Obsidian – Note-Taking SoftwareV1.10.3

Obsidian is a powerful personal knowledge management and note-taking software (known as Obsidian) released in 2020 and developed by Erica Xu and Shida Li. Running on top of native Markdown files, it helps users build non-linear, interconnected knowledge networks, and is often referred to as a “second brain” tool. As of 2025, Obsidian has grown into a full-fledged cross-platform application supporting Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, and is free of charge for both personal and commercial use (from February 2025 onwards there will be no mandatory fees for commercial use, only the purchase of a support license is recommended).

Obsidian’s core philosophy is that the data belongs entirely to the user: all notes are plain text Markdown files (.md) stored in a local folder (called a “Vault” or “Knowledgebase”) and do not rely on proprietary cloud-based formats. formatting in the cloud. Even if Obsidian disappears, your notes can be opened in any text editor, making migration extremely easy.

Key Features

Obsidian’s functionality is designed around “linked thinking” and “interconnected knowledge”, and combined with the Markdown editor, it offers the following core capabilities:

1. Bi-directional Links
   • Use [[note name]] to create links, not only forward links, but also automatically generate backlinks.
   • Supports block-level links (links to specific paragraphs or headings of a note) for atomized note management.
   • Unlinked Mentions: automatically shows where a note is mentioned, even if no link was created.
2. Knowledge Graph View (Graph View)
   • Visually displays the connectivity of all notes, like a mind map network, to help discover implicit connections between knowledge.
   • Can be filtered, colored, and adjusted in intensity for brainstorming and review.
3. Canvas (Infinite Canvas)
   • Core plugin that provides unlimited whiteboards, supports dragging and dropping note cards, arrow connections, and embedding images/videos to form visual mind maps or project boards.
   • Great for brainstorming, project planning, or complex topic grooming.
4. Properties + Bases
   • Add YAML properties (e.g. date, label, status) to the notes front-end.
   • 2025 add core plugin Bases: turn notes into structured database views (tables, kanban, calendars, etc.), similar to a lightweight version of Notion Database but fully native, with support for querying, sorting, filtering.
5. Markdown editing and previewing
   • WYSIWYG Markdown editing with support for LaTeX math equations, code blocks, task lists, embedded PDF/video/audio, and more.
   • Real-time preview mode for a great reading experience.
6. Search and Query
   • Global full-text search.
   • Supports plugins like Dataview for advanced queries (similar to SQL query notes).
7. Plugin ecology (where it’s most powerful)
   • Core plug-ins (officially maintained, built-in with the software, switchable): such as Daily Notes (Daily Notes), Templates (Templates), Outliner (Outline), Canvas, Bases and so on.
   • Community plug-ins (thousands, open source): Advanced Tables, Excalidraw, Calendar, Kanban, Tasks, AI Integration (combined with LLM to generate content), and more.
   • Plug-ins allow Obsidian to be transformed into a task manager, a reader, a Zettelkasten card box, or even a lightweight CRM.
8. Themes and Customization
   • Hundreds of community themes with support for CSS snippets to deeply beautify the interface, fonts, and icons.
   • Hotkeys and editor are fully configurable.
9. Other useful features
   • Tagging system (Tags).
   • Daily Notes, Slide Mode (Slides).
   • PDF/web page annotation (built-in or plug-in).
   • New in 2025: Built-in Web Viewer (opens external links within the app), better performance optimization, creating Vault guides on mobile, etc.

Key Features and Benefits

Cons & Cautions

• Steep learning curve: newbies may be intimidated by plugins and linking systems, suggest starting with core functionality and gradually adding plugins.
• No real-time collaboration: not suitable for team multi-person real-time editing (there is Sync share Vault, but non-real-time).
• Slightly weaker on mobile: although it works well, the operation of large libraries is not as smooth as on desktop.
• Synchronization needs to take care of itself: free users can use third-party synchronization such as iCloud/Dropbox/OneDrive/Syncthing, and paid Sync is the most seamless.

Summarize

Obsidian is not the simplest note-taking app, but the most powerful “thinking tool”. It’s for people who like deep customization and are looking for long-term knowledge accumulation (e.g. students, researchers, writers, programmers). 2025 has seen the evolution of Obsidian from a “dual-link note-taking” app to a complete local knowledge base + database system. If you’re tired of the lock-in and subscriptions of cloud notes, Obsidian is definitely worth a try – download the official website (obsidian.md), create a Vault, import a few old notes, and you’ll be hooked!