Quick Start
Quick capture to Obsidian.
Save your first note with Shard on iPhone or Mac.
Connect your existing vault, capture a thought, and find it in Obsidian. Follow along with the screens you’ll see in the app.
Before you start, have an Obsidian vault on this device.
01Install Shard
Get Shard from the App Store and open it on your iPhone.
Get the iPhone appNew to Obsidian? Create or open a vault in Obsidian first, then return to Shard.
02Connect your vault
On the Set Up Shard screen, tap Choose Vault Folder. In the Files picker, open your vault’s folder and tap Open in the top-right.
1In Shard
2Find your folder
A common location is On My iPhone / Obsidian / Your Vault. If your vault is in iCloud Drive, browse there instead. Select your vault, rather than the parent Obsidian folder or an individual note.
Watch how to find your vault
Open the vault folder, then use the Open button to grant Shard access.
03Capture a note
Once you’ve selected a vault, Shard opens the capture screen.
- Write a short note.
- Check the destination below the editor. Choose Daily note for this walkthrough.
- Tap Post to save it.
Blog idea: how I organize my reading notes.
04Find it in Obsidian
Open the same vault in Obsidian and go to today’s daily note. Your capture is saved there as Markdown.
- Blog idea: how I organize my reading notes. (09:41)The folder, filename, and formatting follow your daily-note settings. If you chose another destination in Shard, open that note instead.
You’re ready to capture your next thought.
01Install Shard
Download the DMG to install Shard for Mac.
Then open Shard from Applications. It lives in your menu bar, and its settings open on first launch so you can choose a vault.
02Connect your vault
Open Settings from the Shard menu bar icon. Select Obsidian Vault in the sidebar, click Choose…, and select your vault’s folder.
Under Post Format, review your daily-note folder and note name. Paths are relative to your chosen vault.
03Capture a note
Use ⌥ Option + Space to open the capture window. Write a note and press ⌘ Command + Return to save.
You can also choose Capture from Shard’s menu bar icon. If the shortcut doesn’t open it, check Settings → Shortcuts.
04Find it in Obsidian
Open your vault in Obsidian and go to the note shown in Shard’s Post Format settings. Your capture is saved directly to that Markdown file.
- An idea worth keepingYour daily-note configuration and selected post destination determine the exact file and formatting.
You’re ready to capture without leaving your flow.
Good to know
Using Obsidian’s Quick Capture?
Obsidian has its own Quick Capture on iPhone. Shard is a separate companion app, with its own interface for capturing notes and tasks on iPhone and Mac. It saves into your existing vault, so you can keep working with your Markdown files in Obsidian.
Read about Obsidian’s built-in captureA little help getting started.
I can’t find my vault folder.
First open the vault in Obsidian on this device. On iPhone, try Files → Browse → On My iPhone → Obsidian, or browse iCloud Drive if that’s where your vault lives. In Shard’s setup screen, Where is my vault? opens the visual guide shown above.
My note isn’t where I expected.
Check the destination below Shard’s editor on iPhone, or Post Format in Mac settings. Open that same vault and destination in Obsidian. Your configured daily-note folder and filename may differ from this guide’s example.
How do I see captures on my other devices?
Shard writes to the vault on this device. Your vault’s sync service handles other devices. If you use Obsidian Sync, open Obsidian on the device where you captured to let it sync, then open Obsidian on the other device.
Still stuck? Get support