Linked notes
The Links navigation section turns Obsidian’s resolved note graph into two card sources: Outgoing links and Backlinks. It lets you move through a note’s context without leaving the card stream.
Open a linked-note source
Section titled “Open a linked-note source”Open a supported note in the editor, then choose:
- Outgoing links — files referenced by the source note
- Backlinks — notes that reference the source note
The source note itself is not included. If no supported note is active, both entries are disabled. Empty results show No linked notes.
Standard Markdown links and Obsidian Wikilinks both contribute to Obsidian’s resolved graph. This documentation uses relative Markdown links, so opening it as a vault provides a small working example: this page links to Navigation, while Navigation receives the backlink.
Follow or pin the source note
Section titled “Follow or pin the source note”Linked-note sources follow the active editor note by default while keeping their direction. Switch from one note to another and the card stream reloads its outgoing links or backlinks.
Use Pin to this note in the toolbar to hold the source on the current note while you open other cards. Choose Resume following the active note to reconnect it to the editor.
Link context and opening location
Section titled “Link context and opening location”Without a search query, each linked file stays one card. A badge shows how many references connect it with the source note. Repeated references inside one paragraph share a context and keep their occurrence count. Repeated links to the same destination location share one preview. Click a snippet to open the reference or destination it shows.
- Backlinks show the paragraphs that link to the source. Settings chooses 1, 2, 3, or all contexts; the default is 3. A card can expand the rest with Show reference contexts and collapse them again.
- Outgoing links with a resolved heading or block reference, such as
[[Note#Heading]]or[[Note#^block-id]], preview that target. Whole-note links and unavailable locations use the opening excerpt, within the ordinary preview-line budget. - Active search — the matching text’s context takes priority over the link location.
Enable Jump to link location when opening a link card in Settings to jump to the previewed location when you click a card or open it through its menu. An active search takes priority and jumps to matching text. This setting is off by default and applies only to linked-note sources; a missing location falls back to opening normally.
Refine and arrange linked cards
Section titled “Refine and arrange linked cards”Search, sorting, grouping, and pins remain available. Tag and property browse filters, along with the include-subfolders control, do not apply because the source comes from links rather than a folder. Existing filter selections stay paused and resume when you return to a folder or card box. Which file types appear follows Show file types; see File types.
Outgoing links and backlinks each remember their own sort. Both default to Reference count, highest first; edited time, created time, and filename remain available. They still share grouping and pins with folder browsing. A linked-note source is temporary: Card Workspace restores the last folder, not a linked-note source, on startup.
Save a snapshot as a card box
Section titled “Save a snapshot as a card box”Choose Save as card box… in the toolbar to copy the currently visible linked cards into a new card box. An active search therefore affects what enters the snapshot; dormant browse filters do not affect it.
The saved notes are manually added members. The box is a fixed snapshot, not a live backlinks or outgoing-links rule; later graph changes do not change its membership automatically.