Exercise 1: Obsidian basics

In this exercise you will create a new Obsidian vault (a notebook) and learn the basics: creating notes, writing in Markdown, and linking notes together.

Part 1: Create your first Obsidian vault

Open the Obsidian app
Create a new vault
Give it a name and browse a location (ideally somewhere that is backed up)
Click Create

Your vault should open automatically.

What if I already have an Obsidian vault?

If you already have a vault, you can use it or create a new one just for this workshop. Both work.

Part 2: Add your first note

Create a note named Obsidian
Copy the content below into the note
Look at the formatting

# Advantages

- **Free** for personal use
- All OS and mobile
- Simple *Markdown* format
- Notes are stored *locally* on my computer

# Best plugins

## Community plugins

1. Calendar
2. Tasks

## Core plugins

- Daily notes
- Templates

# To do

- [ ] Set up an attachments folder
- [ ] Try the command palette

Part 3: Add your own notes

Create 2 short notes on any topic, e.g. a paper you read, a method you use, or your favourite recipe.

The content doesn’t matter, the goal is to try out Markdown formatting:

a heading
a list
bold or italic text

Use the Obsidian note or the Markdown cheatsheet as reference.

Part 4: Link your notes

Link your notes to each other:

In one of your notes, add a link to another note:
- Type [[ and select a note from the suggestions
Click the link to make sure it works

How to find the square brackets [ ] on your keyboard

This depends on your keyboard layout. Common options:

US/UK keyboards: keys right of P
Windows (many non‑US layouts): AltGr + a number key (often 8 or 9)
Mac (many non‑US layouts): Option (⌥) + a number key

If it still doesn’t work, search online for: “square brackets” + your keyboard layout + Windows/Mac.

Part 5: Set up an attachments folder

Create a folder for attachments (e.g. attachments or zzz_attachments if you want it at the bottom of your folder list)
Open Settings (gear icon bottom left) → Files and links
Set Default location for new attachments to In the folder specified below
Enter the attachment folder name (spelling must match exactly)

The setting should look like this:

Obsidian settings under Files and links. Default location for new attachments is set to In the folder specified below, and the attachment folder path is zzz_Attachments.

Now add an image or screenshot to one of your notes (drag and drop or copy/paste) and check that it ends up in the attachments folder.

Part 6: Use the command palette

The command palette lets you do everything in Obsidian from your keyboard.

Open the command palette with Ctrl/Cmd + P
Type “table” and select Insert table to add a table to one of your notes
Look at what else you can do, e.g. type “PDF” to export a note as PDF

Optional tasks (if you finish early)

Pick the one you find most interesting. You don’t need to do all of them.

Try different ways of opening a note

Click: open the note
Ctrl/Cmd + click: open in a new tab
Ctrl/Cmd + hover: open a preview (and you can edit from there)

Try more Markdown

Try something new from the Markdown cheatsheet, e.g. embed a note or add a callout.

Add tags and try search

Add tags to your notes (e.g. tag all paper notes with #paper)
Click a tag to open search and see all notes with that tag

Change the editor theme

Obsidian comes with many different editor themes you can choose from. Change the theme like this:

Open Settings (gear icon bottom left corner)
Go to Appearance
Under Themes, click Manage
Browse and install a theme (you can always switch back)

Create a mind map

Obsidian has a digital whiteboard called Canvas. You can use it for mind maps, brainstorming or to get an overview.

Create a new Canvas (icon in the left ribbon or via the command palette)
Add cards, connect them with arrows, color and group them
Drag and drop one of your notes onto the Canvas

Next: Exercise 2: Daily notes · Back to the workshop page