FAQ and Troubleshooting¶

A note has headings but no collapse arrow shows up¶

Give it a moment — the outline for a note is built the first time the file explorer needs to draw its row, and (when Show tasks and lists is on) list-derived rows specifically wait on an async read of the file's content before they appear. If it still isn't there after a few seconds, try collapsing and re-expanding the note's parent folder, or reload the app (Settings → Community plugins → Reload plugins).

I clicked a row and nothing happened / the wrong line opened¶

Loud Outline reads heading and list positions from Obsidian's own metadata cache. If you just made a large edit, the cache can take a moment to catch up — the tree also rebuilds on the next metadata-cache update, so a stale row should self-correct within a second or two of the edit settling.

This can happen right after a very large note's outline first renders, since the file explorer needs to notice the row grew taller. It corrects itself on the next scroll or interaction. If it persists, please open an issue with the note's rough structure (headings/lists count and nesting depth) so it can be reproduced.

Why is a file/folder's title underlined?¶

Loud Outline underlines the title of any row it added a collapse arrow to — it's the same signal folder-note plugins commonly use, and for the same reason: a chevron on a file row (or on a folder that's also standing in for a hidden folder note, see below) could otherwise look like an ordinary subfolder. The underline means "this row also opens straight to a note."

I use a folder-note plugin — where does the folder note's outline show up?¶

If your folder-note plugin (e.g. Folder Notes) is showing the note normally as its own row, its outline appears under that row, same as any other file. If it's configured to hide the folder note and let the folder itself stand in for it, Loud Outline detects that and nests the note's headings, tasks and lists directly under the folder instead — the folder is, after all, acting as both a file and a folder in that setup. The folder gets the same underline treatment described above, and its own native collapse arrow reveals the outline alongside whatever the folder actually contains.

Does this write anything to my notes?¶

No. Loud Outline only reads — Obsidian's metadata cache for heading/list positions, and (when tasks and lists are enabled) the raw file content to know what a list item's text says. It never edits or creates files, and makes no network requests at all.

Does it work on Obsidian Mobile?¶

Not currently — the plugin is marked isDesktopOnly: true. It works by patching the native file explorer's DOM directly, which hasn't been verified on mobile yet.

How is this different from the core Outline plugin or Quiet Outline?¶

Both of those show a note's heading structure in their own dedicated sidebar pane, separate from the file tree, and neither shows tasks or lists. Loud Outline folds the same kind of outline directly into the file explorer instead of adding another pane, and extends it to tasks and nested lists. See the overview for the full comparison.

Still stuck?¶

Open an issue on GitHub with what you tried and what happened.