Obsidian is a powerful personal knowledge management tool that can be made even more useful by installing plugins. This guide includes our ten best picks for Obsidian community plugins!
If you are not sure what is Obsidian, check out our review of how Obsidian can keep your notes organized.
How to Install Obsidian Community Plugins
You can install community plugins by going to “Settings -> Community Plugins -> Browse,” then start searching for the one you want to install. Click the “Install” button once you’ve made your choice.
1. Kanban
A kanban board is a visualization tool that optimizes workflow. It lets you store your to-do lists and track your tasks through each phase until completion. Kanban by mgmeyers brings all of that to Obsidin to boost productivity. The plugin allows you to add task items that you can drag around tabs through a task pipeline. You can also link the task items to Obsidian note files, allowing you to write more information about the task.
Pros
- Adding folders or extra cards is just a click away
- Allows unlimited characters on each item’s title
Cons
- Doesn’t allow you to add tags
- No way to set task priorities
Tip: a fan of Notion instead? Here’s a list of great Notion templates to help you boost your productivity.
2. Todoist Text
If you’re a Todoist fan, Todoist Text by wesmoncrief is something you shouldn’t pass up. This community plugin lets you search your Todoist using keywords and lists the groups of Todoist tasks in Obsidian. You can configure multiple keywords with this plugin, each corresponding to a separate Todoist filter definition. If only it could work without the Internet.
Pros
- Turns Todoist tasks into Obsidian checkbox items
- Queries using API token
- Uses keywords to work
- Checking off tasks in Obsidian reflects back on Todoist
Cons
- UI could use more work
- Offers a board view
- Does not support adding new tasks to Todoist
3. Calendar
Why this one wasn’t made into a core plugin is a mystery. Calendar by liamcain is a community plugin that puts a calendar on the right sidebar. The calendar works in concert with the Daily Notes core plugin, and clicking on a day in the calendar shows you the daily note. The plugin is great to have on mobile as well, as you won’t have to open your phone’s calendar when you’re planning things in Obsidian.
Pros
- Can show page previews of your daily notes
- Matches with your Obsidian theme
- Overrides (or matches) system locale so that you can set your preferred first day of the week
- Can be moved anywhere
Cons
- Can’t sync with calendar apps
- Can’t output calendar as ICS
Good to know: here’s how to add a template to Notion from the Notion.site.
4. Dataview
Dataview by blacksmithgu is perhaps one of the most important community plugins in terms of functionality. It turns your Obsidian vault into a database, letting you add metadata and do queries on your notes. The best thing about this plugin is that it gives you much control over your database. It can sort data, add clauses, generate tables, and build calendars. The drawback is that it’s a little hard to use, at first. Its calendar doesn’t show up automatically on the right sidebar like it does on the Calendar community plugin.
Pros
- Lets you query any number of notes based on any criteria
- Various ways of displaying data, including list, table, and task view
Cons
- Complex commands with no accessible commands list
- No GUI (code only)
5. Editor Syntax Highlight
Does Obsidian’s regular syntax feel bland? Editor Syntax Highlight by deathau helps you see your code much more clearly. It highlights keywords, functions, and variables. This one’s helpful when you have some code ideas that you want to try later. However, you should keep in mind that when using JavaScript, the plugin won’t be able to detect the difference between an object and a variable when connected to a dot function. With other languages, though, it does seem to work right.
Pros
- Highlights code in your code blocks
- Pleasant color schemes
Cons
- Can’t replace a proper code editor
- Has no linters
6. Banners
This one’s straightforward: Banners by Danny Hernandez lets you add a banner to your notes. You can also resize and crop the banner without having to use an image editor. It works by adding a few key values in your note’s YAML frontmatter. If you edit the values here, you can also edit the banner’s looks. Another great thing is that it scales well with the Note Folder community plugin and helps make awesome Wikipedia-style note previews.
Pros
- Lets you resize and crop your banner
- Banners will appear in note previews
Cons
- Does not delete images once they are no longer used in notes
7. Clear Unused Images
Clear Unused Images by Ozan works really well with the Banners community plugin. As its name indicates, it removes the images that aren’t used in any of your notes. This sometimes happens when you delete notes, especially if you add images to your daily notes. If you’re too busy to clear out unused photos, this one’s for you.
Pros
- Allows you to exclude specific folders
- Lets you send deleted images to Recycle Bin
Cons
- Can’t detect less common image formats
Tip: for creative types, check out the top free music composition software and web apps for Windows.
8. Scales and Chords
Scales and Chords by egradman shows you how to play songs straight in your notes. It displays the chord finger placements for guitar and piano, among several other options. It’s meant to be used in split view, with the chords on one side and the lyrics on the other. This community plugin sources the images for each chord from scales-chords.com only.
Pros
- Keeps the chords in a fixed position even after resizing the Obsidian window
- Makes lyrics easy to read
Cons
- Chords for violin, banjo, and mandolin sometimes do not work
- No ongoing development
9. Chesser
Learning to play chess? Chesser by SilentVoid is the community plugin for learning chess. It adds a chess board inside your Obsidian notes. If you want to play with chess engines like Stockfish, it lets you copy the FEN value for the current game. The plugin auto-generates an ID for the board when you use it. With this ID, it’s possible to copy the same position throughout different notes.
Pros
- Change board styles (or make your own by changing the CSS files)
- Outputs in FEN
Cons
- You can’t flip the board
10. Folder Note
If you like to divide your notes into projects and topics, not seeing additional info for each one feels rather lacking. It’s a good thing Folder Note by xpgo helps with that. This community plugin lets you create a directory note with previews of the notes in the folder with a Ctrl + Click on the folder. With the Banners community plugin referenced above, you can even make good-looking previews on your folder note.
Pros
- Makes a list of all notes in your folder
- Auto-generates lists every time you view it to keep it up todate
Cons:
- By default, empty notes will say “No abstract”
Good to know: want to master chess? Learn how to use Stockfish CLI on your PC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find my community plugin files?
Your community plugin files are inside your Obsidian vault in .obsidian/plugins. You’ll need to use the Windows File Explorer (which just gained Tabs in a recent Windows 11 update) to find this and not the Obsidian explorer tray, as files and folders that start with . are hidden from Obsidian’s file browser. For Android and Linux users with distros that automatically hide folders that start with a period, you’ll need to find the “Show hidden files” option in the file manager that came with your distro or what you are currently using.
Is there a limit to how many plugins I can activate?
There is no built-in limit to how many plugins you can activate. In fact, you can activate as many plugins as your computer can possibly handle.
All screenshots by Terenz Jomar Dela Cruz
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