Obsidian for Beginners: 8 Key Settings (3/6) — How to Use the Obsidian App for Notes

TL;DR

Enable spell check in the editor settings for immediate writing quality improvements.

Briefing Cornell Notes

Briefing

Obsidian’s power comes with a long settings menu, but the practical path is to enable only the few options that protect your workflow—especially settings that keep links and notes from breaking as your library grows. The core message is “less is more”: start with a small set of high-impact defaults, test them in real use, and avoid getting lost in cosmetic or advanced tweaks before the writing-and-linking system is stable.

The walkthrough begins in Obsidian’s settings (via the cog icon) and focuses on eight key choices. In the editor section, spell check is the first easy win, turning on automatic proofreading without requiring deeper configuration. Next comes the plug-ins menu, where three toggles are highlighted as immediately useful: the Tag pane to make tags visible and navigable in the interface, Page preview (positioned as a feature to be used later), and Start notes to ensure important notes stay accessible so they don’t get buried.

The Tag pane is demonstrated as a practical navigation tool: clicking a tag shows where it appears, and switching between backlinks and tags helps track relationships between notes. Starred notes are then used to show another “keep it handy” mechanism. By starring a note from the note’s “more options” (the three-circle “sandwich” menu), the user can quickly return to it later—an approach that becomes more valuable when the vault contains dozens or hundreds of notes.

File management settings follow, starting with where deleted files go. The recommended choice is to route deletions to the system trash (the computer’s familiar trash folder) so deleted notes remain easy to find and recover. This reduces the risk of “losing” content in an unfamiliar location.

The most emphasized setting is link updating. With “always update links” enabled, renaming a note automatically propagates the change to every place it’s referenced. The example shows a note named “note star” being renamed to “note star 2,” after which multiple links update in one file and the target note’s references also reflect the new name. That reliability is framed as crucial once linking and renaming become routine.

Finally, appearance options—dark mode and light mode—are treated as secondary. Themes and hotkeys are explicitly deferred to future lessons, with the emphasis that customization should come after the core system is working. The closing guidance ties everything back to the real purpose: Obsidian is for writing, thinking, and linking ideas, so settings should serve that goal rather than distract from it.

Cornell Notes

Obsidian’s settings can be overwhelming, so the workflow-first approach is to enable a small set of high-impact options and leave the rest for later. The key early wins include spell check, the Tag pane for navigation, starred notes for quick access, and routing deleted files to the system trash for easy recovery. The most critical setting is “always update links,” which keeps backlinks and internal references consistent when note titles change. Appearance options like dark mode and light mode are useful but treated as secondary to getting the linking and note-management system stable.

Why does the “less is more” approach matter when configuring Obsidian?

Complex systems tend to be fragile when built from scratch, so the guidance is to avoid turning every setting on at once. Instead, enable only a few options that directly support writing and linking, then test them in real use. This reduces the chance of breaking navigation or link behavior before the vault’s structure is working.

What role does the Tag pane play in day-to-day note navigation?

Turning on the Tag pane makes tags visible in the interface, enabling quick filtering and exploration. Clicking a tag shows where it appears, and switching between backlinks and tags helps reveal relationships between notes without manually searching for every reference.

How do starred notes help as a vault grows?

Starred notes provide a fast “return point” for important pages. The example shows starring a note from the note’s “more options” menu (the three-circle icon). With only a few notes it’s minor, but with 80 or 800 notes it becomes a practical shortcut to frequently used topics.

Where should deleted files go, and why?

The recommended choice is the system trash (the computer’s familiar trash folder). Deleting a note sends it to the max trash folder, making recovery intuitive because users already understand where the system stores deleted items.

What makes “always update links” the most important setting?

When “always update links” is enabled, renaming a note automatically updates every reference to it. In the example, changing “note star” to “note star 2” updates links in the referencing file and also ensures the target note’s internal references stay consistent, preventing broken navigation.

Why are themes and hotkeys deferred in this setup guide?

Cosmetic and convenience features are treated as secondary to core reliability. Themes (dark/light and custom themes) and hotkeys are scheduled for later lessons so the focus stays on writing, thinking, and linking—where link integrity and navigation tools matter most.

Review Questions

Which three plug-in toggles are highlighted as immediately useful, and what problem does each solve?
What specific failure mode does “always update links” prevent when note titles change?
How does routing deleted notes to the system trash change the recovery experience compared with using an unfamiliar internal location?

Key Points

1
Enable spell check in the editor settings for immediate writing quality improvements.
2
Turn on the Tag pane to make tags navigable and to support faster exploration of related notes.
3
Use starred notes as a lightweight “favorites” system so key pages remain one click away as the vault grows.
4
Set deleted files to go to the system trash so recovery is predictable and familiar.
5
Turn on “always update links” to automatically repair internal references when note titles change.
6
Treat dark/light mode as a convenience choice, while saving themes and hotkeys for later once the core workflow is stable.

Highlights

“Always update links” is framed as the single most important setting because it keeps references intact after renames—preventing broken navigation.

The Tag pane turns tags into a real navigation surface, not just metadata buried in text.

Routing deletions to the system trash makes note recovery intuitive by using the computer’s familiar restore path.

Topics

Obsidian Settings
Tag Pane
Starred Notes
Link Updating
File Deletion
Dark Mode