Obsidian/Feature/Task_Lists

• Task lists — checkboxes & todos (Obsidian)

  • Overview

    • Core feature: GitHub-Flavored Markdown task lists in any vault note—each line is a list item with a checkbox in the brackets. Obsidian calls these task lists in help; people also say checklists, checkboxes, or todos.
    • Storage: Plain markdown on disk (- [ ] / - [x]). No separate task database in core.
    • States in core: Incomplete ( inside brackets) and complete (x, or other characters—see syntax). No built-in TODO / DOING / DONE keywords like Logseq; see Obsidian/Q/Does Obsidian have the ability to handle kanban-style TODO DOING DONE todos? for plugin and migration paths.

  • Official documentation

    • Primary: Basic formatting syntax — Task lists (same page as Editing and formatting / Basic formatting syntax)
    • List nesting (indent): same guide, Nesting lists — Tab / Shift+Tab on selected list items
    • Customizable command hotkeys: Hotkeys
    • OS-level editing keys (not rebindable in Obsidian): Editing shortcuts
    • Parser details: Obsidian Flavored Markdown

  • Syntax

    • Minimal task line: hyphen, space, opening bracket, space, closing bracket, space, description.
    • Incomplete: - [ ] Buy milk
    • Complete: - [x] Buy milk (lowercase x is conventional; Obsidian treats other characters inside the brackets as “checked” too)
    • Custom markers (still one checkbox): e.g. - [?] Maybe, - [-] Cancelled — any character in the brackets can represent done/custom state in core; plugins may assign meaning (e.g. Tasks uses / for in progress)
    • Nesting: indent subtasks with a tab (or spaces consistent with the parent list). Mix ordered, unordered, and task lists in one outline.
    • Not core: leading TODO / DOING keywords, due dates on the line, vault-wide task queries, or kanban columns—those need community plugins or a different tool surface.

  • Where it applies

    • Any markdown note in the vault (including daily notes if you use them).
    • Live Preview and Source mode: edit the markdown; checkbox UI appears in Live Preview where supported.
    • Reading view: click the checkbox to toggle; Obsidian rewrites the bracket character in the file (help — Task lists).
    • Publish: task list syntax renders on Obsidian Publish sites as normal HTML checkboxes (interactivity depends on publish settings).
    • Embeds / transclusions: task lines in embedded content follow the same markdown rules as the source note.
    • Outside core: Tasks, Dataview, TODOseq, obsidian-kanban, etc. add query UIs, extra statuses, or boards on top of this syntax—see Obsidian/Q/Does Obsidian have the ability to handle kanban-style TODO DOING DONE todos?.

  • Keyboard shortcuts & commands

    • Discover or rebind: Ctrl+P / Cmd+P (Command palette) shows each command’s current hotkey; Settings → Hotkeys lists all bindings (Hotkeys).
    • Toggle checkbox status (core): default Ctrl+L (Windows/Linux) / Cmd+L (macOS). Cycles/creates checkbox state on the current line; rebindable. (Older builds used Ctrl+Enter / Cmd+Enter for this; current default moved link-opening to that chord—see Obsidian 1.2.10 desktop changelog.)
    • Indent / outdent list items (including tasks): Tab / Shift+Tab on selection (Nesting lists).
    • New line inside a list item without breaking numbering: Shift+Enter (Lists).
    • Toggle bullet ↔ numbered list (optional): command Toggle bullet/numbered list — assign in Hotkeys if you convert plain bullets to tasks often.
    • Reading view only: no default “clickless” hotkey beyond toggling via Toggle checkbox status or pointer click on the checkbox.
    • Common plugin override: Tasks recommends replacing Toggle checkbox status with Tasks: Toggle task done (often mapped to Ctrl+Enter / Cmd+Enter) for multi-state tasks (Tasks plugin).

  • Behavior notes

    • Creation: type - [ ] manually, paste templates, or run Toggle checkbox status on a line to introduce checkbox syntax.
    • Completion: x (or another chosen character) inside [ ]; clicking in Reading view updates the file.
    • Queries: core has no “all open tasks in vault” view; use search (task: / path: operators in search, or plugins).
    • Logseq contrast: Logseq uses block-level TODO / DOING / DONE markers and built-in task queries; plain - [ ] in Logseq is not the same workflow as Obsidian’s primary task model.

  • Examples

    • - [ ] Draft outline
      	- [ ] Collect sources
      	- [x] Skim intro paper
      - [x] Send recap email

    • Mixed outline:

    • 1. Phase one
         - [ ] Subtask A
         - [x] Subtask B
      2. Phase two
         - [ ] Subtask C