obsidian/*Formatting.md

# Basic formatting syntax

Learn how to apply basic formatting to your notes, using [Markdown](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/). For more advanced formatting syntax, refer to [Advanced formatting syntax](https://help.obsidian.md/advanced-syntax).

## Paragraphs

To create paragraphs in Markdown, use a **blank line** to separate blocks of text. Each block of text separated by a blank line is treated as a distinct paragraph.

```md
This is a paragraph.

This is another paragraph.
```

This is a paragraph.

This is another paragraph.

A blank line between lines of text creates separate paragraphs. This is the default behavior in Markdown.

Multiple blank spaces

### Line breaks

By default in Obsidian, pressing `Enter` once will create a new line in your note, but this is treated as a _continuation_ of the same paragraph in the rendered output, following typical Markdown behavior. To insert a line break _within_ a paragraph without starting a new paragraph, you can either:

- Add **two spaces** at the end of a line before pressing `Enter`, or
- Use the shortcut `Shift+Enter` to directly insert a line break.

Why don't multiple `Enter` presses create more line breaks in reading view?

Obsidian includes a **[Strict line breaks](https://help.obsidian.md/settings#Strict%20line%20breaks)** setting, which makes Obsidian follow the standard Markdown specification for line breaks.

To enable this feature:

1. Open **[Settings](https://help.obsidian.md/settings)**.
2. Go to the **Editor** tab.
3. Enable **Strict Line Breaks**.

When **Strict Line Breaks** is enabled in Obsidian, line breaks have three distinct behaviors depending on how the lines are separated:

**Single return with no spaces**: A single `Enter` with no trailing spaces will combine the two separate lines into a single line when rendered.

```md
line one
line two
```

Renders as:

line one line two

**Single return with two or more trailing spaces**: If you add two or more spaces at the end of the first line before pressing `Enter`, the two lines remain part of the same paragraph, but are broken by a line break (HTML `<br>` element). We'll use two underscores to stand in for spaces in this example.

```md
line three__  
line four
```

Renders as:

line three  
  
line four

**Double return (with or without trailing spaces)**: Pressing `Enter` twice (or more) separates the lines into two distinct paragraphs (HTML `<p>` elements), regardless of whether you add spaces at the end of the first line.

```md
line five

line six
```

Renders as:

line five

line six

## Headings

To create a heading, add up to six `#` symbols before your heading text. The number of `#` symbols sets the level of the heading (as shown in the [Outline](https://help.obsidian.md/plugins/outline)).

```md
# This is a heading 1
## This is a heading 2
### This is a heading 3
#### This is a heading 4
##### This is a heading 5
###### This is a heading 6
```

# This is a heading 1

## This is a heading 2

### This is a heading 3

#### This is a heading 4

##### This is a heading 5

###### This is a heading 6

## Bold, italics, highlights

Text formatting can also be applied using [Editing shortcuts](https://help.obsidian.md/editing-shortcuts).

|Style|Syntax|Example|Output|
|---|---|---|---|
|Bold|`** **` or `__ __`|`**Bold text**`|**Bold text**|
|Italic|`* *` or `_ _`|`*Italic text*`|_Italic text_|
|Strikethrough|`~~ ~~`|`~~Striked out text~~`|~~Striked out text~~|
|Highlight|`== ==`|`==Highlighted text==`|==Highlighted text==|
|Bold and nested italic|`** **` and `_ _`|`**Bold text and _nested italic_ text**`|**Bold text and _nested italic_ text**|
|Bold and italic|`*** ***` or `___ ___`|`***Bold and italic text***`|**_Bold and italic text_**|

Formatting can be forced to display in plain text by adding a backslash `\` in front of it.

**This line will not be bold**

```markdown
\*\*This line will not be bold\*\*
```

*_This line will be italic and show the asterisks_*

```markdown
\**This line will be italic and show the asterisks*\*
```

## Internal links

Obsidian supports two formats for [internal links](https://help.obsidian.md/links) between notes:

- Wikilink: `[[Three laws of motion]]`
- Markdown: `[Three laws of motion](Three%20laws%20of%20motion.md)`

## External links

If you want to link to an external URL, you can create an inline link by surrounding the link text in brackets (`[ ]`), and then the URL in parentheses (`( )`).

```md
[Obsidian Help](https://help.obsidian.md)
```

[Obsidian Help](https://help.obsidian.md)

You can also create external links to files in other vaults, by linking to an [Obsidian URI](https://help.obsidian.md/uri).

```md
[Note](obsidian://open?vault=MainVault&file=Note.md)
```

### Escape blank spaces in links

If your URL contains blank spaces, you must escape them by replacing them with `%20`.

```md
[My Note](obsidian://open?vault=MainVault&file=My%20Note.md)
```

You can also escape the URL by wrapping it with angled brackets (`< >`).

```md
[My Note](<obsidian://open?vault=MainVault&file=My Note.md>)
```

## External images

You can add images with external URLs, by adding a `!` symbol before an [external link](https://help.obsidian.md/syntax#External%20links).

```md
![Engelbart](https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/images/Engelbart.jpg)
```

![Engelbart](https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/images/Engelbart.jpg)

You can change the image dimensions, by adding `|640x480` to the link destination, where 640 is the width and 480 is the height.

```md
![Engelbart|100x145](https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/images/Engelbart.jpg)
```

If you only specify the width, the image scales according to its original aspect ratio. For example:

```md
![Engelbart|100](https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/images/Engelbart.jpg)
```

Tip

## Quotes

You can quote text by adding a `>` symbols before the text.

```md
> Human beings face ever more complex and urgent problems, and their effectiveness in dealing with these problems is a matter that is critical to the stability and continued progress of society.

\- Doug Engelbart, 1961
```

> Human beings face ever more complex and urgent problems, and their effectiveness in dealing with these problems is a matter that is critical to the stability and continued progress of society.

- Doug Engelbart, 1961

Tip

## Lists

You can create an unordered list by adding a `-`, `*`, or `+` before the text.

```md
- First list item
- Second list item
- Third list item
```

- First list item
- Second list item
- Third list item

To create an ordered list, start each line with a number followed by a `.` or `)` symbol.

```md
1. First list item
2. Second list item
3. Third list item
```

1. First list item
2. Second list item
3. Third list item

```md
1) First list item
2) Second list item
3) Third list item
```

1. First list item
2. Second list item
3. Third list item

You can use `Shift+Enter` to insert a [line break](https://help.obsidian.md/syntax#Line%20breaks) within an ordered list without altering the numbering.

```md
1. First list item
   
2. Second list item
3. Third list item
   
4. Fourth list item
5. Fifth list item
6. Sixth list item
```

### Task lists

To create a task list, start each list item with a hyphen and space followed by `[ ]`.

```md
- [x] This is a completed task.
- [ ] This is an incomplete task.
```

- [x] This is a completed task.
- [ ] This is an incomplete task.

You can toggle a task in Reading view by selecting the checkbox.

Tip

### Nesting lists

You can nest any type of list—ordered, unordered, or task lists—under any other type of list.

To create a nested list, indent one or more list items. You can mix list types within a nested structure:

```md
1. First list item
   2. Ordered nested list item
3. Second list item
   - Unordered nested list item
```

1. First list item
    1. Ordered nested list item
2. Second list item
    - Unordered nested list item

Similarly, you can create a nested task list by indenting one or more list items:

```md
- [ ] Task item 1
	- [ ] Subtask 1
- [ ] Task item 2
	- [ ] Subtask 1
```

- [ ] Task item 1
    - [ ] Subtask 1
- [ ] Task item 2
    - [ ] Subtask 1

Use `Tab` or `Shift+Tab` to indent or unindent selected list items to easily organize them.

## Horizontal rule

You can use three or more stars `***`, hyphens `---`, or underscore `___` on its own line to add a horizontal bar. You can also separate symbols using spaces.

```md
***
****
* * *
---
----
- - -
___
____
_ _ _
```

---

## Code

You can format code both inline within a sentence, or in its own block.

### Inline code

You can format code within a sentence using single backticks.

```md
Text inside `backticks` on a line will be formatted like code.
```

Text inside `backticks` on a line will be formatted like code.

If you want to put backticks in an inline code block, surround it with double backticks like so: inline ``code with a backtick ` inside``.

### Code blocks

To format code as a block, enclose it with three backticks or three tildes.

``````
`````
cd ~/Desktop
`````
``````

```
~~~
cd ~/Desktop
~~~
```

```md
cd ~/Desktop
```

You can also create a code block by indenting the text using `Tab` or 4 blank spaces.

```md
    cd ~/Desktop
```

You can add syntax highlighting to a code block, by adding a language code after the first set of backticks.

``````md
`````js
function fancyAlert(arg) {
  if(arg) {
    $.facebox({div:'#foo'})
  }
}
`````
``````

```js
function fancyAlert(arg) {
  if(arg) {
    $.facebox({div:'#foo'})
  }
}
```

Obsidian uses Prism for syntax highlighting. For more information, refer to [Supported languages](https://prismjs.com/#supported-languages).

PrismJS and editing views

[Source mode](https://help.obsidian.md/edit-and-read#Source%20mode) and [Live Preview](https://help.obsidian.md/edit-and-read#Live%20Preview) do not support PrismJS, and may render syntax highlighting differently.

#### Nesting code blocks

When you need to include a code block inside another code block (for example, when documenting how to use code blocks), you can use more than three backticks or tildes for the outer code block.

To nest code blocks, use four or more backticks (or tildes) for the outer block, while the inner block uses three:

`````md
````md
Here's how to create a code block:
```js
console.log("Hello world")
```
````
`````

You can also mix backticks and tildes. This is particularly useful when working with code that generates other code blocks:

`````md
````md
```dataviewjs
dv.paragraph(`
~~~mermaid
graph TD
    A --> B
~~~
`)
```
````
`````

The key principle is that the outer code block must use **more** fence characters (backticks or tildes) than any inner code block, or use a different fence character type.

## Footnotes

You can add footnotes[[1]](https://publish.obsidian.md/#fn-1-46f75711cc4c6f91) to your notes using the following syntax:

```md
This is a simple footnote[^1].

[^1]: This is the referenced text.
[^2]: Add 2 spaces at the start of each new line.
  This lets you write footnotes that span multiple lines.
[^note]: Named footnotes still appear as numbers, but can make it easier to identify and link references.
```

You can also inline footnotes in a sentence. Note that the caret goes outside the brackets.

```md
You can also use inline footnotes. ^[This is an inline footnote.]
```

Note

Inline footnotes only work in reading view, not in Live Preview.

## Comments

You can add comments by wrapping text with `%%`. Comments are only visible in Editing view.

```md
This is an %%inline%% comment.

%%
This is a block comment.

Block comments can span multiple lines.
%%
```

## Escaping Markdown Syntax

In some cases, you may need to display special characters in Markdown, such as `*`, `_`, or `#`, without triggering their formatting. To display these characters literally, place a backslash (`\`) before them.

Common characters to escape

- Asterisk: `\*`
- Underscore: `\_`
- Hashtag: `\#`
- Backtick: `` \` ``
- Pipe (used in tables): `\|`
- Tilde: `\~`

```md
\*This text will not be italicized\*.
```

*This text will not be italicized*.

When working with numbered lists, you may need to escape the period after the number to prevent automatic list formatting. Place the backslash (`\`) before the period, **not** before the number.

```md
1\. This won't be a list item.
```

1. This won't be a list item.

## Learn more

To learn more advanced formatting syntax, such as tables, diagrams, and math expressions, refer to [Advanced formatting syntax](https://help.obsidian.md/advanced-syntax).

To learn more about how Obsidian parses Markdown, refer to [Obsidian Flavored Markdown](https://help.obsidian.md/obsidian-flavored-markdown).

---

1. This is a footnote.[↩︎](https://publish.obsidian.md/#fnref-1-46f75711cc4c6f91)