Obsidian is an extremely powerful markdown text editor. It can be used to build a simple and elegant note-taking system or a full-fledged second brain. The power of the tool is that it deals with local files and gives you 100% control.

However, it does have lots of areas, and being able to quickly navigate between those and perform the required actions smoothly is essential to your productivity. These are some of the most helpful commands you need to know. They cover the basics actions that you need to perform most often.

Here we go.

1. Quick Switcher

Key: CTRL + O
Requires: Quick Switcher plugin

Quick Switcher in Obsidian preview

This is by far my most favorite command. My notes vault has grown considerably and I’d rather not browse the sidebar to go to a file each time. I needed a faster way to quickly jump between different ideas, make changes as needed and go live my life. This command does that for me. I press the key, type some part of the note title, and bingo!

2. Graph View

Key: CTRL + G

Obsidian Graph View Preview

The Graph View is the visual representation of how all your notes are linked together. It comes in handy when you need to take a look at the bigger picture and make sense of all the information that is related to each other. Hence, simply press the key and see how your second brain currently stands.

3. Local Graph View

Key: CTRL + SHFT + G

When your vault size grows it becomes difficult to track a single note and all of the connections. There is a better way to view all linked information for a given article and it is called “Local Graph View”. Press the key and you’ll see contents linked to the note you are in.

4. Reveal Note Location

Key: CTRL + ALT + F
Requires: Custom mapping

Another one of the commands I use frequently. When you have directories containing dozens or sometimes even hundreds of files, it becomes cumbersome to find the file you’re editing. I was really frustrated by a lack of shortcuts for this in the early days of my Obsidian use until I created this custom mapping. It expands all directories and reveals a note you’re editing.

5. Delete Note

Key: CTRL + DELETE

This command help quickly send irrelevant notes to the trash. You don’t have to filter through the note options each time you want to get rid of a note.

6. Search All

Key: CTRL + SHFT + F

Personally, I prefer using a mouse pad as little as possible. If something can be done from the keyboard it is usually the faster way and that’s what I go with. Instead of having to click on the search icon each time you need to find something, simply hit this key and type your keyword.

7. Open Command Palette

Key: CTRL + P

Command palette is one of the most powerful features of Obsidian. It helps you handle the most important aspects of your application like settings, hotkeys, and appearance, etc. It also helps you insert templates, perform actions on the current note, navigate forward and backward, and much more.

8 . New Note

Key: CTRL + N

M thoughts are fleeting. One moment I have an idea and the next it is gone. One minute I’m feeling inspired to write something and by the time I’ve created a new note it has faded away already. This key is the life savor. It quickly creates a new note and helps you capture information on the fly.

9. Open Note in New Tab

Key: CTRL + SHFT + N

When you’re working with a note and an idea pops up that needs to be stored separately, hit this key to open a new note in a separate tab without affecting your current note.

10. Toggle Edit/View Mode

Key: CTRL + E

Speed matters and this is one of those keys you’ll be using dozens of times per day. It quickly helps you switch between Edit and View mode and see how your markdown will be transformed into a readable file.

11. Close Current Pane

Key: CTRL + W

Hit this key to close whatever you have in the currently active pane. It comes in pretty handy when dealing with multiple panes and switching between them constantly.

Conclusion

Obsidian is extremely powerful and there is much more you can accomplish by creating your own custom key bindings. It is super simple and easy and I highly recommend you do that on top of mastering all the existing commands.

I hope this article helped you in some way and if it did, make sure to hit that clap button and subscribe to receive more articles like this in