---
title: "Links and backlinks"
description: "The feature that makes Obsidian Obsidian."
source: "Obsidian Academy"
source_url: https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/basics/03-links-and-backlinks/
saved: 2026-05-16
tags: [obsidian-academy, saved-from-web, basics]
---

If you only learn one thing about Obsidian beyond markdown, learn linking.

## How to link a note

Type two open square brackets and a note name:

```md
I met with [[Alice Chen]] yesterday.
```

That creates a link to `Alice Chen.md` in your vault. Click it in Obsidian → you jump to that note. The link works even if the note doesn't exist yet — clicking it creates the file.

## Backlinks: the magic part

Open any note. Look at the right sidebar in Obsidian. You'll see a **Backlinks** panel showing every other note that links *to* the one you're viewing.

This is bidirectional. You don't have to manually maintain "see also" sections. If `Daily 2026-05-15.md` mentions `[[Alice Chen]]`, then opening `Alice Chen.md` shows that daily note in its backlinks panel automatically.

That's the whole point. **Linking is cheap. Discovering connections is automatic.**

## Aliases — same note, different names

You'll write about Alice as "Alice", "Alice C.", and "Chen" depending on context. You don't want three different notes. Use aliases in frontmatter:

```md
---
aliases: [Alice, Alice C., Chen]
---

# Alice Chen
```

Now `[[Alice]]` resolves to the same note. Cleaner writing, one canonical source.

## Pipe syntax — show different text

Sometimes you want a link to look natural in a sentence:

```md
I met with [[Alice Chen|Alice]] yesterday.
```

Renders as: "I met with Alice yesterday." The link still points to `Alice Chen.md`.

## The graph view

`Ctrl+G` (or the graph icon in the left sidebar) opens the global graph — every note as a dot, every link as a line. Use it:

- **As pretty art** (it's mesmerizing)
- **To find clusters** — what topics are deeply linked? what's isolated?
- **To find orphans** — disconnected dots are notes nobody links to. Either delete them or add links.

For a single note, the local graph view shows just that note's neighborhood. Useful for browsing.

## Embedding notes inside notes

```md
![[Alice Chen]]
```

The `!` prefix embeds the full content of the linked note inline. Useful for:

- Showing a related note's content without leaving the current note
- Including a "Q1 goals" note inside daily summaries
- Building dashboards (combine with Dataview later)

## Embedding a specific section

```md
![[Alice Chen#Background]]
```

Embeds just the `## Background` section.

## Embedding a block

Highlight a paragraph in any note, right-click → Copy Block Reference. You get something like `^abc123`. Now you can embed it:

```md
![[Alice Chen#^abc123]]
```

The exact paragraph appears, with a permalink. The skills use block references for citing specific claims in research synthesis.

> [!NOTE]
> Don't over-think the linking conventions. Start by linking liberally — every person, project, and concept gets `[[brackets]]`. The graph rewards density.

## Next

[Tags and frontmatter](/basics/04-tags-and-frontmatter/) — the second axis of organization.