Obsidian Custom Note Width

Control the line width of every note in Obsidian — individually, per note, or globally. A small control in the status bar gives you instant access, YAML frontmatter persists widths per note, and a new Pills mode lets you switch between presets with a single click.

Features

• Per-note widths via YAML frontmatter
• Status-bar controls — choose between a classic slider or Pills (three preset buttons)
• Three width units — %, px, ch
• Independent code block width — so narrow prose and wide code can coexist
• Hotkey-ready commands for every width operation
• Full English and German UI

Installation

From Community Plugins

1. Open Settings → Community plugins
2. Browse → search "Custom Note Width"
3. Install → Enable

Manual

1. Download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release
2. Copy them into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/custom-note-width/
3. Restart Obsidian and enable the plugin

Requirement: Obsidian's Readable line length setting must be enabled (Settings → Editor → Readable line length).

Usage

The plugin modifies Obsidian's --file-line-width CSS variable. Control it three ways:

Method	Best for
Status-bar control (slider or pills)	Quick adjustments while reading/editing
YAML frontmatter (custom-width: 60)	Persisting a specific width per note
Commands (palette / hotkeys)	Power users, keyboard-driven workflows

Width units

• % — relative to the editor pane (0–100)
• px — absolute pixels (100–4000)
• ch — character widths (10–200)

Switch units via the unit label next to the slider/value (slider mode) or inside a preset editor (pills mode).

Pills mode

Enable under Settings → Control mode → Pills. The status bar shows three buttons with your configured preset values. Click to apply. The button matching the currently applied width is highlighted; no button is active when the width is a custom value.

Settings

Click to see every setting

Setting	Description	Default
Language	Plugin UI language (Auto / English / Deutsch)	Auto
Enable slider	Shows the width control in the status bar	on
Control mode	Slider (draggable) or Pills (three preset buttons)	Slider
Slider width (Slider mode)	Horizontal size of the slider in pixels	85
Pill preset 1–3 (Pills mode)	Value and unit per preset	30% / 50% / 100%
Enable text field	Numeric input next to the slider	on
Default width unit	Unit used for the global default width	%
Default width	Width applied when a note has no per-note width	50
% range	Min / max for percentage unit	0 / 100
px range	Min / max for pixel unit	100 / 4000
ch range	Min / max for character unit	10 / 200
Enable per-note width	Store widths in YAML frontmatter	on
YAML front matter key	Key used for per-note widths	custom-width
Enable code block width	Give code blocks an independent width	off
Code block width unit	Unit for code block width	px
Code block width	Size applied to code blocks	800
Reading mode	Apply code block width in preview	on
Source mode	Apply code block width in source view	on
Live preview mode	Apply code block width in live preview	on

Commands

All commands appear in the palette and can be bound to hotkeys under Settings → Hotkeys (filter: Custom Note Width):

Command	Action
Change the width of the open note	Opens a modal, applies width to current note
Change the default note width	Opens a modal, updates the global default
Change the width for all notes	Opens a modal, rewrites every note's YAML width
Apply pill preset 1 / 2 / 3	Applies the given preset (Pills mode only)

Theme compatibility

Disclaimer: The plugin modifies --file-line-width. Custom themes may override this variable; there is no guarantee the plugin works with every theme.

Theme	Status	Obsidian Version	Notes
Default	Works	1.12.4	Fully functional
Things	Works	1.12.4	Fully functional

Your theme isn't listed? Open a PR adding a row — see CONTRIBUTING.

Reporting bugs

Please include:

1. Obsidian version (Settings → General)
2. Plugin version (Settings → Community plugins)
3. Theme name (Settings → Appearance → Themes)
4. Operating system
5. Console errors — open DevTools (Ctrl+Shift+I / Cmd+Option+I), Console tab, copy anything red referencing custom-note-width
6. Steps to reproduce and what you expected vs what happened
7. Screenshots or screen recordings help a lot — tools like LICEcap or ShareX work well

Reports that only say "it doesn't work" can't be investigated — details make the difference.

Backups

Always keep backups of your vault. The plugin writes to YAML frontmatter; bugs are possible. Protect your data.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, code style, and the PR process.

License

MIT — provided as-is, no warranty.

Support