How to Customize Obsidian and Make It Your Own

Why Personalizing Obsidian Matters

One of the things that surprised me after using Obsidian for a while is how much the app changes once you start shaping it to your own taste. Out of the box, Obsidian is clean and functional, but it’s when you begin adjusting the theme, tweaking the colors, or adding small CSS touches that the workspace really becomes yours. And that feeling matters more than most people expect.

Customizing Obsidian isn’t about making it look fancy. It’s about creating an environment where you enjoy spending time, where writing feels natural, and where opening your notes gives you the same comfort as opening a familiar notebook. A few visual changes can reduce friction, make ideas easier to follow, and turn the editor into a place you want to return to every day.

Because Obsidian is so flexible, far more than most note-taking tools, you’re not limited to the defaults. You can shape the interface to match your style, your workflow, and even your mood. Whether that means choosing a theme that helps you focus, fine-tuning your own CSS, or reorganizing the layout around the way you think, the end result is a vault that feels personal and intentional.

That’s the point of customization for me: not decoration, but comfort. When the tool feels right, writing becomes easier. And Obsidian gives you all the freedom you need to build a space that fits you, instead of the other way around.

Choosing Your Theme: Dark, Light, and the Accent Color

The first thing most people customize in Obsidian is the theme; and honestly, it makes a bigger difference than you’d expect. The whole app shifts depending on whether you prefer a dark workspace, a bright one, or something in between. I’ve switched back and forth a few times, but eventually I realized that the right theme depends on how you feel when you’re writing.

Dark mode gives me that focus bubble feeling. It’s great for long sessions or late-night writing. Light mode, on the other hand, feels more open and clean, which works better when I’m taking notes during the day. The best part is that Obsidian makes it trivial to switch, so you can adapt the mood of the app to the moment.

Then there’s the accent color; a small detail, but it changes the personality of the entire interface. Folder icons, highlights, active tabs… that tiny splash of color sets the tone. Some people use a calming neutral; others go for something bold to keep the app visually lively. I’ve changed mine a few times before finding a color that feels right, and it still surprises me how such a small change can affect the whole experience.

These simple customizations don’t require plugins or advanced setups. Yet they’re the quickest way to make Obsidian feel like your space. And once the look matches your style, everything else starts to fall naturally into place.

Adding Your Own Style With Custom CSS

One of the things that makes Obsidian feel truly personal is how easy it is to tweak the interface with a bit of custom CSS. You don’t need to be an expert; just knowing the basics lets you adjust spacing, colors, typography, or tiny UI details that make the app feel more comfortable for you.

Obsidian allows you to add a snippets folder inside your vault, where you can drop small CSS files. Once you enable them in the Appearance settings, they override parts of the theme without breaking anything. It’s a safe way to experiment and refine your own visual style.

Here’s a small example of a snippet I use. It doesn’t drastically change the theme; it just softens some elements and makes the interface look cleaner:

/* Softer active file highlight */
.nav-file-title.is-active {
  background-color: rgba(120, 120, 255, 0.15);
  border-radius: 6px;
}

/* Slightly larger line height for readability */
.markdown-preview-view p {
  line-height: 1.7;
}

/* Cleaner code blocks */
.markdown-preview-view code {
  padding: 3px 6px;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

/* Subtle rounded corners on images */
.markdown-preview-view img {
  border-radius: 14px;
}

Nothing fancy, just small touches that make reading and navigating feel smoother. That’s the beauty of Obsidian’s customization: you can start tiny and build your way up. And if one day you decide to change themes, these snippets come with you.

Custom CSS is where Obsidian starts to feel like your workspace instead of just another app someone else designed. It’s a chance to shape the environment where you spend hours writing, thinking, and creating.

Community Themes & Plugins

Obsidian ships with a solid set of defaults, but the real fun begins when you start exploring what the community creates. Themes made by other users often go far beyond simple palette tweaks; they refine layouts, introduce unique typography, or provide highly opinionated journaling workflows. If you want inspiration or a ready-made style you can build upon, the community library is the best place to look.

What you can expect from community themes

• Full UI redesigns: Some themes reimagine the dashboard, entry view, and panels, giving Obsidian a completely different personality.
• Color-focused packs: Others revolve around carefully crafted palettes; pastels, minimal monochromes, high contrast solarized-style setups, and more.
• Utility plugins: These add small but meaningful enhancements like additional prompts, improved navigation, or dashboard widgets.
• Hybrid packages: A mix of style and functionality packaged together.

Why explore them?

Even if you plan to create your own design, browsing existing work can spark ideas: combinations of spacing and font weights, how others use accent colors, or clever sidebar organization patterns. Many users also publish their CSS, making it easy to adapt or extend.

If you eventually publish your own theme, you’ll also help others discover new approaches and encourage a more diverse ecosystem.

Rearranging Elements: Sidebars, Panels, and Layout

Customization isn’t just about colors and fonts; it’s also about how information is arranged on your screen. Obsidian lets you move panels, pin items, and adjust sidebars so your most-used tools are exactly where you want them.

For example, I like having the Calendar plugin on the left sidebar instead of the default right. It feels more natural for my workflow because I glance at dates and daily notes while navigating projects. Similarly, I often pin my most important folders or project panels, while collapsing less-used ones to keep the interface clean.

You can drag any panel to a new position, split the workspace, or create multiple panes for comparing notes side by side. Over time, small layout tweaks like this reduce friction and make finding and linking notes much faster. It’s a subtle change, but once your layout aligns with the way you think, the app starts to feel intuitive rather than just functional.

The beauty of this approach is that your workspace becomes your own. You’re not just using Obsidian; you’re arranging it around your thinking patterns, which makes writing, referencing, and connecting ideas a smoother experience.

My Personal Setup

After experimenting with themes, CSS tweaks, and panel arrangements, I’ve settled on a setup that feels comfortable and efficient for me. Here’s what my vault looks like:

• Theme: I use a light theme, which keeps the workspace bright and clean.

• Accent color: I chose a warm orange (#ee7e24) for links, highlights, and active elements; subtle but noticeable, giving the interface a personal touch.

• Custom CSS snippets: I’ve written a few snippets to refine the look and feel. They include:

  • Custom fonts: Roboto for text, Roboto Mono for code.
  • Adjusted line heights for readability.
  • Clean, rounded blockquotes and inline code styling.
  • Code blocks with a light orange border and dark text for better contrast.
  • Table styling and mobile adjustments to keep everything readable across devices.

  Here’s a simplified snippet illustrating my style:

  :root {
      --font-sans: "Roboto", sans-serif;
      --font-mono: "Roboto Mono", monospace;
      --text-color: #333;
      --link-color: #ee7e24;
      --link-hover-color: #b34700;
      --code-color: #24292e;
      --pre-color: #d35400;
  }
  
  body, .markdown-preview-view {
      font-family: var(--font-sans);
      color: var(--text-color);
      line-height: 1.5;
  }
  
  .markdown-preview-view a {
      color: var(--link-color);
      text-decoration: underline;
  }
  
  .markdown-preview-view pre {
      color: var(--pre-color);
      border: 1px solid #ffa500;
      border-radius: 0.5rem;
      font-family: var(--font-mono);
      padding: 1rem;
  }

• Sidebar layout: My left sidebar hosts the Calendar plugin and main folders, while the right sidebar is reserved for project-specific notes or occasional references. I pin panels I use constantly and collapse the rest, keeping the workspace minimal.

• Plugins for style and utility:

  • Calendar for daily notes.
  • Advanced Tables for better table formatting.
  • Excalidraw for quick sketches and diagrams.

Every choice, from theme and accent to CSS tweaks and layout, is intentional. The result is a vault that feels like an extension of my workflow, not just another app I use.

Final Thoughts

Customizing Obsidian isn’t about following a strict set of rules; it’s about shaping a space that feels right for you. From picking a theme and accent color, to rearranging sidebars, applying CSS tweaks, and exploring community plugins, every small adjustment makes the app more personal and more enjoyable to use.

The beauty of Obsidian lies in its flexibility. You can start with a simple setup and gradually layer in style and functionality as you discover what works for your workflow. Over time, these choices create a vault that’s not just a place to store notes, but a space that reflects your thinking, habits, and personality.

My advice? Don’t overthink it. Experiment with themes, move panels around, try a snippet or two, and see what feels natural. The goal is a workspace that helps you focus, write, and connect ideas effortlessly. When your tools feel like an extension of your workflow, the act of taking notes becomes smoother, faster, and more enjoyable; and that’s what makes Obsidian such a powerful platform. Happy customizing!