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Obsidian

July, 31st 2026 - 312 MB - Freeware

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Latest Version

Obsidian 1.13.4 LATEST
Review by

Juan Garcia
Operating System

Windows 7 / Windows 7 64 / Windows 8 / Windows 8 64 / Windows 10 / Windows 10 64 / Windows 11
User Rating

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Author / Product

Obsidian Team / External Link
Filename

Obsidian.1.13.4.exe

Obsidian is a local-first, markdown-based note-taking application for Windows designed to help users build a personal knowledge base.

It’s often described as a “second brain” tool due to its focus on connecting ideas through bidirectional links and graph views. Developed by Shida Li and Erica Xu, Obsidian has quickly grown a passionate user community since its launch in 2020.

Unlike many note-taking apps that store content in proprietary formats or on cloud servers, Obsidian stores notes as plain .md (Markdown) files on your local drive.

This gives users full control over their data and flexibility to use version control or external sync tools.

Key Features

Markdown-Based Notes: All notes are plain text files written in Markdown, ensuring long-term portability.

Bidirectional Linking: Easily create internal links to other notes using double square brackets [[Note Title]], enabling you to see what notes link back to a page.

Graph View: A visual map of your note connections, showing how ideas are linked across your knowledge base.

Custom Plugins: A rich plugin ecosystem (both official and community) to add features like daily notes, tag management, calendar integration, kanban boards, and more.

Themes and Custom CSS: Highly customizable UI with community-created themes or your own CSS.

Workspaces and Tabs: Multi-pane interface with tabs, panes, and workspaces to match your personal workflow.

Vault System: Notes are grouped into "Vaults", allowing users to keep separate collections of notes.

Offline-First: All features work fully offline, with optional sync through Obsidian Sync or third-party tools like Dropbox or Git.

User Interface

Obsidian’s user interface strikes a balance between minimalism and power. The base design is sleek and distraction-free, perfect for focused writing. However, advanced users can customize the UI with plugins and CSS for a tailored experience.

The interface is divided into panes—each can hold a note, search results, graph view, or plugin interface. Users can split panes vertically or horizontally, ideal for multitasking or comparing notes. A sidebar houses navigation, backlinks, and file explorer.

While there is a learning curve for newcomers unfamiliar with Markdown or the concept of bidirectional links, the intuitive layout and robust documentation ease the onboarding process.

Installation and Setup

Download the Windows installer.

Run the installer and follow the prompts.

On first launch, you'll be prompted to create or open a Vault—your personal note directory.

From there, you can start writing notes or import existing Markdown files. No account creation is required unless you want access to premium features like Obsidian Sync.

How to Use

Create a Note: Press Ctrl+N or click the "+" icon to create a new note.

Write in Markdown: Use simple markdown syntax for formatting: # for headers, **bold**, *italic*, etc.

Link Notes: Type [[ and select an existing note or create a new one to interlink content.

Explore Graph View: Click the graph icon to visualize your network of notes.

Enhance with Plugins: Access Settings > Community Plugins to explore and install additional tools like task management, kanban boards, or even custom scripts.

Daily workflows can be tailored with features like templates, keyboard shortcuts, and workspaces.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is Obsidian free to use?
Yes, this program is free for personal use. There are optional paid services like Obsidian Sync and commercial licenses for business users.

Can I sync notes across devices?
Yes. You can use Obsidian Sync (paid) or third-party services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Git, or iCloud to sync Vaults across devices.

Does Obsidian require internet access?
No. This software is fully offline-first. All your notes are stored locally and accessible without an internet connection.

Is Obsidian suitable for team collaboration?
Not natively. Obsidian is designed for individual knowledge management. However, with Git-based workflows or synced folders, collaboration is possible.

Can I import notes from other apps like Evernote or Notion?
Yes, but it requires some manual work or third-party tools. Markdown export from other apps helps streamline the transition.

Alternatives

Notion – A powerful all-in-one workspace, but cloud-based and not Markdown-native.

Joplin – Free, open-source Markdown note-taker with sync options and mobile apps.

Pricing

Free Personal License – Full feature access minus cloud sync or publishing.

Catalyst License (One-Time) – $25+ (supporter tier) gives insider access to beta builds and helps support development.

Commercial License – $50/year per user for business use.

Obsidian Sync – $10/month or $96/year for encrypted note sync across devices.

Obsidian Publish – $20/month for turning your notes into a public website.

System Requirements

OS: Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11 (64-bit)
RAM: 4 GB minimum
Disk Space: Less than 200 MB
Processor: Intel Core i3 or better

No special hardware is needed. Obsidian is lightweight and fast even on modest PCs.

PROS

Local-first with full data ownership
Powerful linking and graph visualization
Highly customizable with themes and plugins
Active community and plugin ecosystem
Works offline and very lightweight

CONS

Steeper learning curve for Markdown newcomers
No native real-time collaboration
Sync requires extra setup or subscription
Limited mobile editing features compared to desktop
Not as visually polished out-of-the-box as some competitors

Conclusion

Obsidian is more than just a note-taking app—it’s a powerful knowledge management system tailored for those who value control, structure, and interconnected thinking. With its Markdown foundation, plugin ecosystem, and graph-based navigation, it empowers users to build a long-lasting and deeply personal second brain.

Also Available: Download Obsidian for Mac

Download Obsidian Latest Version

Why is this app published on FileHorse? (More info)

What's new in this version:

Improvements:
Security:
- Obsidian URIs now present a confirmation dialog before firing the action. Choose "Don't ask again" to add that action to an allow list. Manage the allow list from settings.
- Added a warning before attempting to load HTML resources if the source points to a network drive
- Added a warning dialog when choosing to sync plugins via Obsidian Sync

Editor:
- Reading mode now supports external images with an image size and no alt text (e.g. ![200]
- Note Composer: When extracting a section from a file, links in that section will now be rewritten to be relative to the new location

File explorer:
- Pressing Escape to cancel the file rename keeps the File Explorer focused
- Pressing Escape clears the current selection
- "Auto reveal" will no longer activate when renaming a file or folder
- Added support for dragging links from a Base into the File Explorer to move the file to a new location
- Minor improvements to drag and drop behavior

Properties:
- Improved keyboard navigation in the Global Properties view; Backspace now deletes the selected properties
- Improved the property type menu to make it clearer whether a property's type is set automatically or chosen manually

Obsidian Sync:
- Removed spinning from the status bar icon because it impacted battery life when the app idles
- Files in the Sync sidebar view now show all file-related items in the context menu
- Files in the Sync sidebar view can now be dragged into other views or into the editor
- Added search menu item to the Sync sidebar view
- The Sync sidebar view now supports multi-selection with the keyboard (Shift-arrow keys) or the mouse (Alt-click)
- The Sync sidebar view now supports deleting files with the Delete or Backspace key

macOS:
- Updated button and input styles to better match macOS 26 defaults

Canvas:
- Minor rendering performance improvements

Other:
- Added search to the Bookmarks view
- Added a new one-time banner confirming that you want to render Mermaid code blocks in your vault
- On desktop, dragging a folder into the app now imports the entire folder and preserves the directory structure
- Ctrl-N and Ctrl-P to navigate to the next/previous item in suggestions now work on all platforms
- Updated the dialog that appears when opening an unrecognized vault with plugins installed. Wording has been improved to emphasize the risk of using untrusted plugins
- Closing the quick switcher or command palette with the Escape key now correctly restores the previous selection
- Pressing the Escape key now hides the search input in sidebar views
- File Recovery: Added keyboard navigation to the file history records. Use arrow keys to navigate through the list
- The Unique Note Creator plugin now links to its own settings when it fails to find a template

Fixed:
- Fixed a rare race condition where a file could get stuck and fail to save until the app was restarted
- Fixed the app failing to load if a view throws errors while the workspace is loading
- Fixed the app silently crashing on any installer older than Obsidian 1.6. We've also added an error message if this ever happens again
- Fixed clicking external links in pop-out windows causing the pop-out window to close
- Fixed ribbon buttons not responding to touch events on desktop
- Disabling a CSS snippet now properly removes the styles from all pop-out windows
- Fixed the placeholder text shown in the command palette prompt
- Fixed choppy horizontal scrolling when sidebar tabs overflow
- Fixed the "Copy" button not appearing on very large code blocks
- Fixed image resizing when an image is inside a Markdown table
- Fixed unique URI action not opening the new note in the correct tab when the paneType option is provided
- Fixed navigation inside embedded web content (webview)
- Reading mode no longer interprets %%%% as a non-terminated comment. Comments are always fenced with exactly two % characters
- Live Preview: Fixed Ctrl/Cmd-A not working inside embedded inputs (e.g. a cell in an embedded Bases table)
- Live Preview: Fixed embeds inside Markdown lists not showing the correct indentation
- Live Preview: Code blocks now re-render correctly when a plugin's post processor changes
- Live Preview: Fixed inline formatting not expanding properly when math or images are inside. For example, **some $math$ text** would not expand properly when the cursor moved within the bold formatting
- Live Preview: Fixed image disappearing when editing a Markdown embed and scrolling
- File Explorer: Fixed rare bug where files temporarily rendered with the wrong indentation level after moving the file to a new folder
- Properties: Fixed Global properties view not always saving sort order
- Properties: Fixed "Delete properties" menu item not working reliably when property name contains capital letters
- Properties: Fixed "Open link under cursor" hotkeys not working on list property items
- Properties: Fixed an error when rendering []() inside a list property
- Bookmarks: Fixed focus not moving to the next item after deleting a bookmark via the keyboard
- Bookmarks: Fixed keyboard navigation in the Bookmarks view sometimes getting stuck due to missing bookmarked files
- Bookmarks: Fixed middle-click inside the Bookmarks view activating AutoScroll on Windows
- Bases: Fixed error messages appearing when disabling and re-enabling the Bases core plugin
- Bases: Fixed automatic column sizing for number properties
- Bases: Fixed the formula editor not working for Bases in pop-out windows
- Bases: Fixed sort filters showing an incorrect background color
- Bases: "File links" no longer show the image size as the image display name
- Sync: Fixed a bug where clicking the status bar icon would not always open the menu
- Vim: A white "ghost" character no longer appears when the Vim cursor overlaps with a widget in the editor

macOS:
- Fixed some elements showing scrollbars when they should not, such as the tab headers in the sidebars