Clicking in the margins of the edit pane should allow editing to start or continue

Feature requests
1

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Steps to reproduce

Clicking within the left and right margin of an editor pane disables editing within the pane.
If the editor pane has the focus and the insertion caret is blinking, the caret disappears and typing text doesn’t do anything.

If multiple editor panes are open, clicking on the margin of a non-focused pane will shift the focus to that pane, but doesn’t enable editing until the user clicks again within the body of the note.

Expected result

The margin is desirable (though I prefer a small one) but isn’t usable, other than for selecting the pane. Logically, clicking on it should enable the user to immediately start typing (or allow interactions with the editor if Vim key bindings are enabled).

Minimally, pressing the ESC key should allow the user to interact with the note via the keyboard.

Actual result

The insertion caret disappears.
If Vim key bindings are enabled, the Vim block cursor stops blinking.

All keyboard interactions with the editor pane are disabled.

Environment

  • Operating system:
  • Debug info:
    SYSTEM INFO:
    Obsidian version: v0.15.9
    Installer version: v0.15.6
    Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19043
    Login status: logged in
    Catalyst license: supporter
    Insider build toggle: on
    Live preview: on
    Legacy editor: off
    Base theme: dark
    Community theme: Vileplume
    Snippets enabled: 2
    Restricted mode: off
    Plugins installed: 27
    Plugins enabled: 26
    1: Relative Line Numbers v2.0.1
    2: Dataview v0.5.41
    3: Outliner v2.3.0
    4: Emoji Toolbar v0.3.1
    5: Core Search Assistant v0.9.1
    6: Vault Statistics v0.1.0
    7: Search Everywhere v1.0.10
    8: Quick Switcher++ v2.0.4
    9: Pandoc Plugin v0.2.5
    10: Advanced Tables v0.17.3
    11: koncham workspace v0.0.3
    12: Workspaces Plus v0.3.2
    13: Recent Files v1.3.3
    14: Show Current File Path v0.5.2
    15: Tag Wrangler v0.5.3
    16: Templater v1.12.0
    17: Dictionary v2.21.1
    18: Periodic Notes v0.0.17
    19: Calendar v1.5.10
    20: Natural Language Dates v0.6.1
    21: QuickAdd v0.5.5
    22: Sliding Panes (Andy’s Mode) v3.3.0
    23: Creases v0.6.5
    24: Filename Heading Sync v1.7.0
    25: Pane Relief v0.2.7
    26: Quick Explorer v0.1.38

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Additional information

4 Likes
2

I agree, however, this is more a FR. Moved to FR.

3

Use case or problem

I often am slowed down by having to click just at the beginning of a line to place cursor there.

Proposed solution

If clicking a good bit to the left of the beginning of the line would add the cursor at the beginning of the line, life would be easier. I am basically asking to extend the region of error.

1 Like
4

In the editor window, if I want to click at the start of a line I have to be accurate in the placement of the cursor.

In many word processors you can click in the left margin and it will move the caret to the start of the relevant line.

It is a minor annoyance, but, for me, this would be a great usability improvement.

5 Likes
5

Definitely agree. Made this very similar request here: Clicking to left of beginning of line should place cursor there

Thanks.

6

I have turned off “Readable line length” and added to the CSS:

.CodeMirror-lines,
.CodeMirror-selected,
.markdown-preview-section {
    max-width: 620px;
    max-width: 65ch;
    margin: 0 auto;
}

I can click in the margin to get what you want. :smiley:

EDIT:
Okay. It’ll work until outside the blue screen.

image
image992×876 64.2 KB

2 Likes
7

Sounds great. What file do I add the CSS to?

8

Use case or problem

I often would like to bring the cursor to the left-most part of a line by clicking.
This only works when I click precisely onto the first character.
if I click even a bit left, the click won’t be recognized as such.
If the first word happens to be a link, it is impossible to place the cursor there without triggering the link action.

Proposed solution

Make the space left of the beginning of the line clickable, similar to MS Word or other text editors. A few millimetres would suffice.

Video of the behavior:

7 Likes
9

I definitely agree. There is another thread that you may be interested in here: Clicking in the margins of the edit pane doesn't enable editing

Thanks!

2 Likes
10

This is my current largest point of friction compared to google docs.

Google docs allows me to click the margin to select the start of the line. Obsidian does not.

Just found this thread a year and a month after the last post.

11

Another negative effect of the current setup: On iOS when using the long-press spacebar trackpad to move the cursor, hitting the edge of the active editing area (which is right at the edge of the text) can cause jarring effects like suddenly scrolling up.

1 Like
12

I agree with what’s being said here and I urge the developers to consider updating Obsidian to make the margins clickable. I like many of the features of the app, but I do this a lot and just working earlier today I have probably tried and failed to focus the beginning of the line by clicking to the left of it.
It’s especially annoying if I have a checkbox or link or something else clickable at the beginning of the line and the only way to actually put my cursor there is to click somewhere else and use my arrow keys (or maybe home) to navigate to the beginning of the line.
It’s not something that will make me stop using the app (I think) but I would consider it a bug, because if clicking it is supposed to lose focus on the cursor, there is another issue here saying how it doesn’t put the markdown into reading view.
I would say either choose one or the other, but I think it’s a little unintuitive to lose focus because all word processors I have used do focus on the beginning of the line in this situation.

13

This is what I mean
InShot_20250326_210500178

1 Like
14

Rephrased title to describe the requested solution instead of the problem it solves (was “Clicking in the margins of the edit pane doesn’t enable editing”).

1 Like