Unlink an Incorrectly Linked Note

[hannahbelle]

What I’m trying to do

I was trying to figure out how to “Unlink” a note with a quick right click and select a context menu, but after reading some posts it appears there is no “Unlink” really and certainly not a context menu for anything like it. So I found another post about it but it was posted 3 years ago. If a mod would like to remove it from there please do.

So here is my post, edited a bit, and maybe this falls in the feature request category moreso but I am still learning. please bear with me…

I am super-lost on this. I keep seeing the term unlinked mention but i mean what i did was not really a mention, but a word in a sentence meant to link directly to a note, followed by another word meant to link to another note. I havent been able to find any more topics really dealing with “unlinking” except the one from 3 years ago which no one has replied to, in this context and there is no command in the palette to do so, and I havent seen any kind of menu option to “unlink” the selected text. Imagine this scenario…

Say I have a note (file) named “CheatCodesForThePlumberGame.md” (for the sake of brevity file1), and I am working on a file called “CheatCodesForTheFigthingGame.md” (for the sake of brevity file2) and inside of file2 I accidentally make a link to file1…ACCIDENTALLY, but I dont really realize it till a week from now. So I select the link and right click, but there is no “Unlink”. I look in the ellipses menu and there is no “unlink”. I look in the command palette and there is nothing resembling “unlink” or “remove link”. You’re saying I have to manually change the link in the text(code) on file2 (by removing[manually editing] the markdown that makes it a link) and that there is no command or menu option to do this easily? This can stop a person dead in their tracks and could hinder productivity big-time. It stopped me dead in my tracks and I fell behind in my notetaking task, because I was expecting to find a shortcut, or a menu item, or at least a command SOMEWHERE. I mean if I need to break the link, then I need to break the link. Am I missing something? If there is not something to do this already, then I think there should be a command and a context menu item perhaps named “Hard-Break Link” or something along those lines, that would completely unlink from the file it was linked to, perhaps with a confirmation. If file1 has no other links to file2, then my wish to sever the link should be honored and a command, and a menu option should be provided to do so, IMHO. ESPECIALLY on my local vault. Please, if I am missing something, please tell me. If I’m wrong, I’ll say I’m wrong…It just seems like for all the efficiency gained, this just slows the process down and can get someone out of their groove really fast.

Take me for example…I was in the middle of making notes, and after not finding the option in the program anywhere, came to the forum, searched unsuccessfully, then had to make a forum account and then type this entire post. However, if the command, or the option would have existed, and/or it was easily accessible I wouldn’t have wasted 45 minutes, and you wouldn’t have wasted any of your minutes reading my post! Hahahah. Please dont take this paragraph the wrong way…its meant to be funny, not condescending in any way shape or form…The solution has probably been staring me in the face the whole time. Looking forward to some guidance on this. Thanks in advance !!!

Hannah

Things I have tried

• Reading forum posts on how to do this.
• Looked in command palette
• Looked in context menu
• searched the internet
• replied to a 3 year old post but had no reply in weeks

[CawlinTeffid]

Yes, to remove a link you have to manually delete the brackets. I don’t think this is a hardship for most people — I would guess that people remove links far less often than they add them. I’d also guess they probably notice accidental links immediately and so can use Undo to remove them. But I agree it would make sense to have a “Remove link” or “Unlink” command. There might already be a feature request you can upvote; if not, you can post one.

An “unlinked mention” is just a word or phrase that matches the name of a note and hasn’t been marked as a link. You can view them in the Backlinks tab where they have their own little section.

[hannahbelle]

Thank you so much for answering that for me. So my example was really just that an example…What happened was. I was typing notes and I was typing them pretty quickly…Not road runner fast (MEEP-MEEP) but pretty fast. And as most developers having 17 years under their belt, I sort of have my own techniques when it comes to managing a typo, and depending on certain factors, i would use a command with my hands never leaving the keyboard, or sometimes i may opt to use the mouse…and yet other times i may be working on mu surface laptop and need to use the built in touchpad. Its just hard to believe that there is nothing available in any of those flavors that I have been able to find. And its hard to change your style after youve taken 45 laps around the sun, in the same chair for 17 years. I really love the way that the editor handles making notes. All other note taking apps just fall short…Perhaps a little research into the plugins might help and something can possibly be done via a plugin…to keep one from having to break their momentum to manually remove brackets. I haven looked into plugins at all yet but had planned on doing a deep dive after i became comfortable with the app. Anyway MANY THANKS!

-Hannah

[rigmarole]

I haven’t found an open feature request. But I found this open plugin idea. Delete matching bracket/link to easily remove link?

Also there is this help thread which suggests the “Text Format” plugin, which does have a command for removing links. I’ve never tried the plugin myself:

• Remove WikiLinks format in selection
• Remove URL links format in selection
• Convert URL links to WikiLinks in selection

But in terms of typoing to the wrong note, this wouldn’t change the name. It would remove the brackets (I guess), and leave the incorrect name. In which case, you might actually be wishing for a way to quickly edit the text inside a link?

[holroy]

I don’t have one readily available, but it shouldn’t be too hard to make some command/template to do the unlink for you. Definitively not if you could preselect the link before triggering the template, as then you could just replace the selection with the modified selection content.

(Update: And just as I posted this answer, rigmarole post another answer showcasing how the Text Format plugin does just that… )

[gino_m]

Or install Editing Toolbar on which – among others – there is a Clear Text Formatting icon, which strips all kinds of formatting: square brackets, asterisks for italics and bold, etc.

[gino_m]

Seems like in the next public update there will be a built-in clear formatting option as well.
Otherwise the toolbar is good to have on board.