Obsidian Note Taking Tutorial for Beginners - Start HERE (w/ example)

Obsidian note taking for Beginners! Start here for the ultimate Obsidian tutorial starting from zero. We'll cover an easy Obsidian set up that will get you going in 20 minutes.
Obsidian note taking is a game changer with connected notes. If you don't have a knowledge management system yet, try out Obsidian with this tutorial!
I'll show you an example of how you can start using Obsidian and give you the details on the functions, style, lists, views, and plug ins! Let's get started!
✏️Smart Note-Taking✏️
» Zettelkasten for Beginners: • Zettelkasten Method Ex...
» Digitizing Your Notes: • Digitize your notes: S...
⚡️Frameworks & Mental Models⚡️
» Systems Thinking: • Systems Thinking | 6 m...
» How to Think Fast Before You Speak: Framework Thinking www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcyHC...
» Presentation frameworks: • How to Present so Othe...
⏱ TIME STAMPS ⏱
0:00 Obsidian intro
00:37 Obsidian set up
02:00 Practical Example with Thinking Fast & Slow
06:26 Step by Step - 1/ Functions10:51 Step by Step - 2/ Style
12:05 Step by Step - 3/ Lists
13:02 Step by Step - 4/ Views
14:26 Step by Step - 5/ Plug-ins
18:31 Graph view
» SUBSCRIBE: kzbin.info?s...
#obsidian #knowledgemanagementsystem #notetaking
⁣_____
» Connect with me
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣🟡 Newsletter: intersectionalthinking.substa...
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣🟡 Twitter: / beeamp_vicky
🟡 Linkedin: / vicky-beeamp
🟡 Course: Learn more frameworks with me at www.speakwithframeworks.com/

[@MsMontse90]

Thanks!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching and for the support

[@kugelfunk]

Just a side note: I love the fast-forwarding. Not only are you respectful of people's time, you're the only one I've seen do it this way with the chipmonk voice, even though it's so obvious.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Haha I love using the chipmunk voice 🐿 I thought I would definitely appreciate it so I’m so glad you find it helpful Martin 🙏

[@sandymakesplans]

i appreciate timestamps and all my timestamp angels in the comments lol

[@ceafva]

I thought this was funny at first then rethought it and love it as well! You go girl!

[@Frisson391]

Ahhhh, no. This is supposed to be editorial or review for beginners, but what’s interesting is she makes no reference as to how the text shows up in a different color or some of the things that she’s doing in the from the very beginning

[@Frisson391]

This should not be titled obsidian set up, but more of a review of previous information. There’s no explanation as to how you are getting things to highlight differently only because I’m mildly familiar with Obsidian was able to figure out a couple of things. This is way too advanced to call it for beginners.

[@PJZ]

Just a random person stopping by to say thanks for making this. You’ve gotten me really excited about Obsidian and I appreciate you laying everything out so clearly.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Yay!!! Thanks for watching PJZ and for sharing that with me ☺️

[@kyleareich]

Hi Vicky, I just recently learned about Obsidian and decided to take the plunge. After jumping into it, I immediately got overwhelmed/lost. Your videos have been AMAZING for distilling/clarifying/simplifying the whole thing. I've tried other sources, but you have a real skill for offering the critical bits in a very clear and concise manner that both helps me: learn what I wanted to; and also saves me time compared to other resources. Thanks for your work!

[@Sotov]

After watching 10 videos with step by step guide, your video is the only one i would recommend to someone. Great content! Thank you very much)

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you Sotov! That really means so much to me. Really appreciate you sharing this with me 🙏

[@irrssue]

yeah, seriously. Like fr I watched 10+ obsidian tuto videos and non of them is as good as this. She explained very well.

[@eduquest13]

I was just going to write same 🙂. Cheers!

[@MrBearfaced]

I agree.

[@rickkennerly2379]

I’m just learning obsidian (trying to ditch Evernote). You’ve probably got the best vids. Tnx. I do wish obsidian KZbinrs would think about how poorly the links between notes display to viewers. Thicken up those lines.

[@umimop]

I've tried watching several otherwise really good tutorials, but none of them explained, what the vault even is and what you should or shouldn't do to it. And as someone, who knows for fact each note-taking app has major hidden stones (sometimes it's backup/restore/sync, sometimes notes structure, sometimes location etc), I simply couldn't go on without. Messing up this core thing in question can cost you a lot of time, headache and potentially some important notes, that may end up being lost or corrupted. So I'm really grateful, I finally found someone, who is approaching Obsidian from that angle, instead of starting on all of the possibilities and features. Now I can proceed at ease.

[@SUPERSTUDIO17]

THANK YOU so much for making Obsidian so easily understandable and less scary for beginners like me who want to delve into it. You are by far the best video tutorial out there!

[@anver6594]

I've been trying to figure Obsidian for the last few days and your first video is the first one that actually helps! I almost gave up because it seemed so complicated before! Side note for anyone else following along, the hotkey for checkboxes has been changed to ctrl/cmd + L

[@sebiwm]

Thank you. I wondered why CTRL + ENTER wasn't working.

[@estudosdoalan]

I've been watching all of your videos and I must say, the content is really great. Your videos get straight to the point and are presented in a simplified manner, which makes them easy to follow and understand.

[@lovedivasong]

Ok so, this is the absolute BEST tutorial for obsidian. Thank you so much for getting into the most basic things to know about Obsidian without putting so much fluff to the explanations, you made it super simple and concise. I was able to practice and follow along each step. Obsidian can get complicated if you don’t know how to use it, but you made it so easy to follow along and understand it, THANK YOU!!!

[@jbezdan]

One of the best app instructional videos I have ever seen! Concise and to the point with no time wasted covering a lot of content effectively. Great job with this!

[@ozmosyd]

Just what I was looking for. A nice, concise, jump-start into Obsidian. Thanks for sharing.

[@kithallows7125]

I’m a newcomer to Obsidian, so I’ve watched tons of videos on KZbin over the last few days trying to figure it out. Yours is the first tutorial that’s given me a good understanding of how any why to use Obsidian. Thank you so much!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching and for saying so!!! Really appreciate the support and glad the videos are helpful :D

[@GundeckSimulations]

Vicky, I just wanted to say thanks for making this video. I love your energy and thorough way of presenting...and that you practice what you're teaching by putting it all in the notes. I'll be referring back to this video quite a bit as I learn how to fit Obsidian into my own creative thought process!

[@LiamLuxAndersson]

Thanks so much Vicky, learnt a hell of a lot from this video. Appreciate your clear communication and taking us on your journey into obsidian.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you very much for watching and for sharing this with me 🙏 glad we can embark on this Obsidian journey together!!

[@JeremySolomonsjcs]

These are the demos that I have been looking since I started thinking about using Obidian for Zettelkasten

[@raquelangelacoles]

This was a very organized & straight forward video. Thanks!

[@hangryzombit535]

I feel less like a noob now! this is an amazing tutorial which covers the fundamental basics of Obsidian - some things have changed though such as names of plugins (bookmarks instead of starred) and the check box function is ctrl + L for windows not ctrl + enter + enter. But I managed to figure out the subtle differences once I knew the function existed. Linking tabs is slightly different too, on windows at least, you need to open both notes side by side by dragging them(can do this with the same note twice) and right click one of the tabs and select "link with tab" which will then allow you to highlight the other note to synchronise scrolling.

[@bhavyashandilya]

I rarely comment but I can't thank you enough for this! I'm grateful for all the things that I got to know and that too in just 22 minutes.

[@LauraGayleGreenMusic]

Vicky, thank you for this. I’ve been using Obsidian some, but your straightforward guide (and Zettelkasten videos) are a great refresher and reminder!

[@jefftyzzer]

Wonderful series--I've been using Obsidian but not leveraging all of the goodness you're covering. Thank you!

[@Sigo]

Thankyou! You patience and understanding is the best I seen for obsidian tutorials. At my pace

[@David.rivas.alexis]

Cant believe I havent watched this video in my watchlist until now! Complete game changer! Thank you so much!

[@isabelledantas2865]

The ONLY one that could teach me how to take notes in this program. Can't thank you enough!!

[@ebertmahon8939]

An excellent explanation on getting started with Obsidian. I purchased two other courses on Obsidian but I got more straight forward instruction that I could apply right away from your video that would have taken me more time to learn from the courses I bought. I echo what Sotov said about your video being the goto for starting with Obsidian. New subscriber to your channel and newsletter. :)

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Wow thank you for the vote of confidence Ebert! It really means a lot to me. Let me know if you've got other topics you're curious about :)

[@briangonzalez6744]

Thank you for the explanation :) I was just getting into Obsidian for a DnD campaign, but now I'll be using this on the regular for everyday note taking. :D

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Yeesssss to Obsidian for everyday note taking! 😊I'm using it everyday and it's so satisfying seeing those thoughts on graph view lol Thank you for watching Brian!

[@andrewbuchan6122]

Thank you Vicky! I've started using Obsidian so I can help my students! This tutorial was great.

[@armcnall2011]

Thank you, Vicky, for putting together this quick start guide for Obsidian, as well as your video explaining the Zettlekasten method. This is an invaluable resource. I wrote a doctoral dissertation about 25 years ago and it was all index cards, file folders and a poor system for linking the ideas between them. Had I had a system like this it would have sped up completion time by a few years. I've been unmotivated to share my thinking over the last decade as the internet and social media has exploded. But, the simplicity of this system has inspired me to start thinking and writing again.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Wow yes please! I was in a similar boat - overwhelmed but also still hoping for a place to share linked ideas. I’m so glad you shared this because this is exactly my intention!! Simple digital systems is all we need.

[@johnt3706]

Andrew, please continue to think and write and work on this topic. Seriously, learning how to learn is probably the single most important contribution any of us can make to society. What I love about what Vicky is doing, and potentially you, is that this benefits everyone regardless of politics, religion, beliefs, whatever. We truly all can come together and learn how to learn, how to process information, and how to think critically about everything going on around us.

[@Werisetilldeath]

So far this is the best Obsidian KZbin Tutorial i've seen, Keep up the good work! Thanks Vicky xx

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching and glad you liked this tutorial!!!

[@patcupo]

Came for the tutorial. Stayed for the glitch effects. Both were great. Thanks!

[@amiraezz204]

I have learned all about note taking systems like Zettelkasten, but I need more details on how to actually apply them to build a second brain on Obsidian. Your videos are very helpful. Thanks.

[@MamaJayTee]

This was so easy to understand and follow. I am a beginner to Obsidian, and I can't wait to get into it! Thank you :)

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thanks so much for sharing this with me!!! Let me know how you go!

[@salehag7255]

This was amazingly helpful and so well articulated! Thank you so much.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you Saleha!! I'm so glad this was helpful :D

[@asht5657]

Thank you so much for this video. I was totally lost with other videos that assumed more knowledge than I have. But now I know! Thank you!

[@liberal8830]

Absolutely love this tutorial!! I've looking for something straightforward and simple tutorials that I can pick up on immediately because I only the basics to take notes. Other videos would just go at length showing what Obsidian could do and all the fancy stuff that beginners don't really need.

[@dhickey5919]

You mentioned Russell's Conjugation, so I investigated further on the topic. Great stuff. This well explains why people can continue to argue their point long after it's been refuted. Being challenged is difficult enough but losing all the connotations around your position as well is very difficult. Thank you!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching and glad you looking into Russell’s conjugation!

[@melmarapearl]

Thank you for this! Very concise and encourages me to try the platform without being too overwhelmed.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Aww thank you Mel c!! That's what I hoped to create so it's awesome to hear that 😊

[@n.folch77]

This channel is saving my life (and mental health) right now. Most grateful!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for saying so and for watching!

[@KaraSwims]

Your video was exactly what I needed to get started. Thank you!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Yay! I'm so glad to hear that Kara! Let me know how you go with Obsidian and if you've got questions, please share hehe

[@user-dr7yi2fj6x]

This is precisely what I needed. Thank you so much for the detailed tutorial! On a side note, I thought it was my screen when you wrote Korean on your note lol. 감사합니다.

[@-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-...]

very thorough guide in 22 min. I am impressed

[@amitghosh425]

I leaned so much from this video, had to stop so many times over 2-3 days to learn, I am saving this vid in my list to see again.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you Amit!! Let me know how you go with Obsidian please!

[@ericos78]

Thank you so much for the great explanation on how to use Obsidian effectively - learned much! 🙂

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

So glad to hear that! Thank you for watching C Eric 🙏

[@RoboKittyRawr]

this video was super informative. I've enjoyed some forms of coding for formatting. I think this will help me transform my note taking habits. Thanks for not making it too complicated and using simple examples.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you very much for watching and for sharing this with me 🙏

[@zargle5924]

Straight forward, and very well explained. Thanks a lot

[@juanpablocastro8419]

Great video. I got inspired and ready to start using Obsidian! Thanks!

[@und3rpr]

thanks for this. Every time I see an Obsidian tutorial, it´s more than 1h long... Who has the time for this?

[@investigativjournal]

Thanks for this tutorial. I am currently using Notion, which has similar functions. A video about pros and cons between both would be interesting :).

[@Magictrickslol]

I’ve used this in conjunction with Chatgpt to summarize entire articles. It’s insanely powerful

[@selmadawani3933]

OMG - we are on the same wave length - I JUST started using it and look now a video from you. Thanks Vicky!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Haha what a coincidence!! I wish I had this 10 years ago lol absolutely loving it and now playing with the external plugins. What do you usually use Obsidian to track?

[@selmadawani3933]

@@VickyZhaoBEEAMP I am using it as my main notetaking system right now. My problem is I read a lot and take tons of notes but when I need them to produce output I can't find them and rely on my own memory and going back to the source - although I already have notes somewhere! Urghhhh!! Anyway, I really hope obsidian are the answers to my problem. Building that second brain!

[@finnthefannibal]

Thank you very much! As an adhder I couldn't sit through the others this is the first one that worked for me.

[@hectoraracena7076]

Thank you very much!!! simple and straight I saw a lot of videos on how to use obsidian, yours is the best an incredible tool becomes magical with a humble and simple explanation like yours...thank you, thank you, thank you very much.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you very much for watching and for sharing this with me Hector 🙏 I’m so glad you like this and please keep me posted on your obsidian journey!

[@vaibhavbhasin3861]

idea of starting from an example really helps, thanks

[@eelyntoh2648]

Thank you for the video! This should be everybody's go to video when they're just starting out!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

I'm so glad you thiknk so EeLyn! Appreciate you

[@TopNotch770]

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you very much!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching!!!

[@FamNice7]

I love you Sis!! Thank you.

[@MasterBrain182]

Astonishing content Vicky 😄 Thanks to share your knowledge with us ❤❤

[@jennysmith4368]

A really useful introduction. Thank you!☺👍

[@stephenday4834]

Super awesome video. I had no idea Obsidian was so easy.

[@KnowDAOself]

Excellent Video! I love the explanations

[@ToTheKohr]

Very helpful... thank you for putting this together!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching Bill!

[@metrawhub2206]

Nicely filmed on the phone! Great content! I am really starting to like Obsidian!

[@jubileedx]

Incredibly useful. Subbed. Thank you.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank YOU for the support 🙏🙏

[@2mOlaf]

Huge fan of Xmind and mind mapping in general. I'm using your experiences to help me determine if Obsidian and Zettelkasten is a good replacement for me!

[@zhenzhaotu8090]

Very helpful!!! Thanks for sharing this!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching Zhenzhao!! 🤓

[@matheushildebrand2836]

Hello! From Brazil. Thanks for the video!! It's really helpfull. You're very clearly in your speech.

[@jeffbostic6660]

Thanks for the overview and tutorial.

[@carlossaavedra4327]

this was very useful, thank you so much. Many blessings from Boston.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Glad it was helpful Carlos! Thank you for watching

[@kieronconcannon]

Excellent - thank you!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Glad it was helpful!

[@patriciagf18]

This was amazing, can't wait to create my second brain in Obsidian!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Yesssss!! Please let me know how you go!!

[@samuelokereke2938]

Brilliantly done

[@TheMarComplex]

Thank you so much! You are amazing!

[@LindaDebe]

i can tell how excited you are about obsidian... I tend to talk fast when i get excited.. I had to slow the speed down to 75% to understand what was being said. great step by step beginning guide.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Hahaha this is so embarrassing now that you point it out but yes the excitement runs deep! Thank you for watching Linda!

[@francklouis-marie6342]

this is amazing , thank you for sharing

[@julisch94]

I'd like to see a video about the actual usage of the information jn Obsidian. There are a lot of videos out there about how to fill Obsidian with notes. But I'd like to see the effect of Obsidian in action. Why is it important that notes are linked? How useful are backlinks? Is the graph view just fancy or also useful? If useful, in what way? What do I have to keep in mind when creating notes to get the most out of Obsidian (best practices)? Thanks for the great videos!

[@mexicanfoodjunkie8857]

this is so awesome!! thank you

[@JJ-zz9ch]

Thank you! This tutorial was most helpful

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you very much for watching and for sharing this with me 🙏

[@jimvasconcellos6419]

Love your stuff

[@aomoon81]

Wow! Incredible video and demo :)

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thanks Martin! Are you thinking about using Obsidian or already a user?

[@adisaakintola]

Thanks for the vid, very useful 👍

[@lucien137]

Thanks ,super useful and informative.👍👍

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@clararochadasilva7369]

Thank you for this video!!!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching Clara!

[@rerarei]

the fact that I manually do this type of links in Office like within the file hyperlink or file-links (but ofc it's heavy and slow since it'll keep opening other files and it gets stressful to manually link back again. (and since it was so tiring, I stopped doing it and now I'm more lost and "lazy") High hopes to getting into this app keeping mind to how you used it and how I can go from there. Thank you for this video!

[@ChaiBalili]

Thank you for this Ms. Vicky u saved me a ton of time! 🌱🐌

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching!! Enjoy creating 👌

[@alexandraarkhipova9928]

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH! 💖

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank YOU for watching Alexandra!!

[@kenzoinks]

Great video - thank you!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thank you for watching Kenzie!!

[@Stopblameme]

Thank you very much!

[@jmellon766]

Nice work. +1 For Chipmunk Voice. @9:34 I have found tags useful for ephemeral attribution, such as process steps.

[@OllieAllenFox]

Thank you this is a fantastic video.

[@eduduazzolin]

Excellent video

[@mushroom_clouds]

Great video

[@MayumiThais]

Great video! Curious about categorizing notes in Obsidian - how do you use tags and folders to categorize them? And how does that impact the graph view in terms connections and sorting notes out? Thanks in advance :)

[@johnnyc6628]

tried Obsidian before, got overwelmead, delete it, but after your video I may give it a try again🎉 . Thanks

[@RomanPeralta]

Looks like an amazing way to organize ideas. Thanks for sharing. How much would be the daily time invested on the tool once enough critical mass of knowledge is interred? I have the feeling this is a tool for being used all the time.

[@mobilecarlos]

Thanks for this video

[@jellybear4033]

this is so good. i want you to make a clip with obsidian for zettelkasten step by step very useful.

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@juanchis.investigadorsonoro]

Just found Obsidian & it will surely help for associating, I do use Notion more or less reguarly, but I still haven't found the sweetspot- My hardest part of Obsidian is that is there a way to sync mobile phone with local vault? Even though it's in Google Drive.

[@8koi139]

Omg thank you for the easy to understand tutorial, I'll dump there my 200 screenshot of web dev and blockchain lmao Oh!! so it's pretty much and MD file! love it

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Yay for MD files :)

[@adyanarylyus6744]

I can't focus because of your dazzling beauty in the golden hour sun lighting

[@tamarakovacs88]

Thank you so much! Great video, excellent profile! I wonder if you could say what program do you uso for recording your presentation...I liked very much the round little window!

[@VickyZhaoBEEAMP]

Thanks for watching and I use loom!