# Links and backlinks

A link joins two notes. In Niv, the links are where the value is: they let you follow an idea from one note to the next.

## Make a link

Type two opening brackets in a note and start typing a note's name. Pick the note from the list and press ↵. You can also choose **Internal Link** from the slash menu.

To link to a heading or a block inside a note, keep typing after the note's name: `#` for its headings, `#^` for its blocks. To search the headings of every note, start with `##`; for every block, start with `^^`.

In the file, a link is plain text in the form Obsidian uses:

```
[[Note name]]
[[Note name|Text to show]]
[[Note name#Heading]]
[[Note name#^block]]
```

When you link to a block in another note, Niv adds an id to that block so the link can find it.

![The link picker under two opening brackets, listing matching notes](https://niv.md/docs-media/link-picker.dark.png)

## Follow a link

Click a link to open the note. Rest the pointer on a link for a moment to see a preview of the note without leaving the one you're in.

A link to a note that doesn't exist yet looks different. Follow it, and Niv creates the note.

## Embed a note

Put an exclamation mark before a link, and the other note, or one of its headings or blocks, shows inside this one:

```
![[Note name]]
![[Note name#Heading]]
```

## Backlinks

Open the right rail and choose **Links**. It shows:

- **Outgoing**: the notes this one links to;
- **Backlinks**: the notes that link here;
- **Connected notes**: notes close to this one in the graph;
- **Unresolved**: links to notes that don't exist yet.

Links and the graph are built from the saved files. If they look out of date, choose **Rebuild** in the rail.

## Renaming keeps links working

When you rename a note, Niv rewrites the links that point to it, in every note. The sidebar shows how many it updated.

See also [The graph](/p/docs/the-graph).

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Published with [Niv](https://niv.md/) in the Space Docs.