Workspace

The workspace is the main container for all the components that make up the Obsidian interface. It arranges your notes and tools into a flexible layout you can customize to fit your workflow.

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Main areas

On desktop, the workspace is divided into three primary regions: On mobile, the sidebars are collapsed by default and open via swipe gestures or the expand icons. The navigation bar at the bottom replaces the ribbon.

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Tabs

Tabs in Obsidian work like browser tabs — you can open as many as you want and arrange them into custom layouts.

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Open a new tab

Select New tab (+) at the top of the window, or use a keyboard shortcut:

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl+T
• macOS: Cmd+T

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Open a link in a new tab

Hold a modifier key while clicking a link to control where it opens:

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Switch between tabs

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Pin a tab

Right-click a tab in the main editor and select Pin. Links in a pinned tab always open in a separate tab, so the pinned note stays in place. To unpin, right-click the tab and select Unpin.

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Tab groups and split panes

Every tab belongs to a tab group. You can split the editor area into multiple tab groups to view notes side by side.

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Split a tab group

Right-click any tab and select Split right or Split down to create a new tab group containing that tab. You can also drag a tab to the bottom edge of another tab group to split it.

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Resize a tab group

Hover over the edge between two tab groups until the edge highlights, then drag to resize. Sidebars can be resized the same way.

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Rearrange tabs

Drag a tab along the tab bar to reorder it within a group. Drag it to a different tab group or to the edge of the window to move it there. Highlighted drop zones show you where the tab will land.

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Stack tab groups

Select the down arrow at the top-right of a tab group and choose Stack notes. Stacked tabs slide over each other — useful for browsing many notes in a compact layout.

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Pop-out windows

You can open any note in a separate window so it floats alongside your main Obsidian window. Pop-out windows are tied to their parent vault window — if you close the vault window, all of its pop-out windows close too.

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Open a note in a new window

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Move a tab between windows

Drag a tab from one window’s tab bar into a tab group in the other window. You can also right-click a tab and select Move to new window, or use the Command palette command Move current tab in new window.

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Sidebars

The left and right sidebars hold tabs created by plugins — for example, File explorer, Search, Backlinks, and Outline.

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Open or collapse sidebars

Select the left or right expand icon in the toolbar to toggle each sidebar. On mobile, swipe left or right, or select the expand icon for the left sidebar.

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Manage sidebar tabs

• Switch tabs: Select the icon in the sidebar tab bar. Hover over an icon to see its tooltip.
• Rearrange tabs: Drag tab icons to reorder them within a group.
• Create a tab group: Drag a tab icon above or below an existing group until the drop zone highlights, then release.
• Pin a tab: Drag a note into the sidebar to pin it there. A pinned note tab stays in place when you navigate to other notes.

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The ribbon

The ribbon runs vertically on the left side of the app and provides quick access to common actions. It remains visible even when the left sidebar is collapsed. Default ribbon actions include:

• Vault switcher — open or switch between vaults
• Help — access documentation and support
• Settings — open the settings panel

Plugins can add their own actions to the ribbon.

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Customize the ribbon

• Reorder: Drag and drop ribbon icons to rearrange them.
• Hide an action: Right-click an empty space in the ribbon and uncheck actions you want to hide.
• Hide the entire ribbon: Right-click the ribbon and select Hide ribbon, or go to Settings → Appearance → Advanced and disable Show ribbon.
• Show a hidden ribbon: Go to Settings → Appearance → Advanced and enable Show ribbon.

Your ribbon layout is saved and synchronizes with other devices when you sync app settings.

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The status bar

The status bar sits in the bottom-right corner of the app. It shows context-sensitive information such as word count, character count, and the current editing mode. Plugins can also add their own indicators to the status bar.

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Save and restore layouts

Use the Workspaces core plugin to save your entire window layout — tab groups, open notes, and sidebar state — and restore it later. Open the Command palette and search for “Manage workspaces” to save or load a layout.