Obsidian’s Daily Notes core plugin creates the file for today. A few other plugins make that file more useful: Calendar helps you navigate between days, Templates gives every note a consistent structure, Natural Language Dates Redux links dates to daily notes, Text expand can surface related notes, and Day Planner turns timed tasks into a timeline.
These are not the most downloaded plugins. They are selected for Daily Notes workflows. Capture into a chosen note, weekly pages, and meeting notes stay on Obsidian plugins for note taking.
Daily Notes are a core Obsidian plugin
Before adding anything else, enable Daily Notes under Obsidian’s core plugins.
Daily Notes opens a note based on today’s date, or creates it if it does not exist. You choose where new daily notes are stored, how their filenames are formatted, and which template Obsidian should use when creating them.
A simple setup might look like:
Daily Notes
├── New file location: Daily
├── Date format: YYYY-MM-DD
└── Template file location: Templates/Daily NoteThe plugins below sit on top of that setup.
5 plugins for Daily Notes
| Plugin | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Calendar | Navigate to and create daily notes from a calendar. |
| Templates | Give every daily note the same structure. |
| Natural Language Dates Redux | Turn phrases such as “tomorrow” into links to dates and daily notes. |
| Text expand | Pull related vault search results into today’s note. |
| Day Planner | Turn timed tasks in a daily note into a visual timeline. |
Templates is a core plugin, like Daily Notes. Calendar, Natural Language Dates Redux, Text expand, and Day Planner are community plugins. Calendar reads your Daily Notes settings; it is not built into Obsidian.
1. Calendar
Calendar adds a calendar view for navigating Daily Notes.
It reads your Daily Notes settings for the date format, template location, and location for new daily notes. Click a day to open its note. Click a day without a note to create one using your current Daily Note template.
This is useful when Daily Notes have become a history of work rather than something you only open today. You can jump back to:
September 26 → today’s note
September 25 → yesterday
September 18 → last week’s notes
September 1 → beginning of the monthCalendar also shows how much you have written on each day, which makes it easier to scan a journal or writing history.
The limitation: Calendar does not change what happens inside the daily note. It solves navigation and creation.
If you use weekly notes as well, Calendar can provide a weekly layer. Weekly notes are a separate workflow from the core Daily Notes plugin; Periodic Notes covers that on the note taking list.
2. Templates
Templates is a core Obsidian plugin rather than a community plugin.
For Daily Notes, its job is simple: start each new day with the same structure.
# {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
## Inbox
-
## Tasks
- [ ]
## Notes
-
## Reflection
-Obsidian’s Daily Notes plugin can use a template file whenever it creates a new daily note. The Templates core plugin supports variables such as {{date}}, {{time}}, and {{title}}.
Keep the template small enough that you will actually use it. A Daily Note does not need to become a second project-management application. A few headings that match the things you regularly write are more useful than a huge template full of sections you skip. Copy-paste examples for journaling, planning, tasks, and mobile capture are in Obsidian daily note templates.
The limitation: core Templates is designed for straightforward insertion. A fixed template can insert today’s date. It cannot compute yesterday or tomorrow from the filename. If you need that, Templater is on the download ranking.
3. Natural Language Dates Redux
Natural Language Dates Redux is useful when Daily Notes are connected to other days.
Instead of typing a date and turning it into a wikilink by hand, you can use natural language such as:
@today
@tomorrow
@next Fridayand turn the date into a link to the corresponding daily note. The plugin also provides a date picker and an Obsidian URI action for opening daily notes using natural-language dates.
This becomes useful when writing something like:
## Follow-up
Continue this tomorrow.
Review the discussion from @yesterday.
Check the plan again next Friday.The dates become navigable links rather than plain text.
The limitation: natural-language dates still need to be interpreted correctly. If a phrase is ambiguous or is not recognized, the plugin will not create the link.
Set Linked date folder and the date format so they match how Daily Notes are stored. A mismatch creates a link that does not open today’s file. Install from Community plugins by searching Natural Language Dates Redux.
What happened to Natural Language Dates?
The original Natural Language Dates plugin is now listed in the Obsidian Community Archive. Natural Language Dates Redux is a separately maintained continuation with current releases and additional features.
4. Text expand
Text expand is useful when you want the Daily Note to contain a snapshot of related notes from the vault.
Put a search block in the Daily Note template:
```expander
tag:#waiting
- [[$filename]]
```Run the plugin’s expand command to search the vault and write the matching results into the note. That can be useful for a daily review:
## Waiting for
- [[Project A]]
- [[Client B]]
- [[Invoice C]]Instead of starting every morning by searching the vault for everything you are waiting on, the Daily Note can surface those notes.
This is a snapshot, not a continuously updating query.
The limitation: once the results have been expanded into the note, they do not automatically change when the vault changes. Run the expansion again when you want a fresh result. That makes Text expand useful for a point-in-time view inside a Daily Note, not a replacement for live Dataview queries.
5. Day Planner
Day Planner turns timed tasks from the Daily Note into blocks on a visual timeline.
- [ ] 10:00 - 10:30 Review inbox
- [ ] 11:00 - 12:30 Write
- [ ] 14:00 - 15:00 Client callDay Planner can read these tasks from Daily Notes and display them on a timeline. It also integrates with the Tasks plugin and online calendars.
This changes the role of the Daily Note slightly. Instead of only recording what happened, it can become a place to plan what you are going to do.
Open Show Timeline from the command palette or the Day Planner interface to see the scheduled blocks.
The limitation: a task without a time is not automatically a time block.
- [ ] Reply to emailis just a task.
- [ ] 10:00 - 10:30 Reply to emailgives Day Planner the information it needs to put that task on the timeline. Day Planner is more useful if you already like putting time-specific tasks directly into Daily Notes.
How these plugins fit together
These plugins solve different Daily Note problems:
- Calendar helps you navigate through your days.
- Templates gives each day a consistent starting point.
- Natural Language Dates Redux connects today’s note with other dates.
- Text expand brings related vault information into the day’s note.
- Day Planner turns timed tasks into a schedule.
You do not need all five.
A simple setup might only need:
Daily Notes
↓
Templates
↓
CalendarA more structured workflow might look like:
Daily Notes
├── Templates
├── Calendar
├── Natural Language Dates Redux
├── Text expand
└── Day PlannerStart with the problem you are actually trying to solve rather than installing every plugin at once.
What about capturing into today’s Daily Note?
The plugins above mostly assume that the vault is already open.
That is a different problem from capturing something into the Daily Note in the first place.
You might have an idea while using another app and want to send it directly to today’s note from your iPhone. You might want to use the Lock Screen, Action Button, Siri, or a Shortcut rather than opening Obsidian and navigating to today’s file.
If you only need to open today’s note and type, Obsidian’s own mobile shortcuts and widgets may be enough. If you want to capture something directly into a specific part of the Daily Note without waiting for Obsidian to open, Obsidian capture covers the broader options.
For a more direct capture workflow, Quick Capture can send text, voice, and photos into today’s Daily Note without opening Obsidian, including under a heading you choose.
The distinction is simple:
Daily Note plugins help you work with today’s note. Quick Capture helps you get something into it.
FAQ
What is the Obsidian Daily Notes plugin? Daily Notes is a core Obsidian plugin, not a community plugin. It opens a note based on the current date or creates one if it does not exist. You can configure its folder, date format, and template. Community plugins such as Calendar, Natural Language Dates Redux, and Day Planner extend what you can do with those notes.
Which plugins should I install first for Daily Notes? Start with the Daily Notes and Templates core plugins. Add Calendar if you want an easier way to navigate previous and future days. Add Natural Language Dates Redux if you frequently link one day to another. Add Text expand if you want to bring search results into your daily review. Add Day Planner if you plan your day using timed tasks.
Do I need a plugin for Daily Note templates? No. Obsidian’s core Templates plugin can provide a fixed structure for new Daily Notes, and Daily Notes can use that template when creating a new file. You only need a community plugin when the template requires functionality beyond the built-in variables.
Is Calendar required for Obsidian Daily Notes? No. Daily Notes works without Calendar. Calendar is useful if you want a visual way to navigate, open, or create daily notes across the vault.
Can I use Daily Notes on iPhone? Yes. Daily Notes is available on mobile, and the core plugin can create and open daily notes there. The bigger question is how you want to capture into those notes. If you want to capture something without opening Obsidian first, a Shortcut or dedicated capture tool can provide a different workflow.
How do I capture into my Obsidian Daily Note from iPhone? If you only need to open today’s note and type, an Obsidian Shortcut or widget may be enough. If you want to send a thought directly into today’s note — especially under a particular heading — a dedicated capture workflow can save several steps. Quick Capture is designed for this: text, voice, or photos go to the Daily Note without waiting for Obsidian to open.
Conclusion
You do not need a collection of Daily Note plugins to make the workflow work.
Start with Daily Notes + a small template. Add Calendar when navigating your history becomes annoying. Add Natural Language Dates Redux when you start linking days together. Use Text expand when you want to bring related notes into your daily review, and Day Planner when you want your Daily Note to double as a schedule.
The plugins solve what happens inside and around the Daily Note.
If the friction happens before you even open Obsidian — when an idea appears on your phone and you want it in today’s note immediately — that is a capture problem.
Try the Quick Capture iOS app to send text, voice, and images into today’s Daily Note without opening Obsidian.