Keybinding reference

Markdown text objects

Operate on Markdown structures with standard Vim operators (d, c, y, v).

Keybinding	Description
i* / a*	Inside/around bold (**...**) or italic (*...*)
i_ / a_	Inside/around italic (_..._)
i` / a`	Inside/around inline code
i$ / a$	Inside/around math ($...$ or $$...$$), with smart disambiguation
i~ / a~	Inside/around strikethrough (~~...~~)
i= / a=	Inside/around highlight (==...==)
il / al	Inside/around links ([[wikilink]] or [text](url))
iC / aC	Inside/around fenced code blocks
iB / aB	Inside/around blockquotes (>)
io / ao	Inside/around callouts (> [!type])
it / at	Inside/around HTML/XML tags
i| / a|	Inside/around table cell (between | pipes)

Structural navigation

Jump between document structures. Works with counts (e.g., 3]h jumps 3 headings) and operators (e.g., d]h deletes to the next heading).

Keybinding	Description
]h / [h	Next/previous heading (any level)
]1–]6 / [1–[6	Next/previous heading of specific level
]l / [l	Next/previous list item (same indent level)
]n / [n	Next/previous link
]b / [b	Next/previous open buffer (tab)

Table navigation

Navigate Markdown table cells without leaving Vim mode.

Keybinding	Description
]| or ]c	Move to the next table cell
[| or [c	Move to the previous table cell
]r	Move to same column in next row
[r	Move to same column in previous row

Table text objects

Operate on table cells with standard Vim operators.

Keybinding	Description
i|	Inside table cell (content between pipes)
a|	Around table cell (content plus trailing pipe)

Table manipulation

Manage table structure using the <leader>t prefix.

Keybinding	Description
<leader>tm	Insert table
<leader>to	Add row below
<leader>tO	Add row above
<leader>tJ	Move row down
<leader>tK	Move row up
<leader>tdd	Delete row
<leader>tiL	Add column to the right
<leader>tiH	Add column to the left
<leader>tL	Move column right
<leader>tH	Move column left
<leader>tdc	Delete column
<leader>tr	Realign table columns

Hard-wrap operators

Reformat paragraphs with Markdown-aware line wrapping.

Keybinding	Description
gqq / gwq	Reformat current line at textwidth (default 80)
gqj / gwj	Reformat current and next line
gqip / gwip	Reformat paragraph
Visual gq / gw	Reformat selected lines

EasyMotion find motions

Jump to specific characters forward, backward, or in both directions.

Keybinding	Description
<leader><leader>f{char}	Find {char} forward
<leader><leader>F{char}	Find {char} backward
<leader><leader>s{char}	Find {char} in both directions
<leader><leader>t{char}	Till before {char} forward
<leader><leader>T{char}	Till after {char} backward

EasyMotion word motions

Jump to word starts or ends across the visible editor.

Keybinding	Description
<leader><leader>w	Word start forward
<leader><leader>b	Word start backward
<leader><leader>e	End of word forward
<leader><leader>ge	End of word backward
<leader><leader>W	WORD start forward
<leader><leader>B	WORD start backward
<leader><leader>E	End of WORD forward
<leader><leader>gE	End of WORD backward

EasyMotion line motions

Jump directly to lines above or below the cursor.

Keybinding	Description
<leader><leader>j	Line down
<leader><leader>k	Line up

EasyMotion search motions

Jump to search matches forward or backward.

Keybinding	Description
<leader><leader>n	Next search match forward
<leader><leader>N	Next search match backward

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

Workspace navigation

Navigate Obsidian panes, tabs, and history following Neovim conventions.

Keybinding	Description	Global
<C-w>h/j/k/l	Focus pane left/down/up/right	Yes
<C-w>v	Split vertical	Yes
<C-w>s	Split horizontal	Yes
<C-w>c / <C-w>q	Close current tab	Yes
<C-w>o	Close all other tabs	Yes
gt / gT	Next/previous tab	Yes
Ngt	Go to Nth tab (e.g., 3gt goes to tab 3)	Yes
g<C-t>	Go to tab by number (e.g., 3g<C-t> goes to tab 3)	—
H / L	Previous/next tab (non-editor views only)	Yes
Ctrl-o / Ctrl-i	Navigate back/forward in history (non-editor views)	Yes
gd	Go to definition — open the link under the cursor	—
gD	Open link under cursor in a new tab	—
<C-w>gd	Open link under cursor in a horizontal split	—
<C-w>gD	Open link under cursor in a vertical split	—
gx	Open URL under cursor in browser	—
gf	Open file switcher (quick open)	—
grn	Rename current note	—
grr	Show backlinks to current note	—
gra	Show context-aware actions for cursor position	—
gO	Open document outline (searchable heading list)	—
g<C-g>	Show document statistics (words, lines, characters)	—
gp / gP	Paste and move cursor past pasted text	—
ga	Show character info under cursor (codepoint, hex)	—
g; / g,	Jump to older/newer change position	—
za	Toggle fold at cursor	—
zc / zo	Fold / unfold at cursor	—
zO / zC / zA	Recursive fold open/close/toggle	—
zM / zR	Fold all / unfold all	—

Select mode

Keybinding	Description
gh	Enter select mode (charwise)
gH	Enter select mode (linewise)
g<C-h>	Enter select mode (blockwise)
<C-g>	Toggle between visual and select mode (in visual/select)
gV	Prevent select mode reselection after mapping

Virtual replace mode

Keybinding	Description
gR	Enter virtual replace mode (replace by screen column)

Non-editor view bindings

Navigate and interact with non-editor views like PDFs, graphs, and canvases.

Keybinding	Description
f	Show hint labels, activate target (click/focus/navigate)
F	Show hint labels, open target in new pane
yf	Show hint labels, yank target URL or text to clipboard
df	Show hint labels, close target tab or pane
Nf	Activate N targets sequentially (e.g., 3f activates 3)
j / k	Scroll down/up one line
Nj / Nk	Scroll N lines (e.g., 5j scrolls 5 lines down)
gg	Scroll to top
G	Scroll to bottom
Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u	Scroll half page down/up
Ctrl-f / Ctrl-b	Scroll full page down/up

All non-editor bindings can be customized via gmap, gnoremap, and gunmap in your .obsidian.vimrc. Use :gmap to list all active global bindings. See vimrc > Global key mappings for syntax.

Ex commands

Execute commands via the : command line, grouped by function.

File and buffer

Command	Description
:w / :write	Save current file
:update / :up	Save current file (alias for :w)
:q / :quit	Close current tab
:wq	Save and close
:x / :xit	Write if modified and close
:xa / :xall	Write if modified all and close all
:e {file} / :edit {file}	Open file by name in vault
:e! / :edit!	Revert current file to saved version
:enew	Create new untitled note
:saveas {file}	Save current buffer as new file
:find {file} / :fin	Find and open file by partial name match
:read {file} / :r	Insert file contents at cursor position
:bn / :bp	Next / previous tab
:b {name} / :buffer {name}	Switch to tab matching name
:bf / :bfirst	Go to first tab
:bl / :blast	Go to last tab
:bd / :bc	Close current tab
:bw / :bwipeout	Close current tab
:only	Close all other tabs
:qa	Close all tabs
:wa / :wall	Save all open files

Window and tab

Command	Description
:sp / :split	Horizontal split
:vs / :vsplit	Vertical split
:new	Horizontal split with new note
:vnew	Vertical split with new note
:tabnew / :tabedit	Open new tab (optionally with file)
:tabclose / :tabc	Close current tab
:tabonly / :tabo	Close all other tabs
:tabfirst / :tabrewind	Go to first tab
:tablast / :tabl	Go to last tab

Table

Command	Description
:tableinsert	Insert table
:tablerowafter / :tablerowbefore	Add row below / above
:tablerowup / :tablerowdown	Move row up / down
:tablerowdelete	Delete row
:tablecolafter / :tablecolbefore	Add column right / left
:tablecolleft / :tablecolright	Move column left / right
:tablecoldelete	Delete column
:tablealignleft / :tablealigncenter / :tablealignright	Set column alignment
:tablerealign	Realign table columns to uniform widths

Navigation and search

Command	Description
:explorer	Reveal active file in file explorer
:buffers / :ls	Show all open buffers in a modal
:backlinks	Show backlinks to the current note in a modal
:grep {pattern}	Search vault for text, show results in a modal
:back / :forward	Navigate back / forward in history
:marks	Show marks and their positions in a modal
:changes	Show change list in modal

Utility

Command	Description
:ob {command-id}	Execute any Obsidian command by ID
:ob	List all available command IDs
:sidebar left / :sidebar right	Toggle left/right sidebar
:reg / :registers	Show register contents in a modal
:delmarks {marks}	Delete specified marks
:version / :ve	Show plugin version
:gmap	List all active global bindings

Quality of life

Enhanced Vim behavior and Obsidian-specific improvements.

Keybinding	Description
o / O	Smart list continuation (bullets, numbers, checkboxes)
Y	Yank to end of line (y$)
Q	Replay last recorded macro (@@)