Obsidian Aliases

Canonical version: Obsidian Aliases.

Aliases give a note alternative names. They are defined in the note's frontmatter (see Obsidian Properties) and picked up everywhere Obsidian resolves names: wikilink autocomplete, the Obsidian Quick Switcher, and unlinked mentions.

---
aliases:
  - PKM
  - Personal Knowledge Management
---

Linking via an alias produces **Alias** automatically, so the link reads naturally while still pointing at the canonical note.

When aliases earn their place

• Acronyms: PKM for "Personal Knowledge Management"
• Alternate spellings and translations: Zettelkasten / slip-box
• Singular/plural variants so mid-sentence links read well
• Suffixed filenames: when a naming convention adds a suffix (e.g., Some Tool (Article)), add the bare name as an alias so **Some Tool** still resolves. This is how I keep wikilinks clean in this vault despite type suffixes.
• Old titles after a rename, so external references and muscle memory keep working

Good to know

• Aliases only resolve inside Obsidian; external tools that parse raw Markdown see the canonical name.
• Too many aliases pollute autocomplete. Add the ones you'll actually type, not every conceivable synonym.

References

• Aliases: https://help.obsidian.md/Linking+notes+and+files/Aliases

Related

• Obsidian
• Obsidian Properties
• Obsidian Wikilinks
• Obsidian Quick Switcher
• Obsidian Unlinked Mentions

About Sébastien

Ready to get to the next level?