Writing in Markdown
A note is plain text that styles itself as it’s typed: headings grow, emphasis shows, code goes monospaced, dashes become bullets, - [ ] becomes a box. On the lines you’re typing on, the marks that do it stay visible, dimmed; everywhere else they’re hidden and the note reads as a finished page. Click away from the note and the whole of it reads that way.
Marks
| Type | Get |
|---|---|
# ## ### | headings 1–3 |
**bold** *italic* | bold, italic |
`code` and ``` fences | inline code, a code block |
- * 1. | bulleted and numbered lists |
- [ ] and - [x] | a to-do box, unticked and ticked |
> | a quote |
--- | a divider |
[[Another note]] | a link to a note (see Links) |
@<id> | a tag pointing at a node (see Tags) |
Typing [ adds its ], as Obsidian does, so [[ makes [[]] ready for a name; around a selection the pair goes either side; ] typed before a ] steps over it.
The / menu
Type / at the start of a line or after a space and a picker opens, Insert and format, in the order Notion keeps: things to put in first, then blocks to turn the line into. Keep typing to filter (“h1”, “todo”, “quote”, “sketch”…); ↑ ↓ and Return pick; Esc dismisses.
| Command | Does | Or type |
|---|---|---|
| Picture or video | opens a file chooser; the file goes in on its own line | drop or paste |
| Drawing | a new drawing at the cursor | |
| Tag a node | puts an @ to start a tag | @ |
| Link to note | puts [[ | [[ |
| Text | plain paragraph | |
| Heading 1 / 2 / 3 | the line becomes a heading | # ## ### |
| Bulleted list | - | |
| Numbered list | 1. | |
| To-do list | [] | |
| Quote | > | |
| Code block | the line between fences, cursor at its end | ``` |
| Divider | a rule on its own line | --- |
A block command replaces whatever block the line already was (its ##, its >, its - [ ]). The / and what you typed after it go; one undo takes it all back. A / that commands nothing is just a slash.
Escapes
\/ and \@ type a slash or an at-sign that’s only text; the backslash shows only while the cursor is beside it.
Finding in a note
⌘F with the cursor in the note finds within it (the standard find bar); anywhere else it filters the list.