Obsidian Web Clipper icon

Obsidian Web Clipper

Obsidian's own free extension. It highlights pages and saves them into your local vault as Markdown. Needs the Obsidian app.

Reviewed by Xplorekit's independent developer · Last checked · How we choose

Add to Chrome Free, needs the Obsidian app · Chrome Web Store

Why it's a strong pick

Obsidian describes its Web Clipper as a free browser extension that lets you highlight pages and save web content to your vault. Clips become Markdown files stored locally. The code is open source under the MIT licence, per the repository. The trade-off: you need the Obsidian app and a vault, and images link to the web unless you download them.

What it does

Click "Add to Obsidian" and the clipper sends the page to your vault. By default it captures the main article using Defuddle. A selection or highlights override that, and so do custom templates. At the bottom of the clipper you pick the vault and folder. Obsidian's docs say the clips are durable Markdown files you can read offline.

Key features

  • Local Markdown. Clips are saved to your vault as Markdown files.
  • Highlighter and Reader view. Mark passages and clip only what you want.
  • Templates. Obsidian's docs list templates, variables, filters and logic (if and for).
  • Interpreter. Optional natural-language prompts using a language model provider you set up, including options that run on your device. It is off until you enable it in settings.
  • Hotkeys. Ctrl or Cmd+Shift+O opens it, Alt or Opt+Shift+O quick clips, Alt or Opt+Shift+H starts the highlighter, Alt or Opt+Shift+R opens Reader.
  • Open source. The repository carries the MIT licence.

Who it's for

Obsidian Web Clipper is for people who already use Obsidian, or want their clips as plain Markdown files they own. It rewards some setup, since templates take time to write. If you would rather save to a hosted account, look at Evernote Web Clipper or Notion Web Clipper. Other open tools: Joplin Web Clipper, SiYuan Clipper and Hypothesis.

Does Obsidian Web Clipper need an account?

Obsidian's docs do not mention an account for the clipper. It does need the Obsidian app installed and a vault set up to receive clips. In the clipper's settings, the vault name must match the vault name in Obsidian. On Linux it relies on the Obsidian URI protocol and clipboard access.

Does Obsidian Web Clipper work offline?

Partly. The Markdown note sits in your vault, so you can read it offline. Images are not downloaded by default. They link to the web address, so they will not show offline unless you run "Download attachments for current file" in Obsidian. Do not assume everything works offline.

Which browsers does Obsidian Web Clipper support?

Obsidian lists Chrome, Brave, Arc, Orion and other Chromium browsers through the Chrome Web Store. Edge, Firefox (including Firefox Mobile) and Safari (macOS, iOS and iPadOS) have separate listings. We list only the browsers Obsidian names, so check its docs for any other browser.

What permissions does Obsidian Web Clipper ask for?

The open-source manifest lists activeTab, clipboardWrite, commands, contextMenus, sidePanel, storage, scripting and declarativeNetRequest, plus access to all http and https sites. That comes from the repository, not the store listing, so check the install prompt in Chrome for the current list before you install.

Does Obsidian Web Clipper collect data?

Obsidian says: "Your data is not collected, and we do not gather any usage metrics." It also says the code is open source and auditable. That is Obsidian's own statement, so read its privacy information to confirm it covers what you need.

FAQ

Is Obsidian Web Clipper free? Obsidian describes it as a free browser extension. It needs the Obsidian app and a vault.

What licence is it under? MIT, per the licence file in the obsidian-clipper repository.

Does it sync my notes? The clipper itself does not sync. It writes to your vault. How the vault is synced depends on how you set it up.

Good to know

Images are linked, not saved. If you want a clip to keep its pictures for offline reading, run "Download attachments for current file" in Obsidian after you clip.

Other note-taking tools to compare

Obsidian Web Clipper is one of 8 picks in our note-taking guide:

  • Notion Web Clipper: Made by Notion. Save a web page into a Notion page or database in a few clicks. Notion account needed.
  • Google Keep: Google's own extension for saving page info, selections and images into Keep notes. Free, Google account needed.
  • Evernote Web Clipper: Clip articles, full pages and screenshots into your Evernote account, then mark them up. Free extension, Evernote account needed.
  • OneNote Web Clipper: Microsoft's extension for clipping web pages into OneNote. Free to use, Microsoft account needed.
  • Joplin Web Clipper: An open-source extension that saves web pages and screenshots into your Joplin notes.
  • Hypothesis: An open-source extension for highlighting, annotating and tagging web pages and PDFs.
  • SiYuan Clipper: The official extension that clips web pages into the SiYuan note app. It needs SiYuan to work.

Want Markdown from a page without a vault? See Copy as Markdown, or browse Web Clippers and Archivers.

Also see: Evernote Web Clipper alternatives

This is a third-party extension, not built or maintained by Xplorekit. We link to the official Chrome Web Store listing — install and permissions are entirely between you and the extension's own publisher.