How to Sort by Descending Property in Obsidian
Obsidian, a popular and powerful note-taking application, provides a flexible and efficient way to organize your notes. One common task is sorting notes by specific properties. However, sometimes you need to sort in descending order, which isn't immediately obvious. This article will guide you through sorting notes by descending property in Obsidian.
Understanding Properties in Obsidian
Before diving into sorting, let's understand the concept of properties in Obsidian. Properties are key-value pairs that you can attach to your notes. They help you categorize and organize your notes effectively. For example, you could have a property called "Priority" with values like "High", "Medium", or "Low".
Sorting Notes by Properties
Obsidian provides a built-in functionality for sorting notes based on properties. To sort notes:
- Open the "Command Palette": You can access it by pressing
Ctrl+P(Windows/Linux) orCmd+P(macOS). - Type "Sort notes by": This will bring up the sorting options.
- Select the property you want to sort by: For example, choose "Priority" to sort by the "Priority" property.
Sorting in Descending Order
By default, Obsidian sorts notes in ascending order. To sort in descending order, you need to use a small trick:
- Add a "!" prefix to the property name: Instead of simply "Priority", you need to type "!"Priority. This tells Obsidian to sort in descending order.
- Select "!"Priority from the list: Obsidian will now sort your notes by the "Priority" property in descending order, with "High" priority notes appearing at the top.
Example
Imagine you have a list of tasks with a "Due Date" property. You want to see the tasks with the closest deadlines first. Here's how you can sort them in descending order:
- Open the Command Palette (
Ctrl+PorCmd+P). - Type "Sort notes by" and select "!"Due Date".
- Obsidian will now display your tasks with the most recent "Due Date" at the top.
Tips and Tricks
- Sorting Multiple Properties: You can sort by multiple properties by separating them with a comma. For example, "!"Due Date, !Priority" will sort by Due Date in descending order and then by Priority in descending order.
- Sorting by Text: You can also sort by text properties using the same method. For example, "!"Title will sort notes by their title in descending order.
- Sorting within a Folder: You can use the same commands within a specific folder to sort only the notes within that folder.
Conclusion
Sorting by descending property in Obsidian allows you to quickly prioritize and organize your notes. This is especially helpful when working with deadlines, tasks, or any other information that requires you to see the most important items first. By using the "!" prefix, you can easily reverse the sorting order and gain greater control over how your notes are presented.