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Virtual Events

Show recurring events beyond your generation horizon without creating physical files.

Virtual Events

Calendar view showing both physical events (solid) and virtual events (far future recurring instances)

How Virtual Events Work​

Virtual events are read-only calendar entries that extend your recurring series beyond the physical notes you've generated. They appear in the calendar view but don't create actual files in your vault.

Physical vs Virtual Events​

Physical Events (up to "Future instances count" setting):

  • Actual .md files created in your vault
  • Inherit complete structure from configuration node (frontmatter + content)
  • Editable and available for batch operations
  • Searchable within Obsidian
  • Take up storage space

Virtual Events (beyond generation horizon):

  • Calendar-only display items showing recurring pattern
  • Visual continuation of your recurring schedule into the future
  • Read-only (cannot be edited or selected for batch operations)
  • Don't create physical files, have no properties, or consume storage

Benefits​

Vault Management​

  • Keep your vault lean - avoid cluttering with hundreds of future notes
  • Reduce search noise - only current/near-future events appear in searches
  • Faster vault performance - fewer files to index and sync

Planning Visibility​

  • See long-term patterns - visualize your recurring schedule months/years ahead
  • Spot scheduling conflicts - identify overlapping events even far in the future
  • Plan around recurring commitments - understand your availability patterns

Configuration​

The physical/virtual boundary is controlled by the "Future instances count" setting. See Recurring Events - Generation Control for details on counting logic, ranges, and per-event overrides.

Converting Virtual to Physical: Increase "Future instances count" in settings to generate physical files for previously virtual events.

Example​

Weekly team meetings with "Future instances count" = 2 creates 6 physical files (2 weeks × 3 days). Beyond that, virtual events display the pattern indefinitely without creating files.

Right-click any virtual event → "Go to source" to navigate to the source event in the calendar (switches to week view and highlights for 5 seconds).