[Microfot Office 2003
Tilo Chopin
I have found using symbolic links works well. You can make a symbolic link of individual files or the folder you use to keep your MS files in. I put the the symbolic link in a Subfolder called symlinks in my vault and then you can link to the files in the folder as you would with a normal Obsidian note. When I click on the link in a note or on the file in the folder view they open in the appropriate application i.e. Excel, word, pdf expert, etc. If you symbolic the folder then if you add something outside of Obsidian it will update with the new file in Obsidian. These links also work on both my mac and windows machines as well as iPhone/iPad. You must use symbolic Links not Aliases. For reference my main Obsidian computer is a Mac which I sync with a Windows laptop and IOS devices.
The simplest solution is often the best, so what I do now is to drop the files that contain critically important information into Obsidian. Anything else, and especially working files go into a project folder with the same name as the project note. All my project folders are in a single/known location.
I create a MoC for each project, linking to and briefly describing every document involved in the project. This includes all those Office documents, etc., as well as my Markdown notes and article drafts. The MoC also includes a timeline of status updates, so I can see at a glance what state the project is in at any given time.
I have not tried symbolic links. I may want to look into that. On the surface, however, it seems like if there are problems with my current system, symbolic links might not solve those problems and might just add new layers of difficulty.
I have a large hierarchical system of nested vaults. If I have a project, it will appear as a folder/vault in that system. I always have two folders in a project vault, one for attachments and the other for Files to Link which is where I will put any file I wish to reference. I could use symlinks for this and an MOC, but feel that would introduce an unnecessary point of failure.
What I think works best will depend on which programs are central to the project. And for most users here, I assume Obsidian will be one of those. But I personally find it an inconvenience if many of the source files are docx and PDF and the later stages of the project uses those formats too.
I have personal and Business data spread across 8 external hard drives attached to my main Mac Pro. I have different Projects from the past and present organized on these drives and did not want to move in to my my vault which I also sync with a mac laptop and windows laptop.
So I found if you make a Symbolic link to a Project Folder on i.e HD5 that contains MS office, pdf files etc. And place the Project Folder Link in the vault all files in that folder are available as if they were in Obsidian. The Project Folder Link only points to where the files are actually stored on HD5 not in the vault which saves space. I can add files to the Project Folder on HD5 and Obsidian Project Folder Link updates and shows the new file or I can save an Obsidian note in the Project Folder Link in Obsidian and the md file shows in the original Project Folder on HD5. I can now do normal file links to the Project files in my MOC because Obsidian thinks these are the actual files. And when I click on them they open in excel, word, Omnioutliner, etc. If I know longer need the Folder Link in Obsidian I just delete it and the original files on the external drive are not touched because you just deleted a link. Hope this helps. Like I said above you must use Symbolic Links and not Aliases - Obsidian does not recognize Aliases. Also Obsidian Prefaces the files In the folder link with xlsx, pdf, outline, etc so the linked files are easy to identify.
I then moved the link to my local Obsidian vault in my symlink folder and it appeared. However the symbolic link only showed folders I created not any of the App generated folders. Files in my folders were accessible and opened from within Obsidian. Attaching Screen shot, As you can see in the Test note the symlink files include the file extension.
Screen Shot 2022-02-09 at 1.15.59 PM1206814 118 KB
The issue may be keeping your vault in the cloud on iCloud? iCloud does things different then Dropbox and OneDrive, etc. as they store local copies in your home directory. Not an expert in these matters.
thanks for your quick and detailed response. My situation is a little different from yours. All my hardware is from Apple (Mac, iPad, iPhone). To have easy access to my documents from all my devices, I store them in the iCloud including my Obsidian vault.
I must have been lucky to stumble across Commander One that handles symlinks like this. Here is a link -mac.com. It will do this with the std free version or you can upgrade to the pro pack which they have a 50% off coupon for proof of competitive programs.
On personally-owned devices, students and employees can visit office.com and either use a web-based version of Office 365 or download the core Office 365 apps. Employees need to request download access from the Technology Help Desk. Office is preinstalled on Luther-owned computers, including those in labs and classrooms.
Academic institutions that are Microsoft customers and license Office for all faculty/staff university computers are be eligible to offer Office 365 to their Students at no additional cost. Faculty/staff can also install Office ProPlus on their personal devices. Students, faculty and staff can take advantage of free Office 365 ProPlus, through a self-sign up process explained below.
In addition to having access to the Office ProPlus client which has applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, which work across your PCs and Macs, you can active the clients on your iPad, iPhone, and Android Phone, giving you access to edit and review your homework on the go.
Office supports PCs and Windows tablets running Windows 7 or higher, and Macs with Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Office for iPad can be installed on iPads running version 7.0 or higher. For information about mobile devices, visit www.office.com/mobile.
Your Microsoft Office Student subscription ends when you graduate. You may enroll into other consumer or commercial offers available. If you have Office 365 Education at your school, you should make sure to transfer all your files from your school OneDrive to your personal OneDrive prior to graduation.
Office 365 ProPlus comes with a full version of Office and familiar Office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and more. Office 365 ProPlus is a user-based service and allows each student to install on up to five PCs or Macs, and five tablets (iPad) and access Office mobile applications on iPhone and Android phones. (Office Mobile applications are included with all Windows phones).
If you are having issues installing Office on a University owned computer, please call the computer helpdesk at x5555. If you are having issues installing Office on a personal device, visit Install Office on your PC or Mac with Office 365 for business ( ) for installation instructions.
Most or all written assignments in the School of Nursing should normally be submitted in Microsoft Office format. Although it is possible to use other software (MS Works, Open Office, Apple Pages and Keynote, etc.) to create documents and then save them in MS Office format, doing so requires care and makes collaboration more difficult. We strongly recommend that all students have and use MS Office 2013 or later.
A subscription to Office 365 (aka Office 2016) is free for current students, for installation on up to five devices (computers, tablets, phones). This package includes the MS Word and Powerpoint students need for classes. You can register and download the installer online here.
Note that Microsoft provides online versions of MS Office which run inside a web browser and thus require an Internet connection. As long as you are associated with UTC, you are also entitled to download and install the "full" version of MS Office. You can either log into portal.office.com and click the INSTALL OFFICE button at the upper right or (unless they have changed it) use the link below:
The simplest method is to use the new computer to visit portal.office.com and click the INSTALL OFFICE button at the top right. If you need to manage your installations, the following link may be helpful:
1. Go to
2. Login using your email address as your login name and NetID password as your password. This should take you to a page called "My Account."
3. Click on Install Status
4. Deactivate an install that you aren't currently using from this page.
5) Before we disconnect from Stony Brook, we need to create a local account on your device if you do not already have one. Select Other Users on the left pane. If you do not have any users listed under "Other users", or do not remember the password to the account, you can create a new one by selecting "Add someone else to this PC":
Stony Brook University's license with Microsoft gives active students* and active west campus employees** rights to use the software, this includes 1) license, 2) media, and 3) software activation/keys. Managed machines (computers managed by the University) will already have Office installed. Depending on your status on campus and your needs, you can acquire Microsoft Office media and software activation/keys from the options listed below.
Active students* and active west campus employees** can directly download and install Microsoft Office software from Office 365 on up to five devices (installation instructions for Windows and Mac). The software is activated through an active Stony Brook University Office 365 subscription. The license to use the software expires when the student or west campus employee is no longer active.
Active west campus employees** can purchase Microsoft Office downloads for a discounted rate from OnTheHub, and OnTheHub provides an activation key. The license to use the software expires when the west campus employee is no longer active.
795a8134c1