You need to email an Obsidian note to a colleague, a client, or your manager. Maybe it's a project update with tables. Maybe it's meeting notes with action items. Maybe it's a technical summary with code blocks. The content is ready. Getting it into an email with proper formatting is the hard part.
Obsidian has no built-in email export. There's no "Send as Email" button, no Gmail integration, no way to go from note to inbox without leaving the app. And when you try the obvious approach (copy and paste), the formatting breaks.
Why copy-paste doesn't work
When you copy from Obsidian's editing view and paste into Gmail, Outlook, or any email client, you get raw markdown. Your recipient sees:
## Project Update
**Status:** On track
**Next milestone:** March 15
| Task | Owner | Status |
|------|-------|--------|
| API redesign | Sarah | Complete |
| Frontend | Mike | In progress |
> Note: Budget review scheduled for Friday
Instead of formatted headings, bold text, a clean table, and a styled blockquote, they see hash marks, asterisks, pipe characters, and angle brackets. For anyone who doesn't read markdown, this looks like a technical error.
Copying from Obsidian's reading view produces slightly better results. Some formatting transfers: bold and italic sometimes survive. But headings lose their levels, tables rarely render correctly, and code blocks are stripped of their styling. The output is inconsistent and unprofessional.
Why email is uniquely difficult
Email formatting is harder than formatting for Google Docs or Word, and the reason is technical.
Email clients only support inline CSS. Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and most other clients strip external stylesheets and <style> blocks. Every formatting instruction (font size, color, borders, spacing) must be applied directly on each HTML element as an inline style attribute.
Each email client renders differently. Gmail handles tables well but strips certain background colors. Outlook Desktop uses Microsoft Word's rendering engine for HTML, which has its own quirks. Apple Mail is generally permissive but handles margins differently. A formatted email that looks perfect in Gmail might break in Outlook.
No email client interprets markdown. Unlike some chat platforms that have partial markdown support, email clients treat markdown syntax as plain text. There's no hope that **bold** will magically render as bold in any email client.
This means that getting a formatted Obsidian note into an email requires converting the markdown to email-compatible HTML with inline styles, and making sure that HTML works across multiple rendering engines.
Current workarounds (and their limitations)
Copy as HTML plugin
Obsidian's community plugin directory includes a "Copy as HTML" plugin that converts your note to HTML on the clipboard. In theory, you paste this into your email client and get formatted content.
In practice, the plugin has been unmaintained for over three years. It doesn't account for email-specific rendering requirements (inline styles, email client compatibility). The HTML it produces uses CSS classes and external style references that email clients strip. The result is often barely better than pasting raw markdown.
Pandoc conversion
Pandoc can convert markdown files to HTML via the command line:
pandoc note.md -o note.html
You can then open the HTML file in a browser and copy the rendered content into your email. This works for basic formatting, but has significant limitations:
- It requires command line familiarity.
- The output HTML uses stylesheet-based CSS, not inline styles. Email clients strip it.
- Obsidian-specific syntax (callouts, wikilinks, tags) isn't handled.
- There's no template or styling system. Every export looks the same.
- The multi-step process (export file, run command, open HTML, copy, paste into email) is slow.
For technical users who are comfortable with the terminal and only need basic formatting, Pandoc is functional. For most people, it's too many steps.
Reading mode copy
Switching to Obsidian's reading mode and copying from there gives you rendered HTML on the clipboard. Some email clients accept this and produce partially formatted output.
The results are inconsistent. Bold and italic usually transfer. Headings sometimes lose their level (H2 becomes the same size as H3). Tables may or may not render. Code blocks lose their background color and monospace font. Blockquotes lose their border styling. The output varies by email client, by note content, and sometimes by the phase of the moon.
This method works in a pinch for simple notes that are mostly prose with some bold text. For anything structured, it's unreliable.
PDF attachment
You can export your note as a PDF from Obsidian and attach it to the email. The formatting is preserved perfectly because it's a static file.
The downside: your recipient can't edit, comment on, or easily extract content from a PDF. The note isn't part of the email body. It's a separate file they have to open. For quick updates or action items, this adds unnecessary friction. For reference documents that don't need editing, it's a reasonable option.
The Unmarkdown workflow
Unmarkdown™ converts markdown to email-compatible HTML with inline styles that work across Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and other clients.
Step 1: Copy your note from Obsidian. Open your note, switch to Source mode (for the cleanest markdown), select all (Cmd+A), and copy (Cmd+C).
Step 2: Paste into Unmarkdown™. Go to unmarkdown.com and paste into the editor. You'll see your raw markdown on the left and a formatted preview on the right.
Step 3: Choose a template (optional). If you want professional styling beyond the default, pick one of 62 templates. A business template like Executive or Consulting can make project updates look polished. A clean template like Swiss or Paper works well for general correspondence.
Step 4: Click "Email" in the destination bar. This copies email-optimized HTML to your clipboard.
Step 5: Paste into your email client. Open Gmail, Outlook, or any compose window and paste. The formatting is preserved.
The whole process takes about 30 seconds.
What gets preserved
Here's what transfers from your Obsidian note through Unmarkdown™ to email:
Headings. All six heading levels render with appropriate font sizes and weight. They create visual hierarchy in the email body, making long notes scannable.
Tables with borders. Markdown pipe-and-dash tables become properly bordered HTML tables with header row styling, cell padding, and consistent widths. This is one of the biggest improvements over any direct copy method.
Code blocks with background. Fenced code blocks get a gray background, monospace font, and padding. Inline code (backtick) gets monospace styling. Both render correctly across major email clients.
Bold, italic, and strikethrough. Standard formatting transfers cleanly.
Lists with nesting. Bullet lists, numbered lists, and nested sublists render with proper indentation and markers.
Blockquotes. > quoted text gets a left border and subtle background, creating a clear visual distinction from body text.
Links. Markdown links become clickable hyperlinks.
Horizontal rules. --- dividers become clean horizontal lines that separate sections.
Why inline styles matter
Email clients strip external stylesheets and <style> blocks. The only way to reliably format email HTML is with inline style attributes on every element. Unmarkdown™ generates email-specific HTML where every heading, table cell, code block, and paragraph carries its own inline styles.
When you use a template, the template's typography, colors, and spacing are all inlined into the output. The result is a consistently styled email whether your recipient uses Gmail on Chrome, Outlook on Windows, or Apple Mail on an iPhone.
Handling Obsidian-specific syntax
Some Obsidian features don't have direct email equivalents. Callouts (> [!note], > [!warning]) convert as styled blockquotes with colored accents. Wikilinks ([[page name]]) become plain text with brackets stripped; convert to standard markdown links before copying if you want clickable URLs. Tags (#tag) become plain text. Embedded files (![[other note]]) don't transfer; copy the embedded content separately. For Mermaid diagrams and math equations, consider publishing the note as a web page and linking to it in your email.
Tips for emailing Obsidian notes
Edit for the audience. Obsidian notes are often written for yourself. Before emailing, consider whether the structure and detail level are appropriate for your recipient.
Use headings sparingly. One or two heading levels work well in email. If your Obsidian note has deep heading hierarchy, flatten it for the email version.
Preview before sending. After pasting into your email client, review the result. Check that tables aren't too wide for mobile and that links work.
Consider linking instead. For very long or complex notes, publish the note as a shareable web page via Unmarkdown™ and email the link. The recipient gets full formatting, and you keep the email concise.
Other destinations
If email isn't the right fit, Unmarkdown™ converts to five other destinations from the same interface: Google Docs, Word, Slack, OneNote, and Plain Text. The core converter is free with no account required.
Try the Unmarkdown plugin for Obsidian
Unmarkdown is now available as an Obsidian community plugin. Right-click any note and copy it formatted for Google Docs, Word, Slack, OneNote, Email, or Plain Text, directly from your vault. You can also publish notes to the web with 62 templates.
How to install (Community Plugins directory approval pending):
- Download
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.cssfrom the latest release - In your vault, create the folder
.obsidian/plugins/unmarkdown/ - Move the three downloaded files into that folder
- Open Obsidian Settings > Community Plugins > Enable "Unmarkdown"
- Go to Settings > Unmarkdown > Click "Connect account" to link your free Unmarkdown account
Once approved for the Community Plugins directory, you can install by searching "Unmarkdown" in Obsidian's plugin browser.
