# Sidebar

Obsidian has two sidebars: a left sidebar and a right sidebar. Sidebars hold tabs created by plugins, such as Backlinks, Outgoing links, and the File explorer. On desktop, you can also drag notes into the sidebar to keep them visible alongside your main editor.

On desktop and larger tablets, the left sidebar includes the Ribbon. On mobile and smaller tablets, the sidebars are collapsed by default.

# Open hidden sidebars

# Desktop and larger tablets

On desktop and larger tablets, open a collapsed sidebar by selecting the left expand ( ) or right expand ( ) icon.

# Mobile and smaller tablets

On mobile and smaller tablets, you can open hidden sidebars in the following ways:

• Swipe left or right
• Select the left expand ( ) icon (left sidebar only)
• Use the Toggle left or Toggle right Command palette options.

# Tabs

By default, plugins create new tabs instead of new Tab groups.

You can switch between tabs by selecting on the icon. A tooltip appears to help you identify tabs.

In each pane, you can only see one tab at any given moment. Some actions automatically bring a tab into view. For example, when you select a tag, its tab opens.

# Open or reopen tabs

There are several ways to add tabs to your sidebars:

• Enable a plugin: Many plugins automatically create sidebar tabs when enabled. Go to Settings → Community plugins (or Core plugins) and enable the plugin for the tab you want.
• Run a command: Use the Command palette to search for commands that open specific tabs. For example, search for "Backlinks" or "Outgoing links" to open those tabs.
• Drag a note (desktop only): On desktop, you can drag a note from the File explorer or from an editor tab into the sidebar to open it there.

If you've closed a tab and want to get it back, these same methods will reopen it.

# Close tabs

Some tabs can be closed via the right-click menu, while others cannot. If you don't want to see a tab that can't be closed, consider disabling the relevant plugin or collapsing the sidebar by selecting the arrow icon.

# Rearrange tabs

You can drag and drop tab icons to rearrange them within a group of tabs.

On desktop, you can also drag tabs from the sidebar into the main editor area to open them there.

# Pin tabs

You can pin a tab in the sidebar to control how it updates when you interact with other parts of the app.

To pin or unpin a tab to the sidebar, drag the tab over to or from the sidebar.

The behavior of a pinned tab within the sidebar depends on its content type:

• Notes and Bases: A pinned note or base tab stays in place. New notes open as separate tabs in the main editor instead of replacing the pinned tab.
• Panes (like Backlinks or Outgoing links): A pinned pane stays focused on the last selected note. Selecting a different note does not update the pinned pane.

For information about pinning tabs in the main editor, see Pin a tab.

# Tab groups

You can have multiple tab groups in the sidebar.

# Create tab groups

To create a new tab group, drag the icon of a tab above or below a current tab group. The highlighted area indicates where the new tab group will be created.

# Close tab groups

To close a tab group, you can close all tabs in it, or drag all tabs in the group by their icons and drop them into existing tab groups.

When only the tab area of a tab group is highlighted, the tab being dragged will merge with other tabs in that group.