Properties

Use properties (YAML frontmatter) to attach structured metadata — dates, tags, numbers, links — to your Obsidian notes.

Properties let you attach structured data to a note — dates, numbers, checkboxes, links, and more. You can use properties to organize notes, power templates, and query your vault with search.

Adding properties to a note

There are several ways to add a property:

1. Use the command palette

   Run the Add file property command from the Command Palette.

2. Use the keyboard shortcut

   Press Cmd/Ctrl+;.

3. Use the More actions menu

   Click the three-dots icon (or right-click the tab) and choose Add file property.

4. Type YAML frontmatter directly

   Type --- at the very beginning of a file to open the properties section.

Once you add a property, a row appears at the top of the note with two fields: the property name and the property value.

Property types

Each property has a name, a value, and a type that determines what kind of values it stores. To change a property’s type, click the type icon next to the property name.

Once a type is assigned to a property name, every property with that name across your vault uses the same type.

Text

Stores a single line of text. Markdown formatting is not rendered. Hashtags do not create tags.

Internal links use the [[Link]] syntax and must be surrounded with quotes.

---
title: A New Hope
link: "[[Episode IV]]"
url: https://www.example.com
---

List

Stores multiple values. Each value appears on its own line, preceded by a hyphen and space.

---
cast:
  - Mark Hamill
  - Harrison Ford
  - Carrie Fisher
links:
  - "[[Link]]"
  - "[[Link2]]"
---

Number

Must be a literal number (no operators). Both integers and decimals are supported.

---
year: 1977
pie: 3.14
---

Checkbox

Stores true or false. Displays as a checkbox in Live Preview.

---
favorite: true
reply: false
---

Date

Stored in YYYY-MM-DD format.

---
date: 2020-08-21
---

The date picker uses your operating system’s default date format. With the Daily notes plugin enabled, a date property also acts as an internal link to the corresponding daily note.

Date & time

Includes both a date and a time, stored in ISO 8601 format.

---
time: 2020-08-21T10:30:00
---

Tags

A special property type used exclusively by the tags property. This property type cannot be assigned to other properties.

---
tags:
  - journal
  - personal
  - draft
---

See Tags for more on using tags in Obsidian.

Property format (YAML)

Properties are stored in YAML format at the top of the file, between --- delimiters:

---
name: value
---

Property names are separated from values by a colon and a space. Each name must be unique within a note — you can’t have two tags properties in the same file.

While you can also write properties in JSON format (between --- delimiters), Obsidian reads and saves them as YAML.

Default properties

Obsidian includes a set of built-in properties:

Property	Type	Description
tags	Tags	Adds tags to a note. See Tags.
aliases	List	Alternative names for a note.
cssclasses	List	Apply CSS snippet classes to style individual notes.

Properties for Obsidian Publish

Property	Description
publish	Controls whether a note is included in auto-publish selection.
permalink	Sets a custom URL path for the published page.
description	Sets the description for social media link previews.
image	Sets the image for social media link previews.
cover	Alternative to image for social media previews.

Deprecated properties

These properties were deprecated in Obsidian 1.4 and removed as defaults in 1.9:

Property	Replacement
tag	tags
alias	aliases
cssclass	cssclasses

Searching and using properties

Properties have their own search syntax that works alongside other search terms. Use [property:value] in the Search panel to filter notes by property value.

You can also use properties in templates — when you insert a template, all its properties are merged into the active note.

Display modes

Control how properties appear in a note under Settings → Editor → Properties in document:

Mode	Behavior
Visible (default)	Shows properties at the top of the note.
Hidden	Hides properties; still accessible via the Properties view in the sidebar.
Source	Displays properties as plain YAML text.

Keyboard shortcuts

Adding and navigating

Action	Shortcut
Add new property	Cmd/Ctrl+;
Focus next property	Down arrow or Tab
Focus previous property	Up arrow or Shift+Tab
Jump to editor	Alt+Down arrow

Editing

Action	Shortcut
Edit property name	Left arrow
Edit property value	Right arrow
Focus property	Escape
Delete property	Cmd/Ctrl+Backspace
Undo	Cmd/Ctrl+Z
Redo	Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z

Selection

Action	Shortcut
Extend selection upwards	Shift+Up arrow
Extend selection downwards	Shift+Down arrow
Select all	Cmd/Ctrl+A

Vim keybindings

Action	Shortcut
Move down	j
Move up	k
Focus key	h
Focus value	l
Focus value cursor at end	A
Focus value cursor at beginning	i
Create new property	o

Limitations

A few features are not currently supported:

• Nested properties — use Source mode to view them.
• Bulk-editing properties — use external tools such as VSCode, scripts, or community plugins.
• Markdown in properties — properties are intentionally plain text so they remain both human- and machine-readable.