Guides to common jobs in Obsidian

Each guide answers one question first. Then it compares every way to do the job and names the limits of each way.

How to merge Markdown tables from many notes in Obsidian

Obsidian's help site, read in October 2026, describes no way to merge Markdown tables from several notes into one table. Bases builds its rows from files and its columns from properties, and Dataview doesn't read tables either. You can move the rows into properties, write SQL with SQLSeal, or add a Bases view that reads the tables.

Table Rollup

How to embed a Kanban board in a note in Obsidian

As of October 2026, a normal embed of a Kanban plugin board shows plain Markdown, one heading under the other. Obsidian itself can put a Kanban view of a base inside a note since version 1.14, but each card there is a note. To see a Kanban plugin board as side-by-side lanes in a note, you need a plugin that reads the board file.

Kanban Embed

How to freeze columns in an Obsidian Bases table

Bases has no setting that freezes a column, as of October 2026. Forum users report that a base file keeps its header row in view, and a CSS snippet does that for embedded bases. Nobody in the threads got the first column to stay with CSS alone.

Bases Freeze Panes

How to show checklist tasks in Obsidian Bases

Bases can't list the checklist tasks inside your notes on its own, as of October 2026. A base row is a file, and an Obsidian developer wrote in 2025 that Bases doesn't read file contents. You can make each task its own note, or add a community view for Bases that reads the task lines.

Bases Task Rows

How to turn filters on and off in Obsidian Bases

The Views help page, read in October 2026, describes how to add filters, but no way to switch one off. In core Bases you delete a filter and add it again, or you keep one view for each filter. Two community plugins add a real toggle.

Bases Filter Switches

How to open AsciiDoc files in Obsidian

Obsidian doesn't open .adoc files on its own. AsciiDoc isn't in the list of accepted file formats, and a moderator wrote in July 2025 that core support isn't on the roadmap. As of October 2026 you either convert the files to Markdown or install a community plugin that opens them.

AsciiDoc Files

How to rename a heading in Obsidian without breaking links

Right-click the heading and choose Rename this heading. Obsidian then updates every link to that heading. If you just type over the heading text, the links keep the old text, as of October 2026, unless a community plugin updates them.

Heading Link Sync

How to show a PDF cover on a card in Obsidian Bases

The core Cards layout can't draw a PDF page, as of October 2026. Its help page lists a link to a local attachment, an external URL and a hex color as cover values. A forum poster reported in July 2025 that only PNG and JPG scans show as covers.

PDF Cover Cards

How to show headings from embedded notes in the Obsidian outline

The core Outline can't show them, as of October 2026. The help page says Outline lists the headings in the active note, and forum posts up to January 2026 confirm embeds add none. People get by with a heading above each embed, a symbol list in a switcher, or a second outline panel from a plugin.

Embed Outline

How to use a template with the New button in Obsidian Bases

The New button has no template setting, as of October 2026. It creates a file in the current view, and forum posts confirm it writes the filter values and follows a folder filter. For your headings and extra properties, you insert a template afterwards or let a plugin do it.

Bases Note Templates

How to get a graph view of the notes in an Obsidian base

As of October 2026, Bases has no graph layout of its own, and its help page lists table, list, cards, Kanban and map. At least three community plugins add a graph of a base. Two of them, Base Graph and Graph Explorer Base View, are free.

Bases Link Graph

How to get one row per list item in Obsidian Bases

A core base can't do it, as of October 2026. The help page says the table shows a row for each file, so a list property stays in one cell. Dataview's FLATTEN command gives a row for each item outside Bases, and the Flatten Table plugin does it inside a base.

Flatten Table

How to search notes by date in Obsidian

Core search has no operator for the created or modified date, as of October 2026. It can sort results by either time, and it can match a date written in a file name, the text or a property. For a real date filter you use a base, a Dataview query or a search plugin.

Search Operators

How to get relative line numbers on wrapped lines in Obsidian

Obsidian's own line numbers give a wrapped paragraph one number, and its Settings help page lists no relative numbers, as of October 2026. Free plugins add relative numbers, but they count lines, so a counted gj won't match the gutter. To number each wrapped row you need Visual Line Numbers, or you keep counted moves on whole lines.

Visual Line Numbers