How to Use Obsidian: A Beginner’s Guide to Linked Notes

Starter · Level 1 of 3

To use Obsidian, download the free app, create a vault (a folder where your notes live as plain text files), write notes in Markdown, and connect related notes by typing [[ and the name of another note. That is the whole core idea: notes as files you own, linked together so your knowledge forms a map instead of a pile. This guide sets up your first vault, makes your first two linked notes, turns on daily notes, and gives you a starter folder structure you can copy. You do not need to be a developer, and you do not need to pay for anything to follow along.

Obsidian is a note app that stores everything as Markdown files in a normal folder on your computer. Nothing lives on a company server you cannot reach, and there is no proprietary format to get locked into. That ownership is the reason a lot of people switch to it, but the part that changes how you think is the linking. Before you set anything up, it helps to understand what that linking actually does.

What does it mean to link notes together?

Most note apps file each note in one place, like a document in one folder. You remember where you put it, or you search for it. That works until you have a few hundred notes and no memory of which folder the useful one is in.

Obsidian works differently. Instead of asking "which folder does this belong in," you ask "what is this note related to," and you link it there. A note about a Notion dashboard can link to a note about the project it tracks, which links to a note about the client, which links to a meeting note. Each link is two-way: open the client note later and Obsidian shows you every note that points at it, in a panel called backlinks. Over time the links form a web, and that web is what makes old notes findable. You arrive at a note not by remembering its location but by following a trail of related ideas.

This is the linked-notes model, and it is worth internalizing before the mechanics: folders are optional, links do the real work. You can still use folders to stay tidy, and this guide gives you a few, but the connections between notes are what you are actually building.

How do you install Obsidian and create your first vault?

Obsidian runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with companion apps on iOS and Android. The desktop app is the place to start because the editing and linking features are fastest there.

1. Go to the official site at obsidian.md and download the version for your operating system.
2. Install and open it. On first launch Obsidian asks you to create or open a vault.
3. Choose Create new vault. Give it a name like Second Brain, pick a location on your computer (Documents is fine), and confirm.

That folder is now your vault. Open it in your file manager and you will see it is empty except for a hidden .obsidian settings folder. Every note you write becomes a .md file sitting right there, which means you can back the folder up, sync it, or open the files in any other text editor without asking Obsidian for permission. You own the data outright.

One decision worth making now: one big vault or several small ones. For a first vault, keep everything in one. A single vault is where linking pays off, because notes can only link to other notes in the same vault. Splitting work and personal into separate vaults is a choice some people make later for privacy, but starting split means your links cannot cross, and you lose the main benefit on day one.

How do you write and link your first two notes?

Here is the worked example. Follow it exactly and you will have a working linked pair in about three minutes.

1. Click the New note icon in the top-left of the sidebar (or press Ctrl/Cmd + N).
2. Type a title on the first line: Home automation project. Press Enter and write a sentence under it, for example: Notes and ideas for automating the house.
3. Make a second note the same way. Title it Morning routine, and write: The sequence of devices that should fire when I wake up.
4. Go back to the Home automation project note. On a new line, type two open square brackets: [[. Obsidian pops up a list of your existing notes. Start typing Morning, and it suggests Morning routine. Press Enter to insert the link.

You have now made your first link. The text in your note reads [[Morning routine]] in edit mode, and shows as a clickable link in reading mode. Click it and Obsidian jumps to the other note. Open the Morning routine note and look at the backlinks panel at the bottom or in the right sidebar: it lists Home automation project as a note that links here, even though you never edited the morning note to add that connection. That automatic reverse link is the engine of the whole system.

A small but useful trick: if you type [[ and the name of a note that does not exist yet, Obsidian creates it the moment you click the link. This lets you write naturally, link to ideas as they come up, and fill in the linked notes later. Many people build a vault almost entirely this way, by linking forward to notes that do not exist yet and circling back.

How do you turn on daily notes?

The single habit that keeps a vault alive is a daily note: one note per day where you capture whatever comes up, then link out from it to permanent notes. Obsidian has this built in.

1. Open Settings (the gear icon, bottom-left).
2. Go to Core plugins and switch on Daily notes.
3. Still in Settings, find Daily notes in the left list (it appears once the plugin is on). Set a New file location like Daily so daily notes file themselves in one folder.
4. Optionally set a Date format. The default YYYY-MM-DD is the right choice because it sorts chronologically in your file manager.

Now the calendar-style daily note icon in the left ribbon opens today's note, creating it if it does not exist. Use it as your inbox. Jot a thought, link it to a project note with [[, and move on. The daily note is a low-pressure place to write, and the links you drop in it become the connective tissue that ties your scattered captures back into the structure.

What folder structure should a beginner start with?

Folders are optional in Obsidian, but a light structure stops a new vault from feeling like chaos. Resist the urge to build an elaborate hierarchy. Four or five folders is plenty, and you can rename or merge them anytime because moving a file does not break its links. Copy this starter structure into your vault by creating these folders in the sidebar:

Second Brain/
├── Daily/          ← daily notes land here automatically
├── Projects/       ← one note per active project
├── Areas/          ← ongoing responsibilities (Home, Finances, Work)
├── Notes/          ← permanent reference notes and ideas
└── Templates/      ← reusable note templates (set up next)

This is a trimmed version of a common method that separates active projects from ongoing areas from reference material. You do not have to follow it to the letter. The point is to have an obvious home for the three things you create most: things you are actively working on, things you are responsible for over time, and standalone ideas worth keeping.

How do you make a reusable daily note template?

Once daily notes are a habit, a template saves you from staring at a blank page each morning. Obsidian has a Templates core plugin that inserts a block of text on command.

1. In Settings → Core plugins, switch on Templates.
2. Open the Templates settings and set the Template folder location to Templates.
3. Create a new note inside the Templates folder called Daily template and paste the block below.

## {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}

### Top 3 today
- [ ]
- [ ]
- [ ]

### Captured
-

### Linked notes
-

### Tomorrow
- 

The {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} token fills in the current date when you insert the template. To use it, open a daily note, then run the command palette with Ctrl/Cmd + P, type Insert template, and choose Daily template. The checkboxes give you a tasks list, the Captured section is your inbox, and the Linked notes section is a reminder to connect today's thoughts to permanent notes with [[ before you close out.

How is Obsidian different from Notion or apps you already use?

If you already run projects in another tool, it is fair to ask why add this one. Obsidian is not a database app and does not try to be. Notion and similar tools are strong at structured, shared, table-driven work: a content calendar, a client tracker, a team wiki. Obsidian is strong at personal, fast, durable thinking, where the value is in connections rather than columns, and where you want the files to outlive any single app.

The honest version is that many people use both, and they do not compete so much as cover different ground. A reasonable split is structured and collaborative work in a database tool, and personal notes, research, and idea development in Obsidian. The free plan covers everything in this guide. Obsidian charges only for optional extras like official end-to-end encrypted sync and a commercial-use license, and there are free ways to sync a vault (a cloud-synced folder, or the community Git workflow) if you would rather not pay for the official service.

How does Obsidian fit the rest of your automation?

A vault becomes more useful the moment it is where you think about everything else you are building. As you set up systems around the house, the planning, the device lists, and the "what should fire when" notes have a natural home here, linked together. If smart-home work is on your list, the build guide 20 Home Assistant automations worth setting up first pairs well with a project note that tracks which ones you have wired up. And when you design something with several moving parts, like the sequence in how to build a morning routine that runs your house for you, sketching the steps in a linked note first keeps the plan in one place you can return to.

That is the quiet payoff. Obsidian is not only a note app; it is the layer where your projects, your reference material, and your half-formed ideas connect to each other. The automation you build elsewhere gets planned, recorded, and improved here.

Quick answers

Putting it together

You now have the whole starter loop: install Obsidian, make one vault, write notes as plain files, link them with [[, capture in a daily note, and keep a light folder structure with a template to reduce friction. None of it requires a subscription, and none of it locks your writing into a format you cannot get back out. Start small. Make two notes today, link them, and open your daily note tomorrow. The web builds itself from there, one link at a time.

A good next move is to spend a week writing only in the daily note and linking out from it, with no pressure to organize. Once you have ten or fifteen linked notes, the structure you actually need will be obvious, and you can shape the folders around it instead of guessing up front.

Connect notes to action: Turn your captured tasks into a weekly plan with ChatGPT, protect the work with Google Calendar task blocking, or browse more life and time systems.