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Obsidian syntax manual

· 3 min read
Harikrishnan
Harikrishnan
Web designer and Programmer

A list of obsidian syntax manual.

Here's a solid rundown of Obsidian syntax tricks, grouped by how useful they tend to be:

Text Formatting​

Obsidian uses standard Markdown plus its own extensions. The basics:

WhatSyntax
Bold**text**
Italic*text*
Bold + Italic***text***
Strikethrough~~text~~
Highlight==text==
Inline code`code`

The ==highlight== syntax is Obsidian-specific — very handy for study notes.

Linking (the core power of Obsidian)​

Wikilinks use double brackets to create internal links: [[Note Name]]. To display different text than the note name: [[Note Name|Display Text]].

You can link to a specific heading within a note: [[Note Name#Heading]], or within the same note: [[#Heading]]. You can also link to any paragraph — Obsidian lets you type [[Note Name#^ and it suggests available blocks.

Embeds​

Embedding pulls content from one note into another — if you update the source, the embedded version updates too:

  • Embed entire note: ![[Note Name]]
  • Embed a specific heading: ![[Note Name#Heading]]
  • Embed image with size: ![[image.png|300]]

The ! before the brackets is what triggers embedding versus just linking.

Callouts​

One of the most visually useful tricks. Basic syntax:

> [!note]
> This is a note callout.

With a custom title:

> [!tip] Remember This
> Callouts can have custom titles.

Built-in types include note, tip, warning, success, question, danger, example, quote, and more — each with its own color.

You can make them foldable too — add - (collapsed by default) or + (expanded) after the type:

> [!warning]- Click to expand
> Hidden content here.

This creates accordion-style sections.

Examples:

[!warning] The is a test warning callout.

[!note] note callout Contents

[!tip] Tip callout Contents

Comments (Hidden Text)​

Obsidian supports hidden comments that only appear in editing mode:

%% This won't show in preview. %%

You can also use it as a block. Useful for leaving notes-to-self without cluttering the published view.

Tags with Hierarchy​

Nested tags use forward slashes to create hierarchies:

#project/website
#status/active

Searching tag:#project returns all notes with #project and any subtag beneath it.

YAML Frontmatter (Properties)​

Add metadata at the very top of a note (no blank lines above it):

---
title: My note
date: 2026-09-22
tags:
  - project
status: active
---

Obsidian shows this as a clean Properties panel. It pairs really well with the Dataview plugin to query notes like a database.

Footnotes​

Here's a claim[^1].

Or inline: Here's a claim^[This appears as a footnote].

[^1]: Footnote content here.

Obsidian renders all footnotes at the bottom in preview mode.

Mermaid Diagrams​

Obsidian supports Mermaid diagrams natively inside fenced code blocks — no plugins needed:

graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[Do something]
    B -->|No| D[End]

Supports flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, pie charts, and more.

LaTeX Math​

Inline math uses single dollar signs: $x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2}}{2a}$

Block math uses double:

$$
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}
$$
$$
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}
$$

The ones most people find immediately useful: callouts, wikilinks with aliases, hidden comments, and nested tags. The YAML frontmatter + Dataview combo is a rabbit hole worth going down if you ever want to turn your vault into a structured knowledge base.