Obsidian/Q/What is vim mode in Obsidian and how can I start to use it?
What is vim mode in Obsidian and how can I start to use it?
- Short answer: Vim mode is a built-in setting that gives the Obsidian editor modal vim key bindings (normal, insert, visual, and
: Ex commands). Turn it on under Settings → Editor → Vim key bindings; no plugin is needed. - What it is
- It's Obsidian's own emulation of vim inside the note editor, built on the CodeMirror vim layer. It isn't nvim: there's no
init.lua, no vim plugins, and no startup file. - It covers motions, operators, text objects, registers, macros, marks, search, and a subset of Ex commands. Release Obsidian 1.15.0 (desktop, 2026-10-22) added
g? (ROT13), :put, search patterns in : ranges such as :/foo/,/bar/d, vim-style regexes via :set nopcre, and <A-…> mappings on macOS, and fixed gj, :sort, and ; , > < in visual mode — see the v1.15.0 changelog. - Earlier 2026 releases added the
:image Ex command for working with a selected image (v1.13.2) and vim-key navigation in the Settings panel (v1.13.4).
- How to start
- 1. Open Settings (
Cmd+,), go to Editor, and toggle Vim key bindings on. - 2. Open a note in editing view (not reading view). The cursor is now in normal mode:
i to insert, Esc to return, : for commands. - 3. Try the editing you already use in LazyVim:
ciw, dap, ., gj/gk on wrapped lines, / to search the note. - 4. Keep Obsidian's own hotkeys (
Cmd+P command palette, Cmd+O quick switcher) for anything outside the current note; vim mode only drives the editor.
- Making it feel like home
- The built-in mode reads no config file. The community plugin Vimrc Support loads
.obsidian.vimrc from the vault root, so mappings such as imap jj <Esc> or nmap j gj persist. It can also map keys to Obsidian commands with exmap + obcommand. - Lighter or adjacent options: Mini Vimrc, Vim Commands (multi-key sequences bound to any Obsidian command, outside the editor too), and Vim Mode Per Device (on for desktop, off for phone).
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