Enable use of hidden files and folders starting with a dot /dotfiles/.dotfolders within Obsidian

Use case or problem

Simply put, I think obsidian could benefit from being able to:

  1. Show/Hide hidden files.
  2. Allow you to use hidden files as part of vault settings/configuration.

A use case for the first point is to show/hide “meta” files e.g. .templates.

A use case for the second point setting is settings attachments folder as .attachments. This in particular case would also be helpful for compatibility with azure wikis which uses .attachments and unfortunately can’t be changed.

Obsidian is actually a really great app for making markdown wikis, with the following plugins: AidenLx’s folder note & Dynamic Table of contents you can match 1:1 azure’s wiki features/settings. The only thing missing is using .attachments.

Also files that make reference to files inside folders e.g. the .attachments folder, show up as non existent in the preview mode.

Proposed solution

Make obsidian play nice with hidden files by adding a hotkey/command pallete option to show and hide them and be able to use them as part of settings. Permanently hiding the .obsidian folder might be a good idea still to prevent people from accidentally deleting their vault’s configuration.

Current workaround (optional)

For the second use case specifically, we’ve got both a .attachments and a _attachments folder in our wiki, which is often questioned.

22 Likes

Use case or problem

We can see the extension of file with a text icon(like “.png” etc.) after enable “detect all type files”, but we still can’t see the “hidden file” which is just used “extension” part as its name starts with ., can you provide a way to see them like VSCode does? Thanks!

I also vote for that. I would like to be able to see files with leading dots

1 Like

“Azure DevIps” is a popular enterprise tool for creating wikis. It stores attachments in the directory called .attachments. Since Obsidian doesn’t see files from hidden directories, pictures from such wikis fail to load when opened in Obsidian.

4 Likes

Similar to @yplvivua’s case, .github/ is a common convention as a location for storage of assets.

Upvote from me too! I would love to be able to edit my Azure DevOps Wiki with proper support for its .attachments folder

2 Likes

HUGE Upvote! I do not need to see the attachments folder in the files list and would much prefer to move everything to a hidden folder that can be linked to.

2 Likes

1000 Upvotes! Obsidian team, please enable linking files from hidden folders such as .image .md .pdf etc. I really don’t want to see attachment folders in the explorer tree since it’s just unnecessary clutter.

2 Likes

I would definitely second that. .github is so important.

2 Likes

+1 need show/hide dotfiles option

Anyone knows how to show .obsidian folder in Obsidian App?

1 Like

Upvote! Please enable .attachments usage for images link. Full support of Azure DevOps Wikis will be great.

2 Likes

Emphatic upvote. I have markdown files created by another application in a .folder that I simply can’t edit with Obsidian.

It seems like Obsidian made a fixed design decision to treat all dot files as non-existent in their system. I find this very limiting like others.

I noticed there is an option called “Exclude files” in the settings. My suggestion is to extend this feature into something like a white/black list, perhaps with dot files blacklisted by default so that the behavior does not change for existing users, but an advanced user can go in and remove dot files from the blacklist if they want to, or just whitelist certain dot files like .folder or .github. What do you think?

I actually planned to buy obsidian licenses for my team, to use it as a markdown editor and maintain project documentation and such.
Glad i tried opening the wiki before i spend the moneys.

Please fix this. thx.

I have the same need so I have just created a plugin as a temporary solution: GitHub - polyipseity/obsidian-show-dotfiles: Show dotfiles in Obsidian.

After enabling it, restart Obsidian. Dotfiles and folders should appear (except for .obsidian).

You can install it using BRAT for now as it is not in the community plugins yet.

2 Likes

Most file systems have the ability to hide files/folders without renaming them to use the dot prefix, so you could use that mechanism for the .obsidian folder and then give us a configurable option to make all other dot-prefixed files visible or not.

Use case or problem

Obsidian allows you to set an attachment folder as a sub-folder of the current file. However, these folders are not auto-created and you cannot name them with a dot (.) as the first character, such as “.media”

The workflow right now is:

  • manually create the folder name such that it matches the name set in the files settings
  • drag a file into the editor

If you don’t manually create the attachments dir under the file you’re editing, the attachment lands in the same folder as the document. If you have the folder name set to something that starts with a dot, then you can’t attach files at all, it just silently fails.

The workflow should be:

  • drag a file into the editor
  • Obsidian creates the attachment folder if it doesn’t exist and places the file there

Proposed solution

Keep the existing settings, but when you drag a file into the editor, create the attachments directory if it doesn’t already exist.

Current workaround (optional)

Manual steps listed above. If you mis-spell the folder you manually created nothing will land there.

6 Likes

Creating a .media directory was one of the first things I’ve tried when setting up Obsidian. And it just silently failed :frowning: So I made _media, but I don’t want to see it.

The ideal way how I’d want this to work would be:

  • Store all attachments in a root .media or .attachments folder which is invisible in the default file tree.
  • Have a separate little tab above the file tree (next to search tab) where all attachments are listed.
  • Next to each attachment have a counter of how many files are linking to it.
  • Attachments linked by 0 files are in red.
  • Have a button above the list to delete all unlinked attachments.
3 Likes

+1. Was just trying to create an .attachments folder for “Default location for new attachments” = “In the folder specified below”

My 10 mins trying to figure out attachments:

Tried .attachments - fail
Tried /full/path/to/.attachments - fail
Tried creating the .attachments folder first - fail
Tried “attachments” - fail
Tried creating “attachments” folder first - win