10 Practical Obsidian Template Examples for Daily Notes, Projects & More

The best Obsidian template is the smallest structure you will reuse. Start with the core Templates plugin for fixed Markdown plus {{title}}, {{date}}, and {{time}}. Add Templater only when you need prompts, calculated dates, file moves, or conditional logic. This guide gives you ten copy-paste starting points for daily planning, projects, meetings, research, and review.

Templates reduce repeated setup; they do not replace deciding where a task or piece of knowledge belongs. Keep project decisions in project notes, tasks in a trusted task workflow, and raw capture easy to process.

When project notes, tasks, and templates start to multiply, see Obsibrain’s P.A.R.A. folder structure for one way to organise them around active work.

Core Templates or Templater?

Obsidian’s Templates core plugin inserts a saved note and supports three variables: {{title}}, {{date}}, and {{time}}. Date and time variables accept Moment.js format strings. That is enough for every static example below.

Templater is a community plugin with its own syntax. Use it when a template must calculate yesterday or next week, ask for a value, rename or move a file, or run logic. Community plugins can execute code, so read templates before inserting them into a vault.

Need	Start with	Why
Fixed headings and today’s date	Templates	No extra plugin or code
A daily note created automatically	Templates + Daily notes	The core plugin can apply a template when it creates the note
Yesterday/tomorrow links or date math	Templater	Dates can be calculated from the filename
Prompts, folder rules, or file operations	Templater	It can ask questions and run actions
A durable task and review system	A template plus a workflow	A template structures input; it does not manage priorities for you

Set up a template folder once

1. Enable Settings → Core plugins → Templates.
2. Create a folder such as Templates in your vault.
3. Set Template folder location to that folder.
4. Create a Markdown file for each note type.
5. Insert one with Templates: Insert template from the command palette, or assign a hotkey.

For daily notes, enable the core Daily notes plugin, choose a new-file location, and select a template under Template file location. Obsidian stores note properties as YAML; the official Properties documentation explains the supported types and why property names should stay consistent.

10 practical Obsidian template examples

These examples deliberately use core syntax. Save each block as its own Markdown file in your template folder, then remove sections you will not maintain.

1. Daily note for priorities, capture, and closure

Use this when a daily note needs to guide the day without becoming a second project manager.

---
date: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
tags:
  - daily
---

# {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}

## Top priorities
- [ ] 
- [ ] 
- [ ] 

## Inbox
-

## Notes log
-

## Open loops
- [ ] 

## End-of-day review
- Win:
- Carry forward:
- First move tomorrow:

The three-priority limit is a recommendation, not an Obsidian rule. It keeps the page useful when the day is busy. For a deeper daily-note workflow, see Mastering Obsidian Daily Notes.

2. Weekly review and next-week plan

Use this to turn daily captures into decisions and a short plan.

---
date: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
type: weekly-review
tags:
  - review
---

# Week of {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}

## What moved forward?
-

## Open loops to close
- [ ] 

## Projects needing attention
- [[Project name]] — next action:

## What should I stop, start, or continue?
- Stop:
- Start:
- Continue:

## Next week’s three outcomes
1.
2.
3.

Pair it with the Obsidian weekly review system if you want a repeatable review sequence rather than another page to fill in.

3. Project brief with a clear next action

Use this at project creation. Keep the note about outcome, scope, and the next visible action; put the full task list where you can review it reliably.

---
type: project
status: planning
area:
outcome:
review_date: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
---

# {{title}}

## Outcome

## Definition of done
-

## Next action
- [ ] 

## Milestones
- [ ] 

## Decisions and links
-

## Review notes
### {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
-

The type, status, and review_date properties are useful only if you later search or filter them. If you use PARA, connect this note to the PARA method in Obsidian instead of inventing a second folder system.

4. Meeting notes that produce action items

Use this for a meeting that needs preparation, decisions, and follow-up—not a transcript.

---
type: meeting
date: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
project:
attendees:
  -
---

# {{title}}

## Agenda
-

## Notes
-

## Decisions
-

## Action items
- [ ] Owner — action — due date

## Follow-up
- Next meeting:
- Related notes:

Link project to a project note when the meeting belongs to one. For more meeting-specific structure, see Obsidian Meeting Template.

5. Research or literature note

Use this to separate what a source says from what you think about it.

---
type: source
author:
published:
source_url:
tags:
  - research
---

# {{title}}

## Claim or question

## Summary
-

## Evidence and quotes
-

## My interpretation
-

## Connections
- [[Related note]]

## Follow-up
- [ ] 

Keep the source URL in a property so it is easy to verify later. Do not turn a template into a citation manager; add fields only when they support your actual research process.

6. Book note for active recall

Use this when you want a reading note to produce ideas, not just store a summary.

---
type: book
author:
finished:
rating:
tags:
  - reading
---

# {{title}}

## One-sentence thesis

## Three ideas worth keeping
1.
2.
3.

## Questions
-

## Where could I use this?
-

## Related notes
- [[Related note]]

The empty questions and application sections are intentional: they create a prompt to think, not a requirement to fill every field.

7. Quick capture with a processing decision

Use this when ideas arrive faster than you can classify them.

---
type: capture
created: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} {{time:HH:mm}}"
processed: false
---

# {{title}}

## Capture

## What is this?
- [ ] Task
- [ ] Reference
- [ ] Project idea
- [ ] Someday/maybe

## Next step
-

## Destination
- [[Inbox]]

Process captures during a review. A capture template is useful only when every checkbox leads to a clear destination.

8. Decision record

Use this for choices that future-you will need to understand.

---
type: decision
date: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
status: active
---

# {{title}}

## Context

## Options considered
- Option A:
- Option B:

## Decision

## Why

## Revisit when

## Related project or notes
- [[Project name]]

This is often better than burying a decision in a daily note or meeting transcript. Link it from the project or meeting where it matters.

9. Habit check-in without a giant tracker

Use this when a short daily check-in is enough. A template can provide the prompt; it cannot make a habit meaningful.

---
type: habit-check
date: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
---

# {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}} habit check

| Habit | Done | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sleep routine | [ ] | |
| Movement | [ ] | |
| Focus block | [ ] | |
| Review | [ ] | |

## What helped?
-

## One adjustment
-

For a system that connects habits to planning and reviews, keep the habit note linked to the workflow you already review instead of creating isolated metrics.

10. Content or idea brief

Use this before writing an article, presentation, or other deliverable.

---
type: brief
status: draft
created: "{{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
---

# {{title}}

## Audience and problem

## One-sentence promise

## Evidence or sources
-

## Outline
1.
2.
3.

## Next action
- [ ] 

## Review
- What would make this useful?
- What claim needs checking?

This keeps research, decisions, and the next action visible before the blank page becomes a project.

Common problems and fixes

{{date}} stays in the note

Check that you inserted the file through Templates: Insert template and that the Templates plugin is enabled. If the template contains properties, edit the template in Source mode or quote dynamic values such as date: "{{date}}"; Obsidian warns that the Properties panel can overwrite unquoted template variables.

The daily note is blank

Confirm that the Daily notes plugin is enabled, the template file exists, and Template file location points to that file. The official Daily notes setup applies the selected template the next time a daily note is created.

A core template cannot create yesterday’s note

That is expected. Core Templates inserts static content and today’s built-in variables. Use Templater for date arithmetic, prompts, or file operations, and inspect any JavaScript before running it.

The template has become too large

Remove sections that do not change a decision, capture useful context, or support a review. A small template used every day beats a complete system that feels like paperwork.

A simple maintenance checklist

After using a template for two weeks, ask:

• Which section did I skip every time?
• Which repeated field would make search or review easier?
• Does each task have an owner, destination, or next action?
• Are properties named consistently across notes?
• Does this belong in a project, daily note, meeting, or reference note?

Start with the core plugin. Add Templater when a real repeated action justifies the extra complexity. If you want the planning, task, and review pieces connected in one local-first system, see how Obsibrain works.