Advanced search

Advanced search

Advanced search extends Obsidian's built-in Search view by adding VS Code-like search controls:

• W for whole-word matching
• .* for regular-expression matching
• Files to include and Files to exclude inputs under the main search box

Purpose

This plugin is for users who want more precise filtering in Obsidian global search while keeping the native search workflow.

You can keep using Obsidian's original Search view, but with extra controls for:

• whole-word search
• regex search
• path-based include/exclude filtering

Usage

1. Open Obsidian's Search view.
2. Type your content query in the main search box.
3. Toggle W for whole-word mode if needed.
4. Toggle .* for regex mode if needed.
5. Optionally fill Files to include and Files to exclude.
6. Results refresh automatically whenever query or toggle/filter state changes.

Matching behavior

For include/exclude filters:

• Plain value with no glob (* ? [ ] { }):
• If it resolves to an existing file, it matches that file exactly.
• If it resolves to an existing folder, it matches all files under that folder.
• Name-only value expands to both same-name files and same-name folders.
• Value with glob characters uses glob matching.
• To force folder-only behavior, add a trailing slash (for example test/).
• To force file-only behavior, use full file name or relative file path.