How to edit different checkbox properties in one Obsidian base
As of October 2026, Obsidian supports Boolean checkbox properties and Bases tables with a column for each property.
How to bulk edit properties of many notes in Obsidian Bases
As of October 2026, a Bases table can copy and paste a selection of cells, and a paste replaces the old values. The All properties view renames a property in every note. To append a tag, rename one list item or preview a batch first, you need a plugin.
Bases Multi-Row Edit has Pro, and $15 one time turns it on in all 129 plugins.
Background
The forum request "Bases: Support Multiline Multirow Editing (Edit multiple files at once)" opened on 28 May 2025. It has 74 likes and 22 posts. People ask to mark many rows done, add a tag, or rename one tag on many notes at once.
3 ways to do it
Select cells in the core table and paste
In a Bases table, Shift-click creates a cell selection. Copy a cell with
Ctrl+CorCmd+C, select cells in one column, then paste withCtrl+VorCmd+V.Ctrl+ZorCmd+Zundoes changes to properties.Backspaceclears the selected cells, andShift+Spaceselects the row.- limits
- A paste replaces what was in the cells. It does not add one item to an existing list or show a preview.
Rename a property in the All properties view
Open the Properties view and choose All properties. Right-click a property to rename it in every note of the vault.
The Properties help page says bulk editing is not supported beyond this view. It suggests a code editor, scripts or community plugins for more.
- limits
- It renames the property key everywhere and does not change values. It cannot limit the change to the notes of one base.
Bases Multi-Row Edit from this site
Bases Multi-Row Edit adds a Multi-row edit view to the Bases view menu. It keeps the filters, sorting and visible columns of the base. Check rows or choose Select visible, then choose Edit selected.
Pick a property and one of five operations. Set value, Append list items, Remove list items, Replace list items and Remove property are all free. The preview lists each note with its old and new value before anything is written.
- limits
- Apply and undo rewrite the whole frontmatter, so YAML comments can be lost and key order can change. Saved actions and more than one undo batch need Pro.
Open larger MIT · no telemetry · core features free
Change one property on selected rows with Bases Multi-Row Edit
Install Bases Multi-Row Edit from Community plugins and enable it. It needs Obsidian 1.13.4 or newer and the Bases core plugin.
Open a base and switch to the Multi-row edit view. Set the filters so the view shows the notes you need.
Check the rows to change, or choose Select visible, then choose Edit selected.
Enter the property, an operation, a value type and a value. For a tag, choose
tags, Append list items, List (JSON) and["review"].Choose Preview changes and read the result for each note, then apply. Notes that changed since the preview are skipped and named.
To reverse the batch, choose Undo last batch or run the command
Undo the last bulk edit.
Common questions
Does pasting into many Bases cells keep my old tags?
No. A paste into selected cells replaces the old values in those cells. To keep the old tags and add one, use an append operation. Bases Multi-Row Edit has Append list items for this, and it adds each new item once.
Can I undo a bulk property change?
In the core table, Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z undoes changes to properties. Bases Multi-Row Edit keeps the last batch in memory until Obsidian restarts or the plugin reloads. Undo skips a property that changed after the apply. Keeping up to 20 batches needs Pro.
How many notes can one batch change?
The plugin README states no limit. Its tests change 500 notes in one batch and restore them with one undo. Apply writes one note at a time and checks each file against the preview first.
Sources
- “Forum request to edit multiple files at once in Bases”forum.obsidian.md
- “Obsidian Help, Table view in Bases”help.obsidian.md
- “Obsidian Help, Properties view”help.obsidian.md
- “Obsidian Help, Properties”help.obsidian.md
That's every step, start to finish.
That's every step, start to finish.
This guide uses Bases Multi-Row Edit. Pro adds "Save repeated actions". One payment of $15 turns on Pro in 129 plugins.
This guide uses Bases Multi-Row Edit. Pro adds "Save repeated actions". One payment of $15 turns on Pro in 129 plugins.
The plugin in this guide
Bases Multi-Row Edit
Select rows in a base, preview each new value, apply the change and undo the batch.