Productivity

💎Obsidian Keyboard Shortcuts

23 essential shortcuts for Obsidian

Notes

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+N/⌘NCreate new note

Navigation

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+O/⌘OQuick switcher (open note by name)
Ctrl+Shift+F/⌘⇧FSearch in all files
Ctrl+Click/⌘ClickFollow link under cursor
Ctrl+Alt+/⌘⌥←Navigate back
Ctrl+Alt+/⌘⌥→Navigate forward
Ctrl+G/⌘GOpen graph view

General

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+P/⌘POpen command palette
Ctrl+E/⌘EToggle edit/preview mode
Ctrl+,/⌘,Open settings
Ctrl+Shift+I/⌘⇧IOpen developer tools
Ctrl+Shift+L/⌘⇧LToggle left sidebar
Ctrl+Shift+R/⌘⇧RToggle right sidebar

Formatting

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+B/⌘BBold
Ctrl+I/⌘IItalic
Ctrl+K/⌘KInsert link
[[ (double bracket)Start internal link
Ctrl+Shift+H/⌘⇧HHighlight text

Editing

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+D/⌘DDelete paragraph
Ctrl+Enter/⌘↩Toggle checkbox

Panes

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+\/⌘\Split vertically
Ctrl+W/⌘WClose current pane

Templates

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+Alt+I/⌘⌥IInsert template

About Obsidian Shortcuts

Obsidian is a powerful knowledge management application that works on top of a local folder of plain Markdown files. It features bidirectional linking, graph view, community plugins, and a customizable interface. Obsidian's keyboard shortcuts enable efficient note creation, linking, search, and navigation through your knowledge graph. Its plugin system extends shortcuts to support hundreds of additional commands.

This reference covers 23 essential Obsidian keyboard shortcuts organized across 7 categories: Notes, Navigation, General, and more. Each shortcut lists both macOS and Windows/Linux key combinations where applicable, making it easy to find the right key combo regardless of your operating system.

Learning keyboard shortcuts is one of the highest-leverage investments you can make in your daily workflow. Studies show that developers and designers who rely on keyboard shortcuts are measurably faster at common tasks. Rather than memorizing every shortcut at once, focus on the ones you use most frequently and gradually expand your repertoire.

Bookmark this page for quick reference whenever you need to look up a Obsidian shortcut. The categorized layout makes it easy to find shortcuts by their function, whether you need navigation, editing, or specialized commands.

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