Obsidian keyboard shortcuts for Mac
53 shortcuts · Updated
These are the default Obsidian keyboard shortcuts on macOS, curated from the official Obsidian Help documentation. Obsidian ships with a deliberately small default set - the quick switcher (Cmd O) and command palette (Cmd P) carry most of the workflow, and every other command can be bound in Settings under Hotkeys. The editing, cursor, and selection keys below come from Obsidian's editing shortcuts reference.
Nothing matches - try fewer letters, or an action word like "close" or "split".
Or stop looking them up. Super Shortcuts puts the Obsidian commands you actually use one hyper key away: hold it, see every command for the app you're in, release a key to run it. No memorizing - the cheat sheet is the shortcut.
Get Super ShortcutsNavigation & search10
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command O⌘O | Open the quick switcher (jump to any note by name) |
| Command P⌘P | Open the command palette |
| Command N⌘N | Create a new note |
| Command Shift F⌘⇧F | Search across all files in the vault |
| Command E⌘E | Toggle between editing and reading view |
| Command Click⌘Click | Open a link in a new tab |
| Command Option Click⌘⌥Click | Open a link in a new tab group |
| Command Option Shift Click⌘⌥⇧Click | Open a link in a new window |
| Shift Return⇧↩ | In the quick switcher: create a note with the exact name you typed |
| Command Return⌘↩ | In the quick switcher: open the selected note in a new tab |
Tabs & windows7
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command T⌘T | Open a new tab |
| Control Tab⌃⇥ | Next tab |
| Control Shift Tab⌃⇧⇥ | Previous tab |
| Command 1⌘1 | Switch to the first tab |
| Command 2⌘2 | Switch to the second tab (Cmd 2 through Cmd 8 by position) |
| Command 9⌘9 | Switch to the last tab |
| Command Shift T⌘⇧T | Reopen the most recently closed tab |
Formatting & properties4
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command B⌘B | Bold the selected text |
| Command I⌘I | Italicize the selected text |
| Command Shift V⌘⇧V | Paste without formatting |
| Command ;⌘; | Add a file property |
Editing9
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command C⌘C | Copy (copies the whole paragraph with nothing selected) |
| Command X⌘X | Cut (cuts the whole paragraph with nothing selected) |
| Command Z⌘Z | Undo |
| Command Shift Z⌘⇧Z | Redo |
| Option Delete⌥⌫ | Delete the previous word |
| Option Forward Delete⌥⌦ | Delete the next word |
| Command Delete⌘⌫ | Delete to the beginning of the line |
| Command Forward Delete⌘⌦ | Delete to the end of the line |
| Command Shift K⌘⇧K | Delete the current line (with nothing selected) |
Cursor movement8
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Option Left Arrow⌥← | Move to the beginning of the previous word |
| Option Right Arrow⌥→ | Move to the end of the next word |
| Command Left Arrow⌘← | Move to the beginning of the line |
| Command Right Arrow⌘→ | Move to the end of the line |
| Command Up Arrow⌘↑ | Move to the beginning of the note |
| Command Down Arrow⌘↓ | Move to the end of the note |
| Fn Up Arrowfn↑ | Move up one page |
| Fn Down Arrowfn↓ | Move down one page |
Selection11
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command A⌘A | Select all |
| Shift Right Arrow⇧→ | Extend the selection one character |
| Option Shift Left Arrow⌥⇧← | Extend the selection to the beginning of the previous word |
| Option Shift Right Arrow⌥⇧→ | Extend the selection to the end of the next word |
| Command Shift Left Arrow⌘⇧← | Extend the selection to the beginning of the line |
| Command Shift Right Arrow⌘⇧→ | Extend the selection to the end of the line |
| Command Shift Up Arrow⌘⇧↑ | Extend the selection to the beginning of the note |
| Command Shift Down Arrow⌘⇧↓ | Extend the selection to the end of the note |
| Control Shift Up Arrow⌃⇧↑ | Extend the selection one page up |
| Control Shift Down Arrow⌃⇧↓ | Extend the selection one page down |
| Escape⎋ | Simplify the selection |
Graph view4
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Plus+ | Zoom in on the graph |
| -- | Zoom out of the graph |
| Up Arrow↑ | Pan the graph (all arrow keys pan in their direction) |
| Shift Up Arrow⇧↑ | Pan the graph faster (Shift speeds up any arrow key) |
Curated from the official Obsidian Help - hotkeys and editing shortcuts. Defaults only - shortcuts you've remapped will differ.
Frequently asked questions
How do I customize hotkeys in Obsidian?
Open Settings → Hotkeys, find the command (there's a search filter), click the plus icon, and press your key combination. You can bind multiple combos to one command, and the command palette (⌘P) shows the current hotkey next to each command.
What is the most important Obsidian shortcut to learn first?
The quick switcher, ⌘O - it jumps to any note by name and creates the note if it doesn't exist yet. Pair it with the command palette, ⌘P, which runs every Obsidian command by name, so you never need to memorize the rest.
Is there a default shortcut for the graph view or backlinks in Obsidian?
No - by default the graph view opens from the ribbon and backlinks from the right sidebar. Both have commands (Open graph view, Backlinks: Show backlinks) that you can bind yourself in Settings → Hotkeys.