obsidian-only — every other Markdown renderer treats it as literal text.

This paragraph is %%hidden inline%% visible.

%%
This whole block is
hidden in Reading view.
%%

YAML Frontmatter

Frontmatter is YAML metadata at the very top of a note, fenced by ---. Obsidian reads several special keys (tags, aliases, cssclasses, publish), and arbitrary key/value pairs are surfaced to Dataview and templater plugins.

---
title: My Note
tags:
  - project
  - research
aliases:
  - "Project Alpha"
  - "Alpha Notes"
cssclasses:
  - wide-page
author: Andy
date: 2026-05-25
---

# Note body starts here

Mermaid Diagrams

Open a fenced code block with ```mermaid and write standard Mermaid syntax. Obsidian ships with Mermaid built in — no plugin required. Flowcharts, sequence, class, state, gantt, and pie diagrams all render in Reading view and Live Preview.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  A[Start] --> B{Has tag?}
  B -- Yes --> C[Index it]
  B -- No --> D[Skip]
  C --> E[Done]
  D --> E
```

Reading view vs Live Preview vs Source mode

Obsidian has three editing modes. Some syntax behaves differently depending on which mode you're in — knowing the difference saves a lot of confusion.

Toggle between Live Preview and Reading view with Cmd/Ctrl + E. Switch to Source mode in Settings → Editor → Default editing mode.

Standard Markdown Still Works

Everything from CommonMark and GFM works in Obsidian: headings, lists, tables, code blocks, task lists, strikethrough, links, and images. Here's a quick example.

# Heading

**Bold** and *italic* text.

- [x] Task one
- [ ] Task two

| Col A | Col B |
|-------|-------|
| 1     | 2     |

Common Mistakes

The five most common Obsidian-specific gotchas.

Quick Reference

Every Obsidian-flavored Markdown feature at a glance.

Frequently Asked Questions