How to Use Obsidian: A Practical Beginner's Guide for 2026

To use Obsidian, install the free app, create a vault (a normal folder on your computer), and start writing notes in Markdown. Then connect those notes with [[double bracket]] links, so you can jump between related ideas and see how they fit together in backlinks and the graph view.

That’s the core of it. Everything else, including daily notes, templates, properties, plugins and sync, builds on those two ideas: plain-text files in a folder, and links between them. This guide walks through the setup in the order most people need it. It’s based on Obsidian’s official help docs, as of October 2026.

What makes Obsidian different

Obsidian stores every note as a plain-text Markdown file on your own device. The official docs put it plainly: your notes are not locked into a proprietary format and can outlive the app itself. That has a few practical consequences:

• It works offline. Your vault is a local folder, not a cloud database.
• You own the files. You can open them in any text editor or move them to another app later.
• Sync is your choice. Notes don’t sync between devices automatically. You pick a method (more on that below).

Pricing is simple for most people. The app is free, and Obsidian dropped its commercial-license requirement in February 2025, so you can use it at work at no cost. Paid services such as Obsidian Sync are optional.

Step 1: Install Obsidian and create a vault

Obsidian runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS/iPadOS. Get it from the official download page at obsidian.md, or from Google Play or the App Store on mobile.

The first time you open the app, it asks you to set up a vault:

1. Choose Create to make a new, empty vault.
2. Give it a name, such as “Notes”.
3. Pick where the folder should live on your computer.
4. Confirm.

If you already have a folder of Markdown files, choose Open instead and select that folder. Obsidian treats it as a vault without converting anything.

One vault or several? You can do either. Most beginners do best with a single vault, because links only work between notes in the same vault.

Want to look around first? The desktop app includes a Sandbox vault that shows off features without touching your own files. Open the left sidebar, click the Help icon next to the vault switcher, and choose Open next to Sandbox vault. It isn’t available on mobile.

Step 2: Write your first note

1. Press Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on macOS) to create a note.
2. Type a name and press Enter. The name becomes the file name.
3. Start writing.

Obsidian uses standard Markdown for formatting. A few basics cover most of what you’ll write:

Step 3: Link your notes together

Linking is where Obsidian earns its reputation. Here’s how the official guide does it:

1. In any note, type [[ (two left square brackets).
2. Start typing the name of another note. Obsidian suggests matches.
3. Press Enter to insert the link, for example [[Three laws of motion]].
4. Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on macOS) the link to open that note.

You can also link to notes that don’t exist yet. The link shows in a muted color, and clicking it creates the note. This is a handy way to mark “I’ll write about this later” without breaking your flow.

Useful link variations

The internal links docs cover a few more forms worth knowing:

• Link to a heading: [[Note#Heading]]
• Link to a specific paragraph or block: [[Note#^block-id]]. This is Obsidian-specific and won’t work in other Markdown tools.
• Custom link text: [[Note|what the reader sees]]
• Standard Markdown links: if you prefer [text](Note.md) style, turn off Wikilinks in Settings → Files and links.

When you rename a note, Obsidian updates every link to it automatically by default.

Backlinks and the graph view

Links work in both directions. Open any note, then the Backlinks tab in the right sidebar, and you’ll see every note that links to it under Linked mentions.

The graph view draws your vault as a network. Each note is a dot (node), and each link is a line between dots. Notes with more incoming links appear larger. Open it from the ribbon on the left with Open graph view, or use Open local graph to see only the notes connected to the one you’re reading. It’s most useful once you have a few dozen linked notes.

Step 4: Learn the two keyboard shortcuts that matter

You can get around most of Obsidian with two commands:

• Quick switcher, Ctrl/Cmd+O: type part of a note’s name and press Enter to open it. If nothing matches, Enter creates a new note with that name.
• Command palette, Ctrl/Cmd+P: run any command by typing its name. It uses fuzzy matching, so the docs’ example “scf” finds Save current file.

If you forget where a feature lives, search for it in the command palette.

Step 5: Add structure with daily notes, templates and properties

These are all built-in core plugins, so there’s nothing extra to install.

Daily notes

Daily notes opens a note for today’s date, named in YYYY-MM-DD format by default, and creates it if it doesn’t exist yet. Click the calendar icon in the ribbon, or run Open today’s daily note from the command palette. Many people use it as an inbox: jot things down there during the day and link out to topic notes.

Templates

To reuse a structure such as a meeting note, a book note or a daily log:

1. Create a folder for templates, for example Templates.
2. Go to Settings → Core plugins → Templates and set that folder as the template folder location.
3. Write a note in that folder with the content you want to reuse. Variables like {{title}}, {{date}} and {{time}} fill in automatically.
4. In Settings → Daily notes, point Template file location at your daily template so each new day starts with it.

Properties and Bases

Properties add structured fields such as text, lists, dates, checkboxes and numbers to the top of a note. Type --- at the very start of a file, or press Ctrl/Cmd+;. Obsidian includes default properties for tags, aliases and cssclasses.

Once your notes have properties, the Bases core plugin can show them as database-like views. You can use tables and cards, sort and filter them, and edit values in place. The data still lives in your Markdown files. The 1.14 release (October 2026) added a kanban view for Bases.

Step 6: Extend Obsidian with plugins, carefully

Obsidian ships with core plugins and also supports a large directory of community-built ones. Community plugins are off by default, because Obsidian starts in Restricted Mode. The official docs warn that these plugins run third-party code that could potentially do harm.

To add one:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins and select Turn on community plugins.
2. Select Browse, find a plugin, and select Install.
3. Select Enable.

Community plugins don’t update automatically. Check for updates in the same settings screen. A sensible approach is to use Obsidian with core features for a few weeks, then add plugins only to fix specific problems you actually run into.

Step 7: Sync your notes across devices

Because the vault is just a folder, you have several options. The official sync guide covers these:

On price, Obsidian’s Standard plan announcement says Sync starts at $4 per month on the Standard plan. Tiers and pricing can change, so check the official pricing page before you subscribe. Whatever you choose, the docs also recommend keeping a separate backup.

A simple routine that sticks

If you’re not sure where to start, try this for your first month:

1. Open today’s daily note each morning and capture everything there.
2. When something deserves its own note, wrap it in [[ ]] and click through to create it.
3. Once a week, check backlinks on your busiest notes and tidy up anything worth keeping.

Skip the elaborate system-building at first. Your structure will become clear as your notes and links pile up.