Axl Light helps you read and annotate files within Obsidian. It adds highlights, sticky notes, and search tools to your Markdown files and PDFs. The application preserves your original documents. It never alters your existing files. All your notes live in small, separate files in a hidden folder named .obsidian-annotations/. You can browse, search, and export these notes whenever you need them.
- Highlighting: Use colors to mark text. The app works in Live Preview, Source Mode, and Reading View.
- Sticky Notes: Attach notes to your documents. These notes appear in a clean lane on the right side of the screen.
- Search and Filter: View all your notes in a sidebar. Filter by color or search for specific words to find information fast.
- Data Safety: The app keeps your research and your files separate. Your original Markdown and PDF files remain untouched.
- Export: Convert your annotations and notes into Markdown files for use in other projects.
- Mobile Support: The app handles rendering for mobile devices so your highlights stay in place.
Visit this download page to start the process.
- Open your web browser.
- Go to the Axl Light repository page.
- Look for the section labeled Releases on the right side of the screen.
- Click on the latest version number.
- Find the file ending in
.zipunder the Assets section. - Click the file to save it to your computer.
You need to copy the plugin files into your Obsidian folder.
- Open your computer's Downloads folder.
- Find the zip file you saved.
- Right-click the file and select Extract All.
- Open your Obsidian vault folder.
- Create a folder named
pluginsinside the hidden.obsidianfolder. If you do not see the folder, enable "Show hidden items" in your File Explorer view settings. - Open the
pluginsfolder. - Create a new folder named
axl-light. - Move the files from your extracted folder into this new
axl-lightfolder. - Restart Obsidian.
- Open Settings in Obsidian.
- Go to the Community Plugins tab.
- Turn off Restricted Mode if it asks.
- Click the Refresh icon.
- Find Axl Light in the list and switch the toggle to Enable.
Once you enable the plugin, a toolbar appears when you open a file.
- Select Text: Click and drag your mouse over text to highlight it.
- Pick a Color: Use the floating toolbar to choose one of the six highlight colors.
- Add a Note: Click the sticky note icon on the toolbar to attach a comment to your highlight.
- View Notes: Click the sidebar icon to open your notes list.
- Export notes: Use the export button in the sidebar to save your annotated thoughts to a new Markdown file.
Axl Light is lightweight and works on standard Windows machines.
- Obsidian version 1.0 or newer.
- Windows 10 or Windows 11.
- At least 200MB of free disk space for the installation folder.
- A stable internet connection to ensure the setup finishes correctly.
- Plugin not showing up: Check if the folder names inside your vault match exactly. Computers are sensitive to spelling. Ensure the files sit directly inside the
axl-lightfolder. - Highlights disappear: Reload the app by pressing
Ctrl + Ron your keyboard. This refreshes the view and helps the plugin find the text anchors again. - Performance issues: If you have thousands of notes, searching might take a moment. The plugin uses an index to keep this fast.
- Missing annotations: Check the
.obsidian-annotations/folder at the root of your vault. Ensure the sidecar JSON files still exist. Do not edit these files manually via text editors, as this may break the connection to your documents.
- Use consistent colors: Assign colors to categories. For example, use yellow for quotes and blue for questions. This makes filtering in the sidebar much more effective.
- Keep names simple: Rename your files occasionally to keep your workspace organized. Axl Light uses a system to track file renames so your notes follow your files to their new locations.
- Back up your vault: While the app does not modify your files, it is good practice to back up your vault folder to an external drive or cloud service regularly. This protects your notes if your computer encounters hardware issues.
- Use the search bar: The search function in the sidebar looks through the contents of your sticky notes. Using keywords in your notes helps you find research themes across many documents.