How to Add Images in Obsidian

Obsidian is renowned for its innovative, intuitive approach to note-taking. However, if you’ve ever tried adding images to your Obsidian notes, you may have encountered some difficulties. While this app works well with text, it can struggle with other forms of media.

Fortunately, there are some simple ways to incorporate images into your Obsidian notes. This guide will show you how.

How to Add Images to Obsidian Quickly and Easily

There are multiple ways to insert images into Obsidian notes, and this section will focus on the simplest, fastest way. It’s not the most efficient option (see below to learn more about that), but it is the easiest, involving just two simple steps:

1. Open up Obsidian and select the note where you want to add your image.
   
2. Next, simply drag and drop the image you wish to add (in a common format, like JPG or PNG) onto the note window.
   

Note: If you’re in Source mode, the image won’t actually appear on your page. Instead, you’ll see a piece of text, which will look something like {{image.jpg}}. If you want to actually see the picture alongside your text, you’ll need to move into Editor mode.

How to Store Images on Obsidian Without Causing Clutter

The method above makes it easy to add images to any Obsidian note in a matter of seconds. But it has a downside. Each time you drag and drop an image, Obsidian will automatically make a whole new note for it. This leads to the sidebar looking really cluttered and disorganized.

Not only that, but all images will also be added to your Obsidian vault. And if you want to browse through the vault via File Explorer, it may be tricky to find the files you’re looking for among all those JPGs and PNGs.

Thankfully, there’s an easy fix for this:

1. Open Obsidian and create a brand-new folder. Call it “Attachments.”
   
2. Open up the “Settings” menu and head to “Files & Links.”
   
3. Then, look for the option labeled “Default location for new attachments.” This is where all new photos and other attachments will be stored.
   
4. By default, it’ll be set to “Vault folder,” but you can click and change it to “In the folder specified below.”
   
5. Next, select the “Attachments” folder you made earlier on as the storage location for all images from that point onward.
   
6. Try dragging and dropping a photo onto a note to test it out.
   

Bonus: Once you configure the attachments settings, videos and audio files will also automatically be moved to the “Attachments” folder as you add them. This is very useful if you plan to add other kinds of media to your notes, in addition to pictures and photos.

How to Add Images to Obsidian Without Taking Vault Space

The method above is ideal for organizing your vault and sidebar, but there’s still one problem we need to address. Each time you add an image (or any other attachment), it takes up room in your vault. Vaults have a limited amount of space, and if you add too many images or other files, you might run out.

Once again, there’s a workaround for this. In fact, there’s a way to add images, GIFs, and even short videos to Obsidian notes without taking any vault space, whatsoever. What’s more, this method is completely free, and it involves using the image-sharing site, Imgur.

1. Open Obsidian and head to “Settings,” and then find the “Community Plugins” tab.
   
2. Click “Browse” and type “Imgur” into the search bar to find the Obsidian Imgur plugin.
   
3. Click to install the plugin, then press on “Enable” once the installation is complete.
   
4. Now, try adding a picture to Obsidian with the drag and drop method.
   
5. You’ll see a pop-up asking if you want to upload your image to Imgur or store it locally. Click the “Upload” button to send the image to Imgur.
   
6. The image should now appear in your Obsidian window, but it won’t be stored in the vault, nor will it take up any of your storage space.
   

Note: By default, all images you upload this way will be sent anonymously to the Imgur servers. However, you may also choose to connect your Imgur account to Obsidian and upload files to your own private space. Here’s how:

1. Find the “Imgur Plugin” options in the “Settings.”
   
2. Switch the “Images upload approach” setting from “Anonymous Imgur upload” to “Authenticated Imgur upload.”
   
3. Finally, click “Authenticate” and log-in via Imgur to connect your profile (if you don’t have one yet, head to Imgur.com and follow the sign-up process).
   

It’s definitely a good idea to use the authentication method, especially if you intend on using any personal photos or important work images.

FAQs

Where are images stored when I add them to Obsidian notes?

By default, if you add an image to Obsidian, it goes into your Obsidian vault. Vaults can be stored on your local system or in a cloud platform, like Dropbox or iCloud. You can also make use of community plugins, like the Imgur plugin (detailed above), which lets you store images on Imgur.com, without taking up any of your own space.

Can you drag and drop images from the web to Obsidian notes?

Unfortunately, while it is possible to drag and drop images from the web, they won’t actually appear in your notes if you use this method. Instead of an image, you’ll see a link to the photo on the internet. If you want the actual image to appear, you’ll need to download it to your system beforehand, then drag and drop it over.

What are the benefits of adding images to Obsidian?

Images and photos can liven up your Obsidian notes, making them more dynamic and providing key visual content you might need for certain kinds of posts. For example, if you’re writing a blog post in Obsidian or preparing some recipe instructions, images can complement the text. For work notes, too, you might like to add graphs and diagrams to refer to in the future. That’s why it’s strongly recommended to learn how images work in Obsidian and master them.

Bring Your Obsidian Notes to Life with Images

With images, your Obsidian notes become even more useful and valuable. The process may take a little getting used to, and it involves some set-up in the menus. But once you’ve got it all figured out, you shouldn’t have any trouble bringing notes to life with visual content.

What do you use Obsidian for? Have you had any difficulties adding images, videos, or other media to your notes? Let us know all about it in the comments section.