Troubleshoot Obsidian Sync

This page lists uncommon issues you may encounter with Obsidian Sync and how to resolve them. Before proceeding, we recommend reviewing the Status icon and messages and Frequently asked questions pages.

General

Conflict resolution

A conflict happens when you change the same file on two or more devices before they sync. For example, you edit a note on your computer. Before that change uploads, you also change the same note on your phone.

Conflicts happen more often when you work offline. There are more changes and longer time between syncs, which increases the chance of conflicts.

How Obsidian Sync handles conflicts

When Obsidian Sync finds a conflict, the result depends on the file type:

  • Markdown files: Obsidian Sync merges the changes using Google's diff-match-patch algorithm.
  • Other file types: For all other files, including canvases, Obsidian uses a "last modified wins" approach. The most recently modified version replaces earlier versions.

For conflicts in Obsidian settings, such as plugin settings, Obsidian Sync merges the JSON files. It applies keys from the local JSON on top of the remote JSON.

Conflict resolution options

Starting in Obsidian 1.9.7, you can choose how to handle conflicts. To configure this setting:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. In the sidebar, select Sync.
  3. Under Conflict resolution, choose your preferred option:
    • Automatically merge (default): Obsidian Sync combines all changes from different devices into a single file. This saves all edits, but it may sometimes create duplicate text or formatting problems. You will need to fix these manually.
    • Create conflict file: When Obsidian finds conflicting changes, it creates a separate conflict file instead of merging automatically. You can then review both versions and merge them yourself. This gives you full control over the final result.
Configure on all devices

Conflict resolution settings are device-specific. You must configure your preferred option on each of your devices. This ensures the same behavior across all your synced devices.

Conflict file naming pattern

When you use the "Create conflict file" option, Obsidian creates a new file with this naming pattern:

original-note-name.sync-conflict-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

For example, if a conflict happens in a note called Meeting notes.md, the conflict file might be named:

Meeting notes.sync-conflict-20241128-143022.md

The conflict file contains the changes from the device where the conflict was detected. The original file keeps the remote version. You can compare both files and manually merge the content.

Check the Sync log

To check when conflicts happened, open the Sync log. Filter for "Merge Conflicts" or search for "Conflict".

Sync deleted a note I just created on two devices

Obsidian Sync typically tries to resolve conflicts by merging conflicting notes across devices. However, problems can happen for users who automatically create or change notes on startup. This includes Daily notes or when using the community plugin Templater.

If you create a note locally on one device and, within a couple of minutes, Sync downloads a remote version of that same note, Sync will keep the remote version without merging the two. In this case, you can recover the local version using File recovery.

Sync will not sync my plugins and settings updates

Obsidian does not live-reload all settings. After you update settings or plugins, you need to restart Obsidian on other devices to see the changes. On mobile devices, you may need to force-quit the app.

My files keep disappearing from Sync as soon as I restore it

This issue is most common on Windows. Windows Defender may quarantine files with code blocks, which causes certain notes to disappear.

Another common cause is double-syncing. This happens when Obsidian Sync runs alongside another syncing service.

Move your vault out of your third-party syncing service or cloud storage

If your vault is stored in any of the following locations, it's likely being synced by a third-party service:

  • Windows: C:\Users\Username\Desktop or C:\Users\Username\Documents
  • macOS: /users/username/Desktop or /users/username/Documents
  • iOS: The iCloud folder within the Files app
  • Other: Any folder under a syncing service, such as Drive/my-vault, Dropbox/my-vault, pSync/my-vault, etc.

While Android and Linux tend to have fewer issues with this, it's still worth checking your vault location on these devices.

If your current local vault is connected to a remote vault, Obsidian will try to detect if the vault is in a syncing service. If it is, you will see a message at the top of Obsidian Sync's settings.

To avoid conflicts with syncing services, we recommend storing your Obsidian vaults in the following locations:

  • Windows: Recommended locations in order:
    1. D:\ or any other non-C, non-network drive on your device
    2. C:\Vaults (if you have permissions to use the C:\ drive)
    3. C:\Users\Username\Vaults (if you must keep your vault within C:\Users\Username, make sure OneDrive is set not to remove files. OneDrive is generally less aggressive outside of Desktop and Documents folders.)
  • macOS: /users/username/vaults
  • Linux: No specific recommendation due to the variety of filesystems. Just ensure that Obsidian has full read/write access and that no syncing service manages the folder.
  • iOS/iPadOS: Store the vault On My iPhone or On the Device.
  • Android: Use the Documents/ folder on your device.

Finally, this can happen when you restore a file on one device, but then it is removed from a secondary device. This happens when the filename has illegal characters.

Android

My device is deleting my attachments I receive through Sync

This issue is likely due to Google or Android Photos managing your attachments. To prevent the system from changing files received via Sync, add a .nomedia file to your vault on your Android device.