# Obsidian Web Viewer ## Overview Obsidian Web Viewer is a core [[Obsidian]] plugin that was added in version 1.8.0. It enables browsing the web directly within Obsidian tabs. It makes it a breeze to read content without leaving Obsidian. ![[Obsidian Web Viewer - web viewer tab.png]] Caption: Obsidian Web Viewer tab This helps reading content in focused mode, while reducing context switching. With it, you can have a tab with a page you're exploring on one side, while taking notes in other tabs. The Obsidian Web Viewer is able to open Web links (i.e., external links) within a tab. You can have multiple Web viewer tabs at the same time. Just like any other tab, you can rearrange, split, or [pop-out](https://help.obsidian.md/User+interface/Pop-out+windows?ref=dsebastien.net) those tabs: ![[Obsidian Web Viewer - side by side.png]] Caption: Viewing web pages while taking notes Moreover, this plugin also enables embedding Web pages in [canvas files](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Canvas?ref=dsebastien.net). ## Configuration Once enabled, you can configure the following: ![[Obsidian Web Viewer - configuration.png]] Caption: Obsidian Web Viewer configuration You can always open external links using the Web viewer plugin by enabling "Open external links". You can also: - Set a homepage to load by default in Web viewer tabs using the "Homepage" option - Set a folder where to store pages you save using Web viewer - Enable/disable the built-in ad blocker, configure the ad blocking rule sets, and their update frequency - Clear the Web viewer data (i.e., browser cache) ## Saving pages to your Obsidian vault Last but not least, as the settings above hint at, the Web viewer plugin lets you save pages to your Obsidian vault: ![[Obsidian Web Viewer - Save pages.png]] Caption: Obsidian Web Viewer lets you save pages to your vault This can be used to save Web pages that you want to explore later on. Note that when saving Web pages to your vault, Obsidian converts those to be more readable. You can also do this by invoking the "Save to vault" command that was added in [v1.8.1](https://obsidian.md/changelog/2025-01-07-desktop-v1.8.1/). ## Limitations Contrary to the [[Obsidian Web Clipper]], the Obsidian Web Viewer is currently not able to capture page metadata or use AI to enhance the extracted content. ## References - Official Web viewer plugin documentation: https://help.obsidian.md/plugins/web-viewer - Overview by [[Theo Stowell]]: https://medium.com/obsidian-observer/obsidian-adds-web-browsing-in-its-new-1-8-update-63e16eb565ad