When you first open Obsidian, the default dark theme makes everything feel dull. The menus are clear, and the layout works fine, but the overall look is flat. If you spend hours using it, whether you’re writing notes, tracking projects, or connecting ideas, the design should feel easier on the eyes.

That's why I've made some design and color changes to Obsidian. That way, you’re not stuck with the default look. With a few quick changes, you can reshape the interface so menus and notes feel easier to scan. A few small changes can cut down on eye strain when you’re reading notes for a long time. Themes are the easiest way to give Obsidian a personal look.

Improve Obsidian instantly with themes

Swap the default look for one that fits how you like to work

When I use an app, one of the first things I do is change its appearance. Staring at plain colors for hours is dull, and seeing a design I like makes it look nicer. If you go to Settings -> Appearance -> Themes, you’ll see a long list of themes to choose from. Some themes keep things simple with two colors, while others go bright if you want more contrast.

The theme you choose affects how easy your notes are to read and how long you can work without eyestrain. A lighter or softer theme can cut down on eyestrain, while darker tones might be better if you often work late. I've tested several, but my personal favorite is Wasp by Santi Younger. It gives Obsidian an elegant look and is easy on the eyes. When you add a theme with colors you like, it makes Obsidian nicer to look at daily.

Speed up Obsidian with custom hotkeys

Set shortcuts for the actions you use every day

Clicking through menus in Obsidian over and over gets old pretty quickly. Hotkeys fix that by letting you press one key instead of going through several clicks. It doesn't take long to set them up, and once you do, the app responds much faster.

Go to Settings -> Hotkeys and you'll see that just about every command can be tied to a shortcut. You can create shortcuts to show backlinks, switch themes, or close tabs. If the shortcut you pick can't be used, Obsidian marks it in red. If it's available, it shows with a gray background and saves right away.

I set hotkeys for toggling preview mode and opening my daily note, since those are things I use all the time. It's a small tweak, yet it makes the app feel smoother every time I use it. I also set one for clearing formatting with Alt + F, which instantly removes styles I don’t use so I can reformat notes the way I like and keep everything consistent.

Save time in Obsidian with pinned notes

Keep the files you need most at the top

Pinning notes keeps important notes front and center. Instead of digging around, you can right-click the tab of a note and choose Pin. It stays marked with a pin at the top even if you’ve got a bunch of tabs open. If it’s something you often check, this small step makes it quicker to get back to what you were doing in Obsidian.

Pinning a note works best for routines you want to get through before your main work. I keep a checklist pinned, so I don’t miss the basics, like clearing emails or updating my task list. Once I’ve checked everything off, I continue my work without second-guessing whether I left something undone.

Choose a custom startup note in Obsidian

Open straight to the note you need most

When Obsidian first opens, it usually just drops you wherever you left off. That’s fine most of the time, but it’s not always the best place to start. Sometimes you need to land on a note that gets the day started, whether that’s a project with a deadline staring you down or a list of things that can’t wait.

Having Obsidian open straight to that note saves you from clicking around and makes sure the first thing you see is the task you actually need to deal with. I like to take a moment before I start working to look over any projects with the nearest deadline and make a list of the most important ones, and in the order I need to do them. So, when I’m actually working, I can get the urgent stuff out of the way.

Make Obsidian feel like your own

When you first start using Obsidian, the default colors aren’t the nicest. But, thanks to Themes, you can choose from quite a few with the design and colors you’ll like to look at throughout your day. The themes are free, so if you don’t like one, you can always switch to another.