Often I need to jot down related notes to a task I’m in the middle of need to start taking notes in a meeting and don’t want to break my focus (or leak my notes by opening the vault when screen sharing on work calls).
Proposed solution
Add a ‘New note’ item to the context menu that opens when you right-click the Obsidian icon in macOS dock (and the equivalents for Windows and Linux if possible). This would create a new untitled note file and open it in a new Obsidian window (respecting the Files & Links > Default location for new notes setting).
(This would be a good opportunity to tidy up that context menu functionality as mine is also listing vault folders that I created for testing purposes and have since deleted.)
Current workaround (optional)
Currently I open my Obsidian vault, create a new note from the File menu or via (command + N), right click on the newly created note title in the sidebar, and click ‘Open in a new window’. A surprising amount of friction for something that I do 2-3 times per day!
I had a good look through the forum and couldn’t find a solution for this.
Related feature requests (optional)
This closed topic seems related and I think the proposed solution above would work:
I’m going to close this. Basically because it is overly specific, but general threads exist for this problem. Reasoning and links below. Thanks for understanding!
There are existing threads and at least these FR for quick add (some are mobile-specific).
I’m not sure about suggesting a MacOS workflow using the dock icon. It seems like an overly specific suggestion for a general problem. The important part of your request seems to be that it is in a separate window, so your other notes don’t necessarily need to be exposed.
I think it would be better to lend your support to the general feature request.
And in the meantime, there are also existing workflows and plugins for quick add.
Here is another thread or two with some ideas. Further search ideas to find more: “capture”, “quickadd”, “jot”, “inbox”.
Honestly, opening in a new window would be a ‘nice to have’ and certainly isn’t a deal breaker.
At its core, my request is to trigger the existing Obsidian ‘New note’ function from the macOS dock icon / windows taskbar icon / linux menu icon. In my mind reusing the existing functionality is a quick win (rather than getting bogged down in trying to design a novel capture feature, some of these linked posts are over a year old).
I’ve had a deeper look through the links shared and honestly these other topic threads seem to contain very over complicated solutions that require an other app, custom plugins or scripts that sound like a sticking plaster compared to Right click Obsidian icon → New note.
Ok, I’ve reopened the topic, and renamed it to be more specifically about the dock icon. And tagged it “macos”.
For the other topics, as a general feature request if it was implemented, I’m sure the developers would take it all into account, and design their own system. They wouldn’t necessarily implement the prescribed ideas verbatim. Some of those are just workaround suggestions.
Fair enough, thank you for reopening and take your point that I’ve given too much detail verbatim here. I fully support the discretion of the developers to design their own system or ignore this request completely.
I also realised today that @vwv summarised it better than me but I missed this post in the noise of the other topic so want to give them full acknolwedgement:
Re: cross platform applicability:
For what it is worth I think this feature would work just as well on Windows and Linux desktops by right clicking the taskbar icon – I just happened to be on a Mac when writing this post I’m not able to edit my own posts but I’m happy for a mod or admin to update this request to make it applicable to all operating systems if it is technically feasible.
Above all thank you for making the app and supporting the community of users
It appears that on Windows (JumpList), Linux (Desktop Launcher Actions), and macOS (Dock menu) that this should be technically possible:
I have no experience with writing Obsidian plugins – does anyone know if they are limited to what is exposed by the Obsidian API or whether you can invoke Electron functionality directly? Will try and find some time in the next few weeks to experiment. @phibr0, do you know given your experience with the obsidian-commander plugin?
Love the idea of being able to start a new note right from the dock-icon! Please consider. Thanks to the OP and to the moderator for re-opening the request.
I’ve managed to get this working on macOS as a plug-in
For now anyone who is happy to test and share feedback can manually make a .obsidian/plugins/quicknote folder and add the manifest.json and main.js files from the repository linked below that folder.
Later this week I will look at what it takes to publish a release that can be submitted to the community directory.
I don’t have reliable access to a Windows or desktop Linux machine for testing so any help with the to-do items would be warmly received.
I’m not able to edit my own posts but I’m happy for a mod or admin to update this request to make it applicable to all operating systems if it is technically feasible.
