Markdown Basics

Markdown is the underlying writing language of Obsidian.

Markdown uses plain text symbols to express formatting, allowing you to keep your hands on the keyboard while writing and focus on content rather than layout.

This chapter covers the most commonly used Markdown syntax in Obsidian's daily use. All examples can be practiced directly in Obsidian.

For more Markdown content, refer to:https://www.example.com/markdown/md-tutorial.html

Headings

Markdown uses#the `#` sign to denote headings, with numbers from 1 to 6 corresponding to H1 through H6.

In Obsidian, headings have two additional functions: the Outline panel automatically generates a document outline based on headings, and other notes can use[[Note name#Heading]]to link directly to a specific heading.

It is recommended to start using level-2 headings in the main text and leave level-1 headings for the note's main title. This makes the outline structure clearer and makes it easier to locate content via heading references later.

Text Formatting

For basic inline styles, simply wrap the text with the following symbols.

Rendered result:

• Bold:This is bold
• Italic:This is italic
• Bold italic:This is bold and italic
• Strikethrough:This is strikethrough
• Highlight:This is highlighted

Among them,==Highlight==is an extension of standard Markdown by Obsidian, and may not work in regular Markdown editors.

Blockquotes

Use>the `>` symbol to create blockquotes, suitable for citing external sources or highlighting important content.

In Obsidian, blockquotes have another special usage: add a label before the quote[!note]With this kind of label, the blockquote can become a Callout box.

Lists and Task Lists

Unordered List

Use-、*or+the `-` symbol to create an unordered list.

Sublists use indentation (Tab or two spaces) to indicate levels.

Ordered List

Use a number followed by.a period to create an ordered list. The numbers themselves do not need to be consecutive; Markdown will auto-increment.

Task List

use- [ ]Creates clickable checkboxes; this is one of the most frequently used syntaxes in Obsidian.

In Obsidian, click the checkbox to toggle its completion status.

With the Dataview plugin, you can also aggregate all incomplete tasks across notes — this advanced usage will be covered in later chapters.

Code and Code Blocks

Inline Code

Use a single backtick`to wrap inline code or commands.

Code Blocks

Use three backticks```to wrap multi-line code, and specify the language at the beginning to get syntax highlighting.

Obsidian supports syntax highlighting for dozens of programming languages, including Python, JavaScript, C++, Java, Go, Rust, SQL, Bash, and more.

Tables

Use `|`|to separate columns, and use---`-` to separate the header row from the table body.

In---In rows, use:`:` to control alignment.

Alignment rules:

• ---Left-aligned by default
• :---:Center-aligned
• ---:Right-aligned

Markdown tables do not support merging cells. If you need complex tables, consider using HTML's<table>`<table>` tag; Obsidian supports embedding HTML directly in Markdown files.

Images and Links

Hyperlinks

The basic syntax is[display text](URL)。

Images

The syntax is similar to links; just add `!` before it.!。

Obsidian supports pasting images directly; it will automatically copy the image to the attachments folder and insert a reference into the current note.

Obsidian extends the image syntax; you can add after the file name|widthto control the display size, for examplelimits the image width to 400 pixels.

Obsidian Exclusive: Internal Links

In addition to standard Markdown links, Obsidian provides[[Note name]]syntax to link to other notes in the Vault.

This is Obsidian's most core syntax, and the next chapter will expand on it in detail.

Horizontal Rule

Use three or more---、***or___to create a horizontal rule.

Note the distinction:---A line on its own is a horizontal rule, but at the very top of the document,---the content between the markers is YAML Front Matter (see the next section). Obsidian automatically recognizes the context to decide whether it is a horizontal rule or Front Matter.

YAML Front Matter

Front Matter is a metadata block written at the very top of a note, wrapped in two sets of---markers.

It is used to define the properties of the note: tags, aliases, creation date, status, etc.

Common Front Matter field descriptions:

Field names in Front Matter are case-sensitive. It is recommended to standardize naming conventions within a team or project to avoidtagsandTagsinconsistent usage causing Dataview queries to miss data.

The core value of Front Matter lies in its use with the Dataview plugin — you can filter out all notes with the tag "obsidian" and the status "In Progress" just like querying a database.

Markdown Syntax Cheat Sheet