Surround

The surround feature brings the power of vim-surround to Obsidian. It allows you to add, change, and delete surrounding delimiters like brackets, quotes, and HTML tags. This implementation includes native support for Markdown formatting marks and function wrapping.

Info

For the best experience, disable Obsidian’s built-in Vim mode in Settings → Editor → Vim key bindings. This enables the plugin’s bundled fork mode, which provides full surround support and Neovim-correct behavior.

Keybindings

Surround

Add, change, or delete surrounding delimiters like brackets, quotes, and tags.

Keybinding	Description
ds{target}	Delete surrounding (ds" on "hello" → hello)
dst	Delete surrounding tag
cs{target}{replacement}	Change surrounding (cs"' → 'hello')
cst{replacement}	Change surrounding tag
ys{motion}{replacement}	Add surround (ysiw) on hello → (hello))
ys{motion}<tag>	Surround with HTML tag (ysiw<em> → <em>hello</em>)
ysiwf + name + Enter	Surround with function call (print(hello))
ysiwF + name + Enter	Surround with spaced function call (print( hello ))
yss{replacement}	Surround entire line (yss" → "line content")
cS / yS / ySS	Newline surround variants (delimiters on separate lines)
S{replacement}	Surround visual selection (visual mode)
S<tag>	Surround selection with tag (visual mode)
gS	Newline surround selection (visual mode)
2ds), 2cs)	Count: delete/change 2nd-level surrounding bracket
2ysiw*	Count: repeat delimiter (**hello** for Markdown bold)
2ds*	Count: delete repeated delimiter (unbold **hello**)
<C-G>s{char}	Insert mode: type inside delimiters, close on Esc

Link to original

Targets

Surround operations work with a wide range of targets.

• Quotes: ", ', `
• Brackets: (, ), [, ], {, }, <, >
• Tags: t (HTML tags)
• Aliases: b for ), B for }, r for ], a for >

Bracket spacing

Opening and closing brackets behave differently regarding whitespace:

• Opening brackets ((, [, {): Add a space inside the delimiters.
• Closing brackets (), ], }): Do not add spaces.

Tag surround

You can wrap text in HTML tags or change existing tags.

• Add tag: ys{motion}t<tagname> or ys{motion}< (triggers a prompt).
• Change tag: cst<newtag>.
• Delete tag: dst.

When prompted for a tag, typing < allows you to enter the tag name.

Function surround

The f and F targets in replacement position allow you to wrap text in a function call.

• f: Wraps the target in functionName().
• F: Wraps the target in functionName( ) with internal spacing.

Count-prefix

Markdown formatting marks use a count-prefix to distinguish between single and double delimiters.

• Bold: 2ysiw* surrounds a word with **.
• Strikethrough: 2ysiw~ surrounds a word with ~~.
• Highlight: 2ysiw= surrounds a word with ==.

To delete these repeated delimiters, use a count with the delete command, such as 2ds*.

Tip

Use the count-prefix for fast Markdown formatting. It’s often quicker than typing the marks manually.

Newline variants

Several commands allow you to place delimiters on their own lines.

• yS: Adds surroundings on new lines and indents the content.
• ySS: Surrounds the current line on new lines.
• cS: Changes surroundings and moves them to new lines.
• gS: In visual mode, surrounds the selection on new lines.

Insert mode

You can add surroundings while typing in insert mode using <C-G>s{char}. This inserts the pair and places the cursor inside. Pressing Esc moves the cursor past the closing delimiter.

Dot-repeat

All surround commands support the . command. You can repeat your last add, change, or delete operation across different parts of your document.

See known-limitations > Vim engine for surround operator scope details.