## What's [[obsidian-playbook/Using Obsidian/02 Making Notes in Obsidian/Markdown|Markdown]]? Markdown is a markup language for writing and applying basic formatting to text. Markdown files end in the extension `.md` and can be opened by all text editors (such as Notepad++, VSCode, Atom, Sublime Text). In Obsidian, all notes are saved in Markdown format. Markdown is great for letting you format text without disrupting your writing flow, but it also means that you'll need to remember some symbols and syntax to do things like: - make headings - bolden, italicize, strikethrough, or highlight text - create external links to webpages - embed images - create tables Here's an example of what Markdown might look like: `# This is a heading` However, you wouldn't want the `#` or other Markdown-specific symbols to be shown in your notes, so Obsidian renders text in Markdown: it looks at the symbols you've typed and understands from them how you want the text displayed, and then displays the text the way you specified. Obsidian does this by default in [[Views in Obsidian#Live Preview]]. Check out the [[obsidian-playbook/Using Obsidian/02 Making Notes in Obsidian/Markdown]] to see everything you can do with Markdown in Obsidian. ## What about themes? You can do some things with Markdown, but you can't use it to change things like: - the colours used for headings, formatted text, and the Editor - how UI elements like windows, tabs, buttons are displayed - margins used Instead, you can use [[Themes]] to further change how things look. ### Dark mode vs. light mode One drastic way you can change the way your Obsidian vault looks is by choosing whether you want to use dark mode or light mode. Dark mode applies a theme to your Obsidian vault that uses darker colors like black or gray for the background, and lighter colors for the text. Light mode is the reverse: it uses colors like white or cream for the background, and darker colors for the text. Each theme interprets these "modes" differently, so you can play around with what works for you. ### Community themes The default Obsidian theme is minimalist and functional, but if you'd like a theme that shows more of your personality, you can download community themes and enable them. Each theme determines how each element is displayed, and what it means to switch from dark mode to light mode or vice versa. Finding a theme you enjoy, and changing it when you're ready for something new, keeps things fresh! You should enjoy the way your note-taking tool looks.