[Note-taking]() and personal knowledge management are in the midst of a technological revolution. Gone are the days of flat Evernote text file, replaced by [databases](), [interactive templates]() and Excel-like [formulas](). You know what else has gotten a facelift? The good old hyperlink is a relic of the past. Taking its place are backlinks and bi-directional links. This guide covers everything you need to know about Notion backlinks beginning with their history, covering inline/sub-pages and concluding with how to use them. ## Introduction Notion Backlinks Notion is an [all-purpose productivity app]() that launched in June 2018 and armed with a $50 mm war chest of cash (from [an eye-popping $2 Bn valuation]() in the midst of COVID) the company’s been growing its feature set like wildfire. And in an adjacent sphere of note-taking apps, [Roam Research]() is leading its own innovation of __“networked thought”__ (alongside [Obsidian](), [MyMind]() and [TiddlyWiki]()). These apps have popularized the bi-directional link. Nat Eliason called backlinks [Roam’s “best feature”](): > This is the best feature I’ve found for discovering new relationships between information. It makes it so easy to tie pages together, and to help you get better organized. And in September 2020, Notion jumped into the fray [announcing backlinks](), inline pages and sub-pages. Does this make Notion ready to compete in the land of __networked thought?__ ## What are backlinks? Many of us (myself included) never thought much about hyperlinks. We know they’re blue and you can click ’em. And that if you want to return to your previous page, you just _hit the back button_. In Maggie Appleton’s [short history of bi-directional links]() she explains how this classic link (known as the mono-link) is “a one way pointer” that doesn’t retain any of the context from the referring page. Conversely, the backlink or bidirectional link has “social awareness:” > It knows about other pages or ‘nodes’ that point to it, and can make them visible to people. This means we get a two-way conversation flowing between our web locations. Here’s my explanation of backlinks (in the context of Roam): And as you build your knowledge graph of notes, books, resources and tasks – the backlink exponentially grows the serendipity within your digital workspaces. ## How to use Notion Backlinks Using Notion Backlinks is easy as pie. You don’t have to do anything. __Backlinks are created automatically__ . You’ll just see a little indicator on the top left of any page that shows that _other pages link to it_. If you expand that icon, you’ll see the pages that were __@mentioned__ or __linked to__ (in clickable fashion). Following Roam’s footsteps, Notion added [a few new keyboard commands]() to facilitate the creation of new pages. ## Notion “Global” Blocks are still way more powerful In fact, one of the most powerful linking feature isn’t widely known: __Global Blocks__. This undiscovered feature is probably by design, since it’s unofficial (like the numerous [Notion integrations]() using the “unofficial api”). This workaround enables [transclusion](): lets you reuse an entire block (a footer, for example) so that edits in one place will automatically pass through to the other blocks. Here’s a quick tutorial on global blocks: But like anything _unofficial_ , buyer beware.