Get Obsidian working in 30 minutes, phone included
The question nobody answers until you ask it
Every Obsidian tutorial covers vault creation and wikilinks. None of them answers the question you will have 10 minutes in: "How do I get these notes on my phone?" And none of them tells you, in plain English, whether you should organise by PARA folders or start writing Zettelkasten-style atomic notes before you have added a single plugin. This tutorial covers all three: the zero-plugin day-one setup, the organisation decision you need to make before your second note, and the sync method that fits your devices and your budget. You will need the app, 30 minutes, and a decision.
Time needed
30 minutes
Cost
Free (sync options from $0 to $4/month)
Difficulty
Beginner, no prior experience needed
App version
Obsidian 1.14.5 (stable, October 2026)
What you get
A working vault, linked notes, and sync to your phone
What Obsidian actually is (and is not)
Obsidian stores every note as a plain .md (Markdown) file on your own disk. There is no database, no account required to start, and no proprietary format. Open any note in Notepad and it is still readable. This is the one architectural decision behind the whole product and it matters: your notes outlive any app. What Obsidian is not: it is not a task manager, it is not a cloud document editor like Notion or Google Docs, and it does not sync automatically out of the box. You own the files. You also own the sync problem, which this tutorial solves.
Step 1. Install the app and create your vault
Download the latest stable build from obsidian.md and run the installer. On first launch, click Create new vault. Give it a name (something like "Notes" works fine for now) and choose a location that is not inside Dropbox, iCloud or any sync folder yet. Get comfortable with the app before adding sync.
# macOS: open the DMG and drag to Applications
# Windows: run the .exe installer
# Linux: use the AppImage, Snap, Deb, or Flatpak from the download page
# Download from:
https://obsidian.md/download
A vault is just a folder. The hidden .obsidian/ subfolder inside it stores your \
settings, plugins and hotkeys. Keep that folder in your backups.
Step 2. Make your first three notes and link them
Create a note with the keyboard shortcut. On macOS that is Cmd+N; on Windows and Linux it is Ctrl+N. Type a title, then write a sentence or two.
# macOS shortcut to create a note:
Cmd + N
# Windows / Linux:
Ctrl + N
Now type two square brackets around any word or phrase to create a wikilink to \
another note. If that note does not exist yet, Obsidian creates it the moment \
you click through.I read about [[PARA method]] today and it changed how I think about folders.
Click the link. A blank note opens. Write one sentence about that subject. \
Go back to your first note. Open the right sidebar and find the Backlinks panel. \
You will see your first note listed there. This is the core of Obsidian: \
notes that know who is talking about them.Six concepts that cover day one
Before adding any plugins, make sure these six things are clear.
Vault: the folder on your disk. One vault is enough to start.
Note: a plain .md file. Every note is a file. Nothing is hidden in a database.
Wikilink: type two square brackets around any phrase to link to another note.
Backlinks panel: every note lists every other note that links to it. Open it from the right sidebar. This builds context you did not have to file manually.
Tags vs. folders: folders place a note in one location. Tags (type #word) cut across all folders. Simple rule: folders for broad area, tags for type or status, links for actual relationships.
Graph view: renders your vault as a node-and-edge map. At day one it will be nearly empty. Build with links first; the graph is a reward for a large vault, not a starting point.
Step 3. The organisation decision: PARA or Zettelkasten
This is the question that sends people to forums and keeps them there for a week. Make the decision now so it does not paralyse you. PARA (by Tiago Forte) organises by where a note belongs relative to what you are doing right now. Four top-level folders: Projects (defined end goal), Areas (ongoing responsibilities), Resources (reference material), Archives (inactive items). It is action-oriented and hierarchical. Benefits are visible immediately and it works in any tool, not just Obsidian.
Zettelkasten vs PARA: the plain verdict
Zettelkasten organises by how ideas connect. Every note captures exactly one idea, written in your own words. Notes reference each other through links, building a network of thought over time. High startup cost: the system generates real value only after hundreds of well-linked notes. Obsidian wikilinks and backlinks are a natural fit. If you manage projects and want notes that help you get things done, start with PARA. If you are a writer or researcher and want ideas to compound over years, start with Zettelkasten. The two can be combined later: atomic Zettelkasten notes placed into PARA folders is a common working setup.
Start with one folder. Call it "Inbox". Put every new note there for the first two weeks. Only move notes out when you feel the friction of not knowing where something is. That friction tells you which folders you actually need.
Step 4. Sync to your phone without paying (and when to pay instead)
This is where most tutorials leave you on your own. There are three real options. Pick exactly one: running two sync services on the same vault at the same time causes file conflicts and data loss.
Obsidian sync options compared
| Method | Cost | Platforms | Effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iCloud | Free (existing iCloud storage) | iPhone + iPad + Mac only | Low | Apple-only users |
| Obsidian Sync | $4/month (billed yearly) | All platforms including Android | Lowest | Anyone who wants it to just work |
| Remotely Save plugin | Free (with Dropbox or OneDrive) | All platforms | Medium | Cross-platform users who want free sync |
| iCloud setup: your vault must live inside iCloud Drive/Obsidian/ on macOS, \ | ||||
| not just anywhere in iCloud. On macOS 15 (Sequoia) right-click the vault \ | ||||
| folder in Finder and choose Keep Downloaded. On older macOS, disable \ | ||||
| Optimize Mac Storage in iCloud settings. Do not use iCloud on Windows: \ | ||||
| it is known to duplicate and corrupt files. | ||||
| Remotely Save is a community plugin (not built in). Install it from \ | ||||
| Settings, then Community Plugins, then Browse. Search for "Remotely Save". \ | ||||
| It supports Dropbox, OneDrive Personal, Google Drive (added May 2026), \ | ||||
| WebDAV (Nextcloud, Synology), and S3-compatible storage. Mobile sync works \ | ||||
| only while the app is open: it cannot background-sync on iOS or Android. |
Step 5. Turn on File Recovery before you do anything else
Sync is not backup. If you delete a note and sync runs, the deletion propagates to every device. Obsidian's built-in File Recovery plugin saves snapshots of individual notes on a timer and costs nothing. Enable it now: Settings, then Core Plugins, then File Recovery. Toggle it on. The default snapshot interval is 5 minutes. The default history length is 14 days. Those defaults are fine. For a proper backup: initialize your vault as a Git repo with the Obsidian Git community plugin, push to a private GitHub repository, and let it auto-commit on a timer. This gives you complete, reviewable history and a second copy off your machine.
# Initialize your vault as a Git repo (run once, inside the vault folder):
git init
git add .
git commit -m "initial vault"
# Then create a private repo on GitHub and push to it.
# The Obsidian Git plugin handles daily commits from inside the app.Add .obsidian/workspace.json to your .gitignore before the first push. This file changes every time you switch notes and causes unnecessary merge conflicts if you edit the vault on two machines.
# .gitignore
.obsidian/workspace.json
.obsidian/workspace-mobile.jsonWhat to do next
Once your first 20 notes are linked and your sync is working, two things are worth adding. The Dataview plugin turns your notes into a queryable database: you can list all notes tagged #project that have no completion date, for instance. It is the first plugin most productive users add, but it rewards a vault that already has consistent tags and properties. The Templater plugin lets you define note templates: a daily note with a fixed structure, a book note that always starts with author and rating. Add it when you notice yourself typing the same headers every time you create a note of the same type. Both plugins install from Settings, then Community Plugins, then Browse. Search by name. Neither requires configuration to start using.