Ribbon
The ribbon functions as a space for common commands within Obsidian.
On desktop, it's located in the left Sidebar and remains visible even when the left Sidebar is closed.
On mobile, you can access the Ribbon Actions by tapping the Menu option ( 
) at the bottom-right corner of the app when you're not editing a note.
Actions
Each action is represented by an icon in the ribbon. Hovering over these icons will display a tooltip, while selecting them will activate the associated action. On mobile, you can tap these icons to activate them.
- Open Vault switcher (
). - Access help (
). - Open Settings (
).
In the mobile version, you can configure a quick access action on the ribbon. For more information, see the mobile section and Mobile app.
Customize the ribbon
Your customized ribbon layout is remembered across sessions. It synchronizes with other devices and the mobile app when app settings (in the workspace.json and workspace-mobile.json files) are synchronized.
Desktop
On the desktop version, you can customize the ribbon as follows:
- Rearrange the order of ribbon actions by dragging and dropping the icons.
- To hide specific actions, right-click on an empty space within the ribbon and uncheck the actions you want to hide.
Hide the ribbon
You can hide the ribbon in two ways:
- Right-click on the ribbon and select Hide ribbon.
- Open Settings → Appearance, scroll down to Advanced, and disable Show ribbon.
Show the ribbon
If you have hidden the ribbon and want to display it again:
- Open Settings → Appearance.
- Scroll down to Advanced.
- Enable Show ribbon.
- The ribbon will appear again on the left side of the window.
If you're using a community theme or custom CSS, make sure it does not hide the ribbon through custom style rules.
Mobile
In the mobile version of Obsidian, you can perform quick access actions, rearrange items, and customize the ribbon menu. To access these customizations, follow these steps:
- Open Obsidian's Settings (
). - Navigate to the appearance section.
- Scroll down to the advanced options.
- Select the Manage button under the Ribbon menu item.
Quick access
By default, the quick access option is set to "Open ribbon menu" on a short press. If you choose another option as your quick access:
- The selected option will be triggered with a short press.
- The ribbon menu access will change to a long press.
Rearrange and visibility
To change the order of items in the ribbon menu, press and hold the drag-and-drop ( ) button and move the selected item up or down.
You can show or hide items in the ribbon menu using the red remove ( 
) or green add ( 
) buttons to toggle their visibility.
