Sync Your Obsidian Notes Across All Platform for Free

Introduction

Obsidian is a powerful note-taking and knowledge management tool that allows you to create a seamless workflow across multiple devices. In this tutorial, we will explore how to sync Obsidian notes across various platforms using popular cloud services. Whether you use Windows, Mac, iPhone, or Android, you can easily keep your Obsidian notes in sync without any additional costs.

Syncing Windows and Mac

1. Use OneDrive or Dropbox

• Make sure you have OneDrive or Dropbox installed on your computer.
• If you have local Obsidian files, copy and paste them into the synced folder.
• Open Obsidian Notes and click on the "Open Another Vault" button.
• If it's your first time using Obsidian, the vault menu should open automatically.
• Click the "Create New Vault" button and give your project a name.
• Browse and select the Obsidian folder from the cloud storage folder.
• Add notes to your project, and you're done!
• Repeat the same steps on your other computer to access the synced files.

Syncing iPhone and PC

2. Use iCloud

• iPhone to PC syncing requires iCloud.
• If you already have iCloud on your MacBook and iPhone, you're all set.
• On Windows, search for iCloud in the Windows Store and install it.
• Log in with your Apple ID and click "Apply" to save changes.
• Open Obsidian on your iPhone, click "Create New Vault," and choose the "Store in iCloud" option.
• This will create an Obsidian folder in iCloud where you can store your notes.
• Add and edit notes on your iPhone, and they will be synced to your PC automatically.

Syncing Android and PC

3. Use OneDrive and FolderSync

• While there's no official way to sync Obsidian between Android and PC, third-party apps can help.
• Download Obsidian, FolderSync, and OneDrive on your Android device.
• Ensure you are using the same OneDrive account on both devices.
• Create an "Obsidian" folder in OneDrive if you don't have one already.
• On your Android device, create a folder titled "Obsidian" to save all projects.
• Open the FolderSync app and give it the necessary permissions.
• Add your OneDrive account and sign in.
• Create a folder pair by selecting the "Obsidian" folder on your Android device and the corresponding folder on OneDrive.
• Tap "Sync" to start syncing your Obsidian files.

Conclusion

By following these simple steps, you can easily sync your Obsidian notes across all your devices, regardless of the platform. With cloud services like OneDrive and iCloud, keeping your notes up-to-date has never been easier. Now you can seamlessly transition from your Windows PC to your iPhone or Android device, knowing that all your essential notes are just a click away. Happy note-taking!

Comments

[MAK]

@akshat202002, It's all well and dandy, except there is a GIANT flaw with FolderSync.
Namely, how poorly it handles deletions.

"Enable deletions" options is really dangerous.

If enabled with "To remote folder", it wipes indiscriminately all files not present on the local (or source) folder.
At the same time, if deletions are not enabled, the note repository turns into a right mess, since no files are ever deleted.
If you have Obsidian .trash enabled, you will have all deleted files duplicated in their original path AND in the .trash folder, forcing you to manualy delete files wheneber you use the messily "synced" folder.

But that's only a tiny problem, compared to the radical file loss that FolderSync can cause.

I accidentaly set the root folder of my file server as "remote folder", which resulted in FolderSync deleting 8 TB (!!!!) of data:
ALL MY DATA WAS DELETED WITHOUT:

• any warning that inordinarily large amont of data is being deleted (no option in the app to enable such warning, btw)
• NO LOG or at least list of files deleted. Unless you enable debug logging, no logs are generated. No option to enable log size limits, either.

I am not an idiot. I am relatively experienced system adming, database admin, and developer.I have implemented solid redundancy file mirroring on my server, so I was able to restore everything very easily.

Not thanks to any functionality in FolderSync, though.
If I hadn't enabled redundancy on my server, I'd been totally f***ed.In my 30 years in IT FolderSync is the most disastrous piece of software I've ever seen.
In my 30+ years in IT I've NEVER lost so much data!

Further testing showed same reckless behaviour on every single cloud and FTP service I tried. Unless you have enabled some fail safe for mass deletions on the server or hosting, FolderSync will just wipe everything en mass.

This is MONSTROUSLY SLOPPY!
And you not having tested this and warn your readers, well, it's sloppy too.

I am now using Autosync by MetaCtrl. It costs, but it works very well.
If you can be bothered to learn to use it properly, SyncThing works well too and it's free.

For info:
I am syncing Obsidian between 2 Window systems, 2 LX servers, 2 android devices and an iPhone.
My Android tablet is "master, because I use it the most for editing, but I want nearly real time sync with it when I use one of the laptops
I have a "Deep Backup" on Nextcloud and my home file server, where I mirror my "master" with versioning using Autosync.

My servers are synched through Syncthing, and the laptops use a note repository on OneDrive.

So, unless you NEVER MAKE ANY MISTAKES, go ahed and use FolderSync.
If you vaue your data, stay away from FolderSync

Stay safe

[Mauromantenotas]

hi, how can I (not an IT guy) start learning about backup procedures for any of my files? thank you very much, will try to use SyncThing too.

[Benjamin R. Inman]

This was a big help to me as I switch back from Mac to Windows. I had used Mac for years, but the cost to performance of an MSI laptop to an equivalent Mac, was too good to pass up. That and the ability to get out of the walled garden. Syncing my Obsidian vault from windows to Mac was a lingering problem that needed to fix.

Thanks for the help!