Linked notes and backlinks, as easy as typing [[

Linked notes and backlinks turn a pile of notes into a web of ideas you can walk through. In Barside, you type [[ in any note, choose another note or create one, and the link is made. Under every note, a Linked from list shows each note that points to it, with the sentence around the link. Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac, and your links live with your notes on your own computer.

This guide shows how links behave, how to make them quickly, and how to build a library where the right note is always one click away.

Why linked notes and backlinks help

A note in a folder lives in one place. A linked note can live in many places at once: under the client, inside the meeting, beside the project. That changes how you write.

• Small notes, connected. Write one idea per note and link it wherever it matters, instead of copying the same paragraph into five notes.
• Context for free. Backlinks show where an idea has been used. Open a person's note and see every meeting that mentioned them. Open a decision and see every project it touched.
• Less searching. When notes point to each other, the next note you need is usually one click away.

Here is the whole idea in one example. In your Launch plan note, you write "Agreed in [[Weekly sync" and pick the Weekly sync note. The link now shows Weekly sync in Launch plan, and the Weekly sync note lists Launch plan under Linked from, with the sentence "Agreed in Weekly sync" beside it.

How note links work in Barside

A note link sits in your text as a small chip with the other note's title. It behaves like a link and stays out of your way like text:

• Titles stay current. A link always shows the linked note's current title. Rename a note and every link to it changes, in every note.
• Click to open. Click a link and the linked note opens.
• Across workspaces. The [[ list shows notes from every workspace, with each workspace's name and color, and it never offers the note you are in.
• Deleted notes stay visible. If you delete a linked note, its links turn grey and are crossed out, and pointing at one says the note was deleted.
• Code stays code. Typing [[ inside a code block does nothing, so snippets with brackets are safe.
• Search knows links. Links count as text for search, so searching a note's title also finds the notes that link to it.

How to link notes, step by step

1. In any note, type [[. A list of notes opens under your cursor.
2. Type a few letters of the title you want. The list shows up to eight notes whose titles contain what you typed: titles that start with it come first, then the most recently edited.
3. Choose with the arrow keys and press Enter or Tab, or click the note. Esc closes the list.
4. No such note yet? The last choice is Create note followed by the title you typed. Barside makes the new note in the same workspace and links it right away.

Backlinks: the Linked from list

Under every note that other notes link to, you find a section called Linked from, with the count: Linked from 3 notes, for example. Nothing appears when no note links there.

• Each entry shows the linking note's title in its workspace color, so you can tell a client note from a personal one at a glance.
• Each entry shows the sentence around the link: the paragraph, heading or list item that holds it, shortened when it is long. You often get the answer without opening anything.
• Click an entry to open that note.
• The list shows up to 50 notes, and the count shows the full number.

Backlinks do the filing for you. A note called Maya collects every meeting where you wrote [[Maya, with the line about her in each one, without you ever touching the Maya note.

See every link at once on the note map

The Note map in the sidebar draws every linked note as a dot and every link as a line. Notes with more links get bigger dots, so your hubs stand out, and pointing at a note lights up its links. Click a dot to open the note, or filter the map to one workspace. Read the note graph view guide for the details.

Ways to use linked notes

• A note per person. Name it after the person and link it from meeting notes. Their Linked from list becomes a history of every conversation, handy before a one-on-one from a template.
• Project hubs. Start a project with the Project brief template, which has a Links section, and link the research, decisions, drawings and meeting notes that belong to it.
• Decisions as notes. Give an important decision its own note and link it from each meeting where it came up. Months later, its backlinks tell you when and why it was discussed.
• Research and reading notes. Keep one note per concept or source and link them from your findings. This is the idea behind a Zettelkasten: small notes, each with one idea, joined by links.
• A daily journal that links out. Mention projects and people with [[ as you write. Each of them gets a dated trail in its Linked from list.
• A reading list that points to notes. Link your notes on an article from a hub note, so a topic gathers everything you have read about it.

Tips for links that stay useful

• Name notes the way you would search for them. A clear title like Pricing research 2026 is easier to pick from the [[ list than Notes 3.
• Link the first time you mention something. One link per idea in a note is enough, since Linked from shows the sentence around it anyway.
• Make hub notes on purpose. A note for each project, person or topic gives links a place to gather.
• Look for loners. On the note map, choose Show all notes to spot notes with no links at all, then link them or let them go.
• Keep workspaces broad. Links cross workspaces, so you do not need a workspace per topic to connect ideas. One per area of your life or work is plenty. See workspaces for projects.

Links with tasks, search and AI

Links work with the rest of Barside:

• Tasks. A checklist item can hold a link, like "Send the draft to [[Maya". It still shows on the task board built from your checklists. Because it holds a link, the board opens its note when you edit it, so the link stays intact.
• Search bar. Press Alt+Shift+Space in any app, or Ctrl+K in Barside, and type a title. You get the note and the notes that link to it. See the search bar and hotkeys.
• AI. AI search and the assistant read a link as the title it shows, and so do AI apps you connect through AI connections, in the workspaces you share with them. They use the AI you connect in Settings → AI; Barside has no AI of its own.
• Drawings. A note with an Excalidraw drawing can be linked like any other note, so a diagram can sit one click from the spec it explains.

Bring your links from another app

Settings → Import notes keeps the links you already made. Links between the imported notes become Barside note links: Obsidian's wikilinks, like [[Pricing research]], and the links between Notion pages both come across. A link to a heading inside a note becomes a link to that note. A link to a note that was not part of the import becomes plain text, so nothing points nowhere. Barside shows a preview first, with the number of notes and attachments and anything worth knowing, and nothing is added until you confirm. See import notes from Notion, Evernote and Obsidian.

Details and limits

• Links point to whole notes. There are no links to a heading or a block inside a note.
• Real links only. Linked from lists notes that link with [[. Plain mentions of a title are not listed; use the search bar to find them.
• Spaces. Sharing a note to a Space turns its note links into plain text.
• Backups and sync. Links travel in ZIP backups, and with Barside Plus, cloud sync keeps them on all your computers.
• Systems. Links, backlinks and the note map work the same on Windows 10 and 11, on Linux and on Mac.

Privacy

Note links, backlinks and the note map are worked out on your computer from the notes stored there. Nothing is uploaded to find them, and there is no account to create. If you turn on cloud sync with Barside Plus, your notes sync with their links in them. Read more in the privacy guide.

How it compares

If you come from Obsidian, the idea is the same: [[ to link, and a list of backlinks for each note. Obsidian's Backlinks view also lists unlinked mentions, places where a note's name appears without a link. Barside lists real links only, and puts them beside tasks, reading, meetings and drawings in one app. Compare the two in the Obsidian alternative guide, or read the Notion alternative guide and the lists of the best second brain apps and best note-taking apps.

Works well with