Getting Started with Obsidian

Quick Start #

TL;DR I built a template vault based on the settings and instructions in this post.

Create your own vault from the template and then follow the instructions on the README to get started. Continue reading for the breakdown of what I think is a good default setup in Obsidian without any third-party plugins.

Install #

Obsidian can be installed on mobile for iOS and Android and on desktop by visiting their downloads page.

Alternatively, if you are on macOS you can use Homebrew:

brew install --cask obsidian
brew install --cask obsidian

Startup #

Once installed, opening Obsidian for the first time will land you on the vault creator where you can create a new vault, open a folder in Obsidian as a vault, or open the help vault where you can find the documentation.

Create a new vault and then enter in the name and choose a location.

When your vault opens for the first time, you may be prompted to turn on Live Preview which I suggest doing.

Your new vault should now be ready for notes to be added.

Setup #

The first thing I do after creating a new Obsidian vault is to create the following folder structure:

.
├── _assets
│   ├── attachments
│   └── templates
└── daily
.
├── _assets
│   ├── attachments
│   └── templates
└── daily

• attachments - this is where we will store files like images.
• templates - This where we will store our templates.
• daily - This is where we will store our daily notes.

Settings #

Editor #

Setting	Value
Show frontmatter	Enabled
Fold heading	Enabled
Fold indent	Enabled
Use tabs	Enabled
Tab size	2

Files & Links #

Setting	Value
Confirm file deletion	Disabled
Automatically update internal links	Enabled
Detect all file extensions	Enabled
Default location for new attachments	In the folder specified below
Attachment folder path	_assets/attachments

Appearance #

Setting	Value
Translucent window	Enabled
Font size	15

Hotkeys #

I have modified some of the important hotkeys to better match VS Code’s defaults since that is the text editor that I am most familiar with. Click the Restore default icon if you’d like to revert a specific hotkey to Obsidian’s default hotkeys.

Description	Shortcut
Command palette: Open command palette	⌘⇧P
Delete current file	⌘⇧Backspace
Delete paragraph	⌘⇧D
Edit file title	⌘⌥T
Focus on editor	⌘1
Quick switcher: Open quick switcher	⌘P
Split horizontally	⌘\
Split vertically	⌘⇧\
Swap line down	⇧⌥↓
Swap line up	⇧⌥↑

Core plugins #

Plugin	Value
Outgoing Links	Enabled
Tag pane	Enabled
Daily notes	Enabled
Templates	Enabled
Slash commands	Enabled
Starred	Enabled
Markdown format importer	Disabled
Outline	Enabled
Audio recorder	Enabled
Workspaces	Enabled

Community Plugins #

Setting	Value
Safe mode	Disabled

Core Plugin Options #

Templates #

Setting	Value
Template folder location	_assets/templates

Daily notes #

Daily Note Template #

Create a new template titled t_daily under _assets/templates. Refer to the Templates documentation for more information about variables.

# {{date}}
 
## Notes
 
---
 
#daily
# {{date}}

## Notes

---

#daily

Settings #

Setting	Value
New file location	daily
Template file location	_assets/templates/t_daily
Open daily note on startup	Enabled

Hotkeys #

Description	Shortcut
Templates: Insert template	⌘⌥I

Important Documentation #

I would suggest starting with these documentation pages:

• Creating Notes Documentation
• Embedding Files Documentation
• Block Level Linking Documentation
• YAML Front Matter Documentation

Wrap Up #

This post is still growing so expect some changes. Also, don’t forget to check out the GitHub repo for the template!