Obsidian Keyboard Shortcuts
Obsidian's shortcuts split between standard Markdown text editing (which it shares conceptually with many other Markdown editors) and its distinctive linking and graph features, which are genuinely unique enough that no other app's shortcut conventions map onto them directly. Because Obsidian is plugin-extensible and many power users run heavily customized configurations, the shortcuts listed here reflect the stock, unmodified defaults rather than any particular community plugin's bindings, which can vary widely between setups. Templates, a core-plugin feature for inserting pre-structured note content (like a daily journal format or a recurring meeting-notes layout), reduce the repetitive setup of recreating the same note structure manually each time, and can include dynamic date/time placeholders that populate automatically at insertion. Canvas, a newer built-in feature for arranging notes and content spatially on an infinite board similar in spirit to Heptabase or Milanote, extends Obsidian beyond pure linked-note-taking into a visual organization tool layered on top of the same underlying vault of Markdown files. Splitting panes and toggling the outline are easy to overlook at first glance but pay off substantially for anyone doing serious research or long-form writing in Obsidian, since cross-referencing a source note while drafting a synthesis note, or navigating a long note by its heading structure, are common workflows the base Markdown-editing shortcuts alone don't address.
Note Editing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toggle bold | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B | Puts double asterisks around the selected text for Markdown bold, and in Live Preview mode the bold styling renders immediately rather than leaving raw asterisk characters visible. |
| Toggle checkbox on current line | Ctrl+Enter (with cursor on a list item) | Cmd+Enter | Converts the current list item into a checkbox task or toggles its checked state if it's already a checkbox, part of Obsidian's lightweight task-tracking within ordinary notes. |
| Create new note | Ctrl+N | Cmd+N | Creates a new blank, untitled note in your current folder location, ready for immediate typing. |
| Toggle between edit and reading view | Ctrl+E | Cmd+E | Switches the current note between editable Markdown source/Live Preview mode and a clean rendered reading view with no visible editing cursor. |
| Insert a template | Ctrl+Alt+T (varies, with Templates plugin enabled) | Cmd+Option+T | Drops a saved template into the note at the cursor, skipping the manual rebuild of a recurring structure like a daily journal entry, complete with placeholders that auto-fill the current date and time on insertion. |
| Pin current tab | Right-click tab > Pin | — | Pins the current note's tab so it stays open and resists being closed by normal tab-closing actions, useful for keeping a frequently referenced note accessible throughout a working session. |
| Toggle left sidebar | Ctrl+Shift+L (varies by version) | Cmd+Shift+L | Toggles the file explorer sidebar off or back on, freeing up horizontal room on a small screen or clearing the view for a more distraction-free single-note session without actually closing the vault. |
| Open command palette | Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | Opens a searchable list of every available command, both core and plugin-added, letting you trigger an action by typing its name rather than memorizing a dedicated keystroke or hunting through menus — especially useful once several community plugins have added commands you haven't bound to shortcuts yet. |
| Split editor pane | Ctrl+\\ | Cmd+\\ | Splits the current pane so you can view two notes side by side, useful for referencing one note while writing in another without constantly switching tabs back and forth. |
| Move current note to another folder | Ctrl+Shift+M (varies) | Cmd+Shift+M | Opens a folder picker for relocating the current note within the vault's file structure, updating any internal links pointing to it automatically so moving a note doesn't silently break its backlinks. |
Linking Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insert internal link | [[ (typed directly) | [[ | Typing two opening square brackets triggers an autocomplete suggestion list of existing note titles, the core mechanic behind Obsidian's bidirectional linking system — selecting a note from the list creates a clickable link to it. |
| Open Quick Switcher | Ctrl+O | Cmd+O | Opens a fuzzy search across all note titles in your vault, the fastest way to jump to a specific note without browsing the file tree, similar in spirit to VS Code's Quick Open. |
| Open Graph view | Ctrl+G | Cmd+G | Opens a visual node graph showing every note in your vault as a dot, connected by lines representing links between them — a distinctive Obsidian feature with no real equivalent in most other note apps. |
| Navigate back | Ctrl+Alt+Left | Cmd+Option+Left | Returns to the previously viewed note, building browser-style back/forward history as you click through links between notes. |
| Show backlinks for current note | Ctrl+Shift+B (varies by version, often a sidebar panel) | Cmd+Shift+B | Opens a panel listing every other note that links to the currently open one — the reverse direction of the [[links]] you create directly, and central to how Obsidian surfaces unexpected connections between notes. |
| Create a new Canvas | Ctrl+N then select Canvas (varies) | Cmd+N | Spins up a fresh Canvas file, ready for arranging existing notes and freeform content on an infinite spatial board instead of following the usual linked-note reading flow. |
| Toggle outline panel | Via right sidebar icon (no default global keystroke) | — | Shows a headings-based table of contents for the current note in the right sidebar, generated automatically from Markdown heading levels, useful for jumping around a long note without scrolling. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does typing [[ sometimes not show an autocomplete list?
The link autocomplete requires your cursor to be in an active note in edit mode (not reading view) and generally needs at least the vault to have indexed its files, which happens automatically but can briefly lag right after opening a very large vault for the first time. If it's still not appearing, check that the 'Show inline title' and autocomplete-related settings haven't been disabled in Editor preferences.
What's the difference between the Quick Switcher and Graph view for navigation?
Quick Switcher (Ctrl+O) is for when you already know roughly what note you're looking for and want to jump there by typing its name. Graph view (Ctrl+G) is for visual, exploratory navigation — seeing which notes cluster together by their link relationships, which is more useful for rediscovering related notes you'd forgotten existed than for jumping to a specific known note.
Do these shortcuts change if I install community plugins?
Core shortcuts generally stay the same, but many popular community plugins add their own new commands which you can then bind to custom shortcuts in Settings > Hotkeys — and in some cases a plugin's recommended setup guide suggests rebinding an existing default to fit its workflow better, which is why heavily plugin-customized vaults can end up with meaningfully different bindings from a stock install.
Does Obsidian support templates for recurring note formats like daily journals?
Yes, through the core Templates plugin, you can define pre-structured content (like a daily journal layout) and insert it at the cursor, including dynamic date and time placeholders that populate automatically, avoiding the need to manually recreate the same structure every time.
What is Canvas, and how is it different from a regular linked note?
It's Obsidian's answer to whiteboard-style tools like Heptabase or Milanote — an infinite canvas where you can place existing notes as cards, draw connections between them, and mix in freeform text or embedded files, all without leaving the plain-Markdown-file model the rest of your vault is built on. The difference from ordinary linked notes is spatial: instead of following a chain of [[links]] one click at a time, Canvas lets you see several related notes arranged and connected at once.
Is there a real advantage to pinning a note tab over just leaving it open unpinned?
A pinned tab resists being closed by normal tab-closing actions (like closing all tabs at once), which is useful for keeping a frequently referenced note, like a home dashboard or index page, accessible throughout a working session without accidentally closing it.
Is Obsidian free to use for personal note-taking?
Yes, Obsidian is free for personal use, with a separate paid tier required specifically for commercial use within an organization, and optional paid add-ons like Obsidian Sync for cross-device syncing.
What does the command palette show that the sidebar file tree doesn't?
The command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+P) surfaces every registered command in the app, including ones added by community plugins that may not have a visible button or menu entry anywhere in the interface, whereas the file tree only shows your vault's folder and note structure — they're solving different problems, one is about running an action, the other is about navigating files.