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General

What’s new in Notebook Navigator 2.4.3

See recent updates and improvements

Mastering Notebook Navigator (video)

This video covers everything you need to be productive in Notebook Navigator, including hot keys, search, tags, and advanced customization.

Vault profiles

Vault profile

Profiles store file type visibility, hidden files, hidden folders, hidden tags, hidden notes, shortcuts, and navigation banner. Switch profiles from the navigation pane header.

Default:

  "vaultProfiles": [
    {
      "id": "default",
      "name": "Default",
      "fileVisibility": "supported",
      "propertyKeys": [],
      "hiddenFolders": [],
      "hiddenTags": [],
      "hiddenFileNames": [],
      "hiddenFileTags": [],
      "hiddenFileProperties": [],
      "navigationBanner": null,
      "periodicNotesFolder": "",
      "shortcuts": []
    }
  ],
  "vaultProfile": "default"

Sync mode:

  "syncModes": {
    "vaultProfile": "synced"
  }

Disabling sync mode will set vaultProfile to "local".

Vault title placement

Choose where the vault title is shown.

  • Show in header (“header”)
  • Show in navigation pane (“navigation”)

Default:

  "vaultTitle": "navigation"

Bug

Not sure if working.

Filtering

Show file types (vault profile)

Filter which file types are shown in the navigator. File types not supported by Obsidian may open in external applications.

  • Documents (.md, .canvas, .base) (“documents”)
  • Supported (opens in Obsidian) (“supported”)
  • All (may open externally) (“all”)

Default:

  "fileVisibility": "supported"

Property keys (vault profile)

Frontmatter property keys, with per-key visibility for navigation and file list.

Default:

      "propertyKeys": [
        {
          "key": "YOUR-PROPERTY-NAME",
          "showInNavigation": true,
          "showInList": false,
          "showInFileMenu": false
        },
      ],

Hide files (vault profile)

Comma-separated list of filename patterns to hide. Supports * wildcards and / paths (e.g. temp-*, *.png, /assets/*).

Default:

      "hiddenFileNames": []

My settings

I set it to "*Shortcut.lnk".

Hide folders (vault profile)

Comma-separated list of tag patterns. Name patterns: tag* (starting with), *tag (ending with). Path patterns: /archive (root archive only), /res* (root folders starting with res), /*/drafts (mid-segment wildcard).

Default:

      "hiddenFolders": []

Hide tags (vault profile)

Comma-separated list of tag patterns. Name patterns: tag* (starting with), *tag (ending with). Path patterns: archive (tag and descendants), archive/* (descendants only), projects/*/drafts (mid-segment wildcard).

Default:

      "hiddenTags": []

Hide notes with tags (vault profile)

Comma-separated list of tag patterns. Notes containing matching tags are hidden. Name patterns: tag* (starting with), *tag (ending with). Path patterns: archive (tag and descendants), archive/* (descendants only), projects/*/drafts (mid-segment wildcard).

Default:

      "hiddenFileTags": []

Hide notes with property rules (vault profile)

Comma-separated list of frontmatter rules. Use `key` or `key=value` entries (e.g., status=done, published=true, archived).

Default:

      "hiddenFileProperties": []

Templates

Template folder location

Template file picker shows notes from this folder.

Default:

  "calendarTemplateFolder": ""

Bug

Potentially a bug.

My settings

I set it to "Templates".

Behavior

Open new notes in new tab

When enabled, the Create new note command opens notes in a new tab. When disabled, notes replace the current tab.

Default:

  "createNewNotesInNewTab": false

Auto-reveal active note

Automatically reveal notes when opened from Quick Switcher, links, or search.

Default:

  "autoRevealActiveFile": true
Use shortest path

Enabled: Auto-reveal selects the nearest visible ancestor folder or tag. Disabled: Auto-reveal selects the file’s actual folder and exact tag.

Default:

  "autoRevealShortestPath": true
Ignore events from right sidebar

Do not change active note when clicking or change notes in the right sidebar.

Default:

  "autoRevealIgnoreRightSidebar": true

Single pane animation

Transition duration when switching panes in single-pane mode (milliseconds)

Default:

  "paneTransitionDuration": 150

Sync mode:

  "syncModes": {
    "paneTransitionDuration": "synced"
  }

Disabling sync mode will set paneTransitionDuration to "local".

Keyboard navigation

Multi-select modifier

Choose which modifier key toggles multi-selection. When Option/Alt is selected, Cmd/Ctrl click opens notes in a new tab.

  • Cmd/Ctrl click (“cmdCtrl”)
  • Option/Alt click (“optionAlt”)

Default:

  "multiSelectModifier": "cmdCtrl"
Press Enter to open files

Open files only when pressing Enter during list keyboard navigation.

Default:

  "enterToOpenFiles": false

Desktop appearance

Dual pane layout

Show navigation pane and list pane side by side on desktop.

Default:

  "dualPane": true

Sync mode:

  "syncModes": {
    "dualPane": "synced"
  }

Disabling sync mode will set dualPane to "local".

My settings

I set this to false.

Dual pane orientation

Choose horizontal or vertical layout when dual pane is active.

  • Horizontal split (“horizontal”)
  • Vertical split (“vertical”)

Default:

  "dualPaneOrientation": "horizontal"

Sync mode:

  "syncModes": {
    "dualPaneOrientation": "synced"
  }

Disabling sync mode will set dualPaneOrientation to "local".

Background color

Choose background colors for navigation and list panes.

  • Separate backgrounds (“separate”)
  • Use list background (“primary”)
  • Use navigation background (“secondary”)

Default:

  "desktopBackground": "separate"

Show tooltips

Display hover tooltips with additional information for notes and folders.

Default:

  "showTooltips": false

My settings

I set this to true.

Show path

Display folder path in note names in tooltips.

Default:

  "showTooltipPath": true

My settings

I set this to false.

Appearance

Zoom level

Controls the overall zoom level of Notebook Navigator.

Default:

  "desktopScale": 1

The slider ranges from 75 (0.75) to 150 (1.5). However, values beyond this range can be inputted in data.json and will be valid.

Sync mode:

  "syncModes": {
     "uiScale": "synced"
  }

Disabling sync mode will set uiScale to "local".

Default startup view

Choose which pane to display when opening Notebook Navigator. Navigation pane shows recent notes, and folder tree. List pane shows note list immediately.

  • Navigation pane (“navigation”)
  • List pane (“files”)

Default:

  "startView": "files"

Homepage

Choose the file that Notebook Navigator opens automatically, such as a dashboard.

Default:

  "homepage": null
Separate mobile homepage

Use a different homepage for mobile devices.

Default:

  "useMobileHomepage": false

Show info buttons

Display info buttons in the search bar and calendar header.

Default:

  "showInfoButtons": true

Toolbar buttons

Choose which buttons appear in the toolbar. Hidden buttons remain accessible via commands and menus.

  • Show dual panes (“toggleDualPane”)
  • Expand all items (“expandCollapse”)
  • Show hidden folders, tags, and notes (“hiddenItems”)
  • Show calendar (“calendar”)
  • Reorder navigation (“rootReorder”)
  • New folder (“newFolder”)
List toolbar
  • Show navigation (“back”)
  • Search (“search”)
  • Show notes from subfolders / descendants (“descendants”)
  • Change sort order (“sort”)
  • Change appearance (“appearance”)
  • New note (“newNote”)

Default:

  "toolbarVisibility": {
    "navigation": {
      "toggleDualPane": true,
      "expandCOllapse": true,
      "calendar": true,
      "hiddenItems": true,
      "rootReorder": true,
      "newFolder": true
    },
    "list": {
     "back": true,
     "search": true,
     "descendants": true,
     "sort": true,
     "appearance": true,
     "newNote": true
    }
  }

Sync mode:

  "syncModes": {
    "toolbarVisibility": "synced"
  }

Disabling sync mode will set toolbarVisibility to "local".

My settings

I set toggleDualPane, newFolder, and newNote to false.

Icons

Interface icons

Edit toolbar, folder, tag, pinned, search, and sort icons.

Default:

  "interfaceIcons": {
    "nav-show-single-pane":
    "nav-show-dual-pane":
    "nav-profile-chevron":
    "nav-shortcuts":
    "nav-expand-all":
    "nav-collapse-all":
    "nav-calendar":
    "nav-hidden-items":
    "nav-root-reorder":
    "nav-new-folder":
    "nav-recent-files":
    "nav-tree-expand":
    "nav-tree-collapse":
    "nav-folder-open":
    "nav-folder-closed":
    "nav-tags":
    "nav-tag":
    "nav-properties":
    "nav-property":
    "nav-property-value":
    "list-search":
    "list-descendants":
    "list-sort-ascending":
    "list-sort-descending":
    "list-appearance":
    "list-new-note":
    "list-pinned":
    "file-unfinished-task":
    "file-word-count":
  }

If a property is reset, they are removed from the JSON file.

My settings

I set file-word-count to "LiWholeWord".

Apply color to icons only

When enabled, custom colors are applied only to icons. When disabled, colors are applied to both icons and text labels.

Default:

  "colorIconOnly": false

Formatting

Date format

Format for displaying dates (uses Moment format). Moment format

Common formats: MMM D, YYYY = May 25, 2022 DD/MM/YYYY = 25/05/2022 YYYY-MM-DD = 2022-05-25

Tokens: YYYY/YY = year MMMM/MMM/MM = month DD/D = day dddd/ddd = weekday

Default:

  "dateFormat": "MMM D, YYYY"

My settings

I set this to "dddd, MMM D, YYYY".

Time format

Format for displaying times (using Moment format). Moment format

Common formats: h:mm a = 2:30 PM (12-hour) HH:mm = 14:30 (24-hour) h:mm:ss a = 2:30:45 PM HH:mm:ss = 14:30:45

Tokens: HH/H = 24-hour hh/h = 12-hour mm = minutes ss = seconds a = AM/PM

Default:

  "timeFormat": "h:mm a"

My settings

I set this to "h:mm:ss a".

Files

Confirm before deleting

Show confirmation dialog when deleting notes or folders

Default:

  "confirmBeforeDelete": true

Delete attachments when deleting files

Automatically remove attachments linked to the deleted file if they’re not used elsewhere

  • Ask each time (“ask”)
  • Always (“always”)
  • Never (“never”)

Default:

  "deleteAttachments": "ask"

Move conflicts

When moving a file into a folder where a file with the same name already exists. Ask each time (rename, overwrite, cancel) or always rename.

  • Ask each time (“ask”)
  • Always rename (“rename”)

Default:

  "moveFileConflicts": "ask"

Icon packs

Bootstrap Icons (version 1.13.1)

https://icons.getbootstrap.com/

Font Awesome (version 7.1.0)

https://fontawesome.com/

Material Icons (version 145)

https://fonts.google.com/icons

Phosphor Icons (version 2.1.2)

https://phosphoricons.com/

RPG Awesome (version 0.2.0)

https://nagoshiashumari.github.io/Rpg-Awesome/

Simple Icons (version 15.20.0)

https://simpleicons.org/

The icons’ JSON properties are only added upon being downloaded.

Default:

  "externalIconProviders": {
    "bootstrap-icons": 
    "fontawesome-solid":
    "material-icons":
    "phosphor":
    "rpg-awesome":
    "simple-icons":
  }

If an icon pack is removed, the JSON property is set to false rather than being removed.

Downloaded icon packs sync installation state across devices. Icon packs stay in the local database on each device; sync only tracks whether to download or remove them. Icon packs downloaded from the Notebook Navigator repository (https:github.com/johansan/notebook-navigator/tree/main/icon-assets).

Advanced

Check for new version on start

Checks for new plugin releases and shows a notification when an update is available. Checks occur at most once per day.

Default:

  "checkForUpdatesOnStart": true

Reset pane separator position

Reset the draggable separator between navigation pane and list pane to default position.

Reset all settings

Reset all Notebook Navigator settings to default values.

Upon clicking “Reset all settings”, you will receive this popup:

Reset all settings?

This will reset all Notebook Navigator settings to their default values. This cannot be undone.

Clean up metadata

Removes orphaned metadata left behind when files, folders, or tags are deleted, moved, or renamed outside of Obsidian. This only affects the Notebook Navigator settings file.

Rebuild cache

Use this if you experience missing tags, incorrect previews or missing feature images. This can happen after sync conflicts or unexpected closures.