# Better File Link plugin for Obsidian Better File Link, by marcjulianschwarz, takes the pain out of linking to files outside your vault. Obsidian has no special syntax for that, but a regular Markdown link to a `file:///` URL works: click it, and the file opens in its default app. Typing those paths by hand gets old fast, though. The plugin adds an "Add file link" command that opens a file picker and writes the link for you. It can also link to the containing folder instead of the file. The command that matters most is "Check for broken file links". Obsidian doesn't track links to outside files at all: move or rename the file, and the link breaks silently (no backlink, no unresolved link, no automatic update). This check finds the broken ones. Keep in mind that `file:///` links are desktop links: on your phone, a path like `D:/Google Drive/...` points nowhere. For links that survive a change of device, look at [[External Namespaces plugin for Obsidian|External Namespaces]] or [[External File Linker plugin for Obsidian|External File Linker]]. ## References - Source code: https://github.com/marcjulianschwarz/obsidian-file-link - Community plugin page: https://obsidian.md/plugins?id=obsidian-file-link ## Related - [[The Complete Guide to Obsidian Search - Find Any Note When You Need It (Article)]] - [[Search Your Obsidian Vault From Outside Obsidian (Article)]] - [[External Namespaces plugin for Obsidian]] - [[External File Linker plugin for Obsidian]]