Previous/next daily note only works in specified directory

Steps to reproduce

  • Start with an empty repro vault.
  • Set the daily folder to “/daily/”,
  • Make a note in another folder, “/daily/2026/01/2026-01-01.md” and
  • notes in the daily folder, “/daily/2026-01-02.md” and “/daily/2026-01-03.md”
    Going between 02 and 03 works, but 01 doesn’t.

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? Y

Expected result

I expect previous/next daily note navigation to find notes filed in other directories. (Actually, I expect it to work even if it’s not in a sub-directory of the daily directory, but to prefer that if there is a name clash.)

Actual result

“There is no daily note before this one”

Environment

Reproduced on both Linux and Mac


Additional information

This is clearly a logic issue, or a disagreement on what is the appropriate behavior, not some typo or off-by-one error. If you say that this is the intended behavior, I’ll understand, because it’s not completely craze, but I’ll be very disappointed, because it’s very inconvenient, and feels clearly wrong.

What are your settings for Date Format and Custom Format (if applicable) in Daily Note settings? That, alongside the New File Location setting, determine what Obsidian considers to be a daily note.

You need to consolidate to a single format, you have two, YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD and YYYY-MM-DD.

can you take a screenshot of your daily notes settings?

I think you’re not getting it. It’s not a mistake with the formats, it’s that I keep one level in e.g. /daily and when I’ve cleaned them up, processed them, whatever, I move them into a more permanent place, formatted as /daily/YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD.md. (From my perspective, it could just as easily be/archived/YYYY/YYYY-MM-DD.md)

Arguably, it’s no longer a “daily note”, if I move if from the daily notes folder, except, of course, what else would it be? Your code is expecting (date -1 day) in exactly the place where that would be if you created it now, and I expect to be able to put it wherever. After all, it works if make a plain link, e.g. [[2026-01-01]].

Looking at the Daily notes settings, the only suggested Date format that is problematic is YYYY/MM/DD.md since the file will actually just be called DD.md. (Yes, you can also shoot yourself in the foot with a custom format, I guess.)

I think an algorithm that could work is to look at the format back to front and stop when you’ve seen all of YYYY, MM, DD in any order, and use that format to resolve the date reference.

Anyway, it’s an irritation, and if I’m not completely confused, it used to work.

ok, now I think I understand. Even though you didn’t provide a screenshot of your settings.

And to answer your question. Yes, Previous/next daily note only works within the specified directory/matching a pattern.

You can open a Feature Request for this.

Ok, thanks. I guess I could dig up an old version.