Don't save blank "untitled" file

Feature requests
1

I do not know which category this falls in, but I’m posting it here.

Use case or problem

In my case, many times it so happens that the file I’m trying to create already exists. So obsidian just creates an “untitled” named file and saves it.

Such a file should not get saved unless the title has been manually set or some content is added in the file.

This is important to me as I like to keep my directory clean, with no unnecessary files.

Proposed solution

Don’t save such file.
Or provide an option in setting regarding what should happen in such case.

Current workaround (optional)

Search and then delete the file. (irritating when there are too many files and folders and one has to search the file).

Related feature requests (optional)

24 Likes
2

this is strange, how are you creating this new repeated files?

Usually obsidian would show you a warning saying, this file already exists.

Are you trying to name files with similar titles on purpose, or is it an accident that often happens?

Perhaps I’m missing something, feel free to include screenshot or anything to elaborate a bit more, to see how we can help

2 Likes
3

this is strange, how are you creating this new repeated files?

Right click on folder and create “new note”

Are you trying to name files with similar titles on purpose, or is it an accident that often happens?

Accident.

@santi I’ll try to give some more information.

I started using obsidian recently and many files have only titles and some/no content. So I sometimes forget that such files exist and instead of searching whether they do, I just default to creating new note.

So I right click folder, create new note, add title and obsidian says such a file exist. So I cmd+o to open the file. However, a untitled file gets created in that folder.

Not that I mention it, it is partially my fault, but still obsidian should be smart enough not to save such file or ask user what to do.

1 Like
4

Got you, okay so what I’d recommend is to create files in a slightly different way.

If you do cmd+o you can start typing the name of your file.

That way you can see if that file already exists.

If it already exists you can access it with enter.

If it doesnt exists you can click shift+enter that will create a new file and ignore the suggestions.

For folders

I can see you work with folders, so if you want to create a note inside an specific folder you can do that after clicking cmd+o bt writing the folder name and the slash symbol /

example

After doing cmd+o you would write:
folder1/new note

That puts you inside that folder, where you can both search, or create new notes in there.

Now that new note is created in that folder, or if the file already exists then you can simply access it with enter

Hope that helps!

3 Likes
5

After doing cmd+o you would write: folder1/new note

This trick works.

But is regressive if I may say. Because for this, first I have to remember the exact hierarchy of folders with their exact spellings and after doing that, I have to type the entire path (note: there’s no autocomplete functionality for folders which should be a feature in itself. Somethings similar to Alfred can be done – type to search file, add space or " ’ " in the beginning to search folder).

So, I am forced to go back to my previous method of creating file.

1 Like
6

A couple of alternatives:

Create files from links

if you have a lot of folders do:

Settings > File > Default Location For New Notes > Vault folder

this way you can be in a file and create a [[link to create new note]] inside the same folder you are in.

Text exapansion alternative

With this method from my previous reply:

You could use Alfred, Tex Expander, Espanso or any other text expander to quickly write your folder names, making it extremly quick to do.

Personally I only create links from other notes with [[double brackets]] so I don’t have this problem.

My point is that there are a lot of better ways to learn how to organize your notes and create files without any issues.

I would argue that this isn’t an Obsidian issue, but more about finding a better workflow

1 Like
7

Seconding this. Just hit Command - N repeatedly, and end up with a new Untitled file every time (Untitled 1, Untitled 2, …)

Here’s what should happen: if there’s a blank file named Untitled already, and user hits Command - N, just open that existing file!

6 Likes
8

I’m every now and then creating these empty files and they’re cluttering up the list. This would be a welcome addition!

JetBrains IDE’s have handy feature to create scratch files in a dedicated directory. These scratch files had a similar tendency to get piled up with generic file names scratch_1.txt, scratch_2.txt etc.

Recently JetBrains made a change that fixed the issue at least for me. The logic is simple:
When closing a tab with a scratch file, delete it the scratch file if it’s empty. I wish Obsidian worked the same way with untitled files.

1 Like
9

Seconding this - I accrue Untitled files like crazy because I ctrl+n and decide I don’t actually need a new note semi-frequently, and it’s annoying to have to delete them all now and then.

Also I find it really frustrating that for every thread like this where someone brings up a legitimate issue there’s some “expert” coming in and insisting that there’s no issue at all and we just need to change our workflow, usually suggesting some horribly inefficient workaround, forcing users to warp their habits to the design flaws.

Untitled files piling up? Just never ctrl+n, only create notes from links or ctrl-o!
Can’t easily create file in specific folder? Easy, create the file first and move the file with ctrl-p! Or manually type out the path in ctrl-o! Or don’t use folders, use tags instead!
Autofill and auto link updates not working well with capitalization? “Your notes are just for you - do you really need them to be capitalized correctly?”
Default h1 font size obnoxiously large and there’s no setting to change it? Just press # a few more times, or go into the files and write your own css!

I get that there’s limited resources and not every issue can be fixed/feature request realized, but there’s a difference between saying this is likely not high priority and being defensive and dismissive.

2 Likes
10

Seconding this!

11

This is one of Obsidian behavior that I find surprising (a bit janky). Other editors, especially taking inspiration from VSCode, have these following behaviors for untitled/temporary documents

  • Are temporary until explicitly saved as a hidden name (e.g., ~.Untitled-UNIQUE_STR.md.swp) or hidden folder (e.g., .tmp/Untitled-UNIQUE_STR.md)
  • Are autosaved as hidden name or to hidden folder.
  • Explicitly saving the file prompts the user where to save the file.
  • Closing the file prompts the user to save otherwise the file gets deleted.
    • If Obsidian was ever closed without the above prompt, the file may be recovered.
  • More than one untitled file may be open at the same time (e.g., in different tabs)
2 Likes
13

I found a workaround (assuming you use the Ctrl/Cmd+W hotkey to close new tabs) you can configure the “File Cleaner Redux” plugin to run on this same hotkey, and disable its “Preview Deleted Files” setting.

This way, each time you close one of these empty new notes, it will delete all empty notes (including the new one you just closed)

Obsidian doesn’t like you overriding an existing hotkey like this but it works.

That being said, PLEASE consider making this behavior a setting, as I also find myself often making a new untitled note and then closing it.

1 Like