# Notification
When the reminder time comes, you will be notified of the contents of the reminder.
There are 2 types of reminder notification:
# Builtin notification modal
Built-in notification looks like the following:
When you click the file name(in the above example, TODO.md), the reminder will be muted once, and the file will be opened.
TIP
Muted reminders will be in the reminder list's Overdue section.
If you click Mark as Done, your reminder TODO item will be checked and it will not be shown in the future.
If you click Remind Me Later, you can choose how long you want to postpone the task.
The date and time in the markdown will be updated according to your choice.
The Remind Me Later's option is customizable with Remind Me Later setting.
# Keyboard shortcuts
Because the popup can appear at any time while you're doing something else, it no longer focuses the Done button by default: a keypress you were already mid-typing (like Enter) could otherwise complete a reminder you never actually read. Enable Focus Done button on popup to restore the old behavior.
Instead, the popup supports Alt (Option on macOS) or Ctrl mnemonic shortcuts, which can't fire by accident since they require holding a modifier key:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Alt+D / Ctrl+D | Mark as done |
| Alt+M / Ctrl+M | Mute |
| Alt+S / Ctrl+S | Focus the Remind Me Later (snooze) dropdown, then use the arrow keys to choose an option |
| Alt+O / Ctrl+O | Open the note |
If another app on your system already captures the Option/Alt combination (window managers, launchers), use the Ctrl variant instead.
# Toast style
By default the popup is shown as a small card stacked in the bottom-right corner, which does not take focus or interrupt what you're doing. Set Reminder popup style to Modal (center dialog) to show it instead as a modal dialog centered in the window that takes focus.
Multiple toasts stack when several reminders fire close together. The keyboard shortcuts above only apply to the most recently shown toast (the bottom-most card in the stack); older toasts fall back to the buttons on the card (mouse/touch only), since two toasts both reacting to the same keypress would be confusing.
Because toasts don't take focus, they appear immediately even while you're typing — the Edit Detection Time deferral only applies to the modal style.
# System notification
Instead of built-in notification, a system notification is also available by setting.
- If you click the notification, the built-in notification will be displayed in the Obsidian app, unless Open note on reminder click is enabled, in which case the note is opened directly instead.
- If you close the notification, the reminder is muted
Also, if you are using macOS, you can mark it as done or postpone the reminder with the notification options.
# Showing the popup together with the system notification
If you'd rather not lose the popup's actions, enable Show popup together with system notification alongside Use system notification. The built-in reminder popup is then shown at the same time as the system notification, and the popup becomes the surface that handles the reminder actions (mark as done/remind me later/mute/open note). The system notification acts as an alert only: clicking it just closes it, or opens the note directly when Open note on reminder click is enabled.
# Mute notification
The reminder will be muted if you do the following:
- In builtin notification,
- press Esc
- click outside of the notification modal
- Close the system notification
A muted reminder is remembered across Obsidian restarts, so it stays muted even after you close and reopen the app (useful on mobile, where the app restarts frequently).
A muted reminder becomes active again if you:
- click it in reminder list view, which opens the reminder popup again so you can mark it done or snooze it
- change the reminder's date/time in the markdown
# Muting all reminders at once
If notifications have piled up (for example, after a vacation), you can mute every currently overdue reminder in one action:
- Click
Mute all reminders…at the bottom of a notification popup. - Run
Mute all current remindersfrom the command palette.
This mutes every reminder that is currently overdue, the same way muting a single reminder does. Unlike pausing notifications, which is temporary and lets overdue reminders notify you again once it ends, mute-all is permanent per reminder: each muted reminder stays muted (and survives restarts) until you interact with it as described above.
# Pausing notifications temporarily (do not disturb)
Unlike the Enable reminder notifications setting, which turns notifications off permanently until you turn it back on, do-not-disturb lets you pause notifications for a fixed duration and have them resume automatically.
You can start it from either place:
- Run
Pause reminder notificationsfrom the command palette. It opens a duration chooser with the same options as the Remind Me Later setting. - Click
Pause all notifications…at the bottom of a notification popup. This closes the popup (without muting that reminder) and opens the same duration chooser.
While paused:
- No builtin notification popups or system notifications are shown.
- The reminder list view keeps updating as usual, including moving reminders into Overdue.
- Reminders are not muted by the pause, so any reminder that's still overdue is notified again shortly after the pause ends.
A status bar item (🔕) shows the time the pause ends; click it to resume notifications immediately. You can also run Resume reminder notifications from the command palette, which is only available while paused. The pause is remembered across Obsidian restarts, but it's a transient state rather than a setting, so it doesn't appear in the settings tab.
# Overdue count in the status bar
A status bar item (e.g. ⏰ 3) shows how many reminders are currently overdue, including muted ones. It's hidden whenever there are none. Click it to open the reminder list view. Controlled by Show overdue count in status bar, which is on by default.