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How I setup Obsidian

Last updated: December 10, 2023

This is how I configured Obsidian so it feels natural to use to me. I refer to this page when I forget about a shortcut, a plugin or a specific syntax. I keep it updated.

Default keyboard shortcuts

(This is mostly a reminder to myself.)

  • ⌘ + B to bold
  • ⌘ + I to italic
  • Ctrl + D to Delete Paragraph
  • Alt for multiple cursors, not cmd (⌘) which is the norm

Custom shortcuts

I’ve remapped some shortcuts to match VSCode and created new ones.

  • ⌘ + P to “Open quick switcher”, remapped from ⌘ + O
  • ⌘ + Shift + P to “Open command palette”, remapped from ⌘ + P.
  • ⌘ + Shift + M to “Move current file to another folder”.

Settings

  • Editor
    • Fold Heading ✅
    • Spell Check ✅
  • Files and Links
    • Default location for new notes -> “Same folder as current file”
    • Default location for new attachments -> “Same folder as current file”

Paste images in same folder as note

By default, when pasting an image into a note from clipboard,the image file goes to the root folder of the vault.

This is the stupidest setting. It gives you lots of meaningless image files named Pasted image 20210516212812 in the root folder. Thankfully, you can change it.

Settings > Files & Links > Default location for new attachments > “Same as folder of current file”

Theme

My Themes are “Obsidian Nord” and “Typewriter” (under appearance in the settings).

Plugins

There’s a bunch of options that make up the “core” plugins. I’m only listing the ones I activated that were turned off by default.

Official plugins

  • Tag pane
  • Outline
  • Canvas
  • Sync (Optional). It gives you encrypted cloud storage and syncs between devices.

Community plugins

  • Obisidian Git. Lets you automatically commit your changes at a time interval
  • OZ Calendar. I only use it for the calendar view, nothing else.
  • Paste URL into selection.
  • Obsidian enhancing export.
  • Obsidian Auto Link Title

Obsidian Syntax

Highlight text

You can highlight text in both Roam and Obsidian. In Obsidian, use two equal signs ==like this==.

How to resize images in Obsidian

For image links, use ![AltText|200x200](https://alv.sh/image.png)

For local image files, use ![[image.png|200x200]]

To resize an image but keep its aspect ratio, omit the height ![[image.png|200]]

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