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Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge management application built around a simple idea: your notes belong to you. All data is stored as plain Markdown files on your device, giving you full ownership and portability — no proprietary formats, no cloud lock-in. With Obsidian, you can build a personal knowledge base that grows with you — linking ideas, organizing projects, and surfacing connections you didn’t know existed.

Install Obsidian

Download and install Obsidian on your device — available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Create your first vault

A vault is a folder of Markdown files. Learn how to create or open one to get started.

Write your first note

Learn how to create notes and use Obsidian’s Markdown editor.

Link your notes

Discover how internal links and backlinks connect your knowledge together.

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Get started

1

Download and install Obsidian

Visit obsidian.md and download the installer for your platform. Obsidian runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
2

Create or open a vault

When you first launch Obsidian, you’ll be prompted to create a new vault or open an existing folder. A vault is simply a folder of Markdown files on your device.
3

Create your first note

Press Ctrl+N (or Cmd+N on macOS) to create a new note. Write in Markdown — Obsidian renders headings, lists, bold, italics, and more in real time.
4

Link ideas together

Type [[ to create an internal link to another note. Obsidian automatically tracks backlinks so you can see which notes reference each other.

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Explore Obsidian

Editing & Formatting

Learn Obsidian’s Markdown syntax — from headings and lists to callouts, tables, and math.

Core Plugins

Explore built-in features like Canvas, Graph View, Daily Notes, Templates, and more.

Bases

Create database-like views of your notes using properties, filters, and multiple layouts.

Community Plugins

Extend Obsidian with thousands of plugins built by the community.

Obsidian Sync

Keep your notes in sync across all your devices with end-to-end encryption.

Obsidian Publish

Share your notes online as a wiki, knowledge base, or digital garden.

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Why Obsidian?

Obsidian stores everything as plain .md files in a folder you control. There’s no proprietary format — you can open your notes in any text editor, version them with Git, or migrate to any other tool at any time.
Obsidian runs entirely on your device. There’s no account required to use the core app — sync and publish are optional add-on services.
With over 1,000 community plugins and hundreds of themes, Obsidian adapts to your workflow — whether you’re a writer, developer, researcher, or project manager.
Bidirectional links, the graph view, and backlinks help you discover relationships between your notes and build a true second brain.

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