Sync settings and selective sync

Choose which files, folders, and vault settings to sync. Configure your sync region and collaborate on shared vaults.

The Sync section in Obsidian Settings is your control panel for Obsidian Sync. From here you can manage your remote vault connection, choose what to sync, assign a device name, and invite collaborators.

Sync settings overview

Remote vault Shows the currently connected remote vault. Includes a Disconnect button and a Manage button to view all remote vaults your account has access to, including shared vaults.

Sync status Shows whether Sync is running, paused, or stopped. Use the Pause or Resume button to control it.

Device name Assign a unique name to this device. The name appears in the sync log and in version history, making it easier to track where changes came from.

Conflict resolution Choose how Sync handles edits made to the same file on multiple devices before they sync. See Conflict resolution below.

Deleted files Use the View or Restore button to browse and recover deleted files. See Version history.

Storage usage A progress bar showing how much of your account’s sync storage is used. Updates can take up to 30 minutes due to server-side processing.

Selective sync

Selective sync lets you control which file types are uploaded to your remote vault. Files you exclude don’t count against your storage limit — but excluding a file type after it’s already been synced does not remove it from the remote vault.

Excluding a file type from sync does not remove it from the remote vault if it was already uploaded. Configure selective sync before you start syncing a vault to avoid using unnecessary storage.

File types

By default, Obsidian Sync enables selective sync for these attachment types:

• Images
• Audio files
• Videos
• PDFs

Notes (Markdown files) are always synced. To sync additional file types not covered by the options above, toggle Sync all other types.

Maximum file size by plan:

Plan	Maximum file size
Sync Standard	5 MB
Sync Plus	200 MB

Change which file types sync

1. Open Sync settings

   Open Settings → Sync.
2. Enable file types

   Under Selective sync, toggle the file types you want to sync.
3. Restart Obsidian

   Restart the application to apply the changes. On mobile, force-quit the app.

Exclude a folder from syncing

1. Open Sync settings

   Open Settings → Sync.
2. Manage excluded folders

   Next to Excluded folders, select Manage.
3. Select a folder

   Select the folder you want to exclude, then select Done.

To remove a folder from the exclusion list, select the × button next to its name.

Files always excluded from sync

The following are never synced regardless of your settings:

• File recovery snapshots — stored in global settings, not in the vault
• Hidden files and folders — any file or folder starting with . is excluded, with one exception: the vault’s configuration folder (.obsidian) does sync
• Sync settings themselves — sync settings are always device-specific and are never synced

Common hidden items that are not synced: .git, .vscode, .idea, .gitignore.

Vault configuration sync

In addition to notes and attachments, Obsidian Sync can keep your vault settings consistent across devices.

Default settings that sync automatically:

• Other file types
• Main settings
• Appearance
• Themes and snippets
• Hotkeys
• Active core plugin list
• Core plugin settings

To also sync community plugins, manually enable Active community plugin list and Installed community plugin list under Vault configuration sync.

Syncing settings across multiple devices

Sync settings don’t apply instantly on all devices. Follow this workflow when you want to push a settings change across your devices.

On your primary device (the source of the change):

1. Apply your changes

   Go to Settings → Sync and enable the desired settings under Vault configuration sync.
2. Restart Obsidian

   Reload or restart Obsidian. On mobile, force-quit the app.
3. Wait for sync

   Allow time for the settings to upload to the remote vault.

On each secondary device (receiving the change):

1. Enable matching settings

   Go to Settings → Sync and enable the same settings under Vault configuration sync.
2. Wait for download

   Wait for the changes to download from the remote vault.
3. Restart Obsidian

   Reload or restart the app to apply the synced settings.

Settings that require a restart vs. hot reload

Some settings apply immediately; others require a restart:

• Hot-reloadable: Most Obsidian configurations, including hotkeys, properties, appearance settings, and configurations for already-enabled core plugins.
• Requires restart: CSS changes (snippets, themes), graph view configuration, and core plugin state changes (for example, enabling or disabling Daily Notes).

Community plugins generally do not support hot reloading and require a restart when new settings are applied.

Settings profiles

Obsidian Sync can sync multiple configuration folders to the same remote vault. This lets you maintain separate profiles — for example, one for mobile and one for desktop.

1. Open Files and links settings

   Open Settings → Files and links.
2. Set an override config folder

   Under Override config folder, enter a name for the profile starting with a period — for example, .obsidian-mobile.
3. Relaunch Obsidian

   Relaunch Obsidian to apply the change.

To avoid re-downloading all your plugins and themes, copy your existing .obsidian folder and rename it to match the new profile name before relaunching.

Conflict resolution

A conflict occurs when you edit the same file on two devices before they sync. Conflicts are more common when you work offline for extended periods.

Obsidian Sync handles conflicts differently depending on the file type:

• Markdown files — changes are merged using Google’s diff-match-patch algorithm.
• All other file types (including Canvas files) — the most recently modified version wins.
• Settings files — JSON settings files are merged; keys from the local JSON are applied on top of the remote JSON.

Configure conflict resolution (Obsidian 1.9.7 and later)

1. Open Sync settings

   Open Settings → Sync.

2. Choose your strategy

   Under Conflict resolution, choose an option:

   • Automatically merge (default) — combines all changes into one file. May occasionally produce duplicate text.
   • Create conflict file — saves a separate conflict file for manual review. The original file keeps the remote version; the conflict file contains local changes.

Conflict resolution is a device-specific setting. Configure it separately on each device.

When Create conflict file is enabled, conflict files are named using this pattern:

original-note-name (Conflicted copy device-name YYYYMMDDHHMM).md

For example: Meeting notes (Conflicted copy MyMacBook2 202411281430).md

Sync regions

When you create a remote vault, you choose the server region where your data is stored. Available regions:

Region	Location
Automatic	Chosen based on your IP address at setup time
Asia	Singapore
Europe	Frankfurt, Germany
North America	San Francisco, USA
Oceania	Sydney, Australia

Choose the region closest to you to reduce latency. Once set, a region cannot be changed without re-creating the vault, which deletes all version history.

To find your current region, go to Settings → Sync → Copy Debug Info and look for a line like Host server: wss://sync-xx.obsidian.md.

To move to a different region, follow the change region guide and re-create your vault on the desired server.

Shared vaults

Obsidian Sync lets you invite collaborators to a remote vault. All collaborators must have an active Sync subscription. Shared vaults don’t count toward a collaborator’s vault limit.

Invite a collaborator

1. Open Sync settings

   Open Settings → Sync.
2. Open vault manager

   Next to Remote vault, select Manage.
3. Open sharing

   Next to the vault you want to share, select Manage sharing.
4. Invite the user

   In Invite user, enter the collaborator’s email address and select Add.

Remove a collaborator

1. Open Sync settings

   Open Settings → Sync.
2. Open vault manager

   Next to Remote vault, select Manage.
3. Remove the user

   Next to the user you want to remove, select Remove user.

Collaboration limitations

• Fine-grained permissions are not supported. All collaborators have the same permissions as the vault owner, except that only the owner can invite others.
• Obsidian does not support real-time collaborative editing. Collaborators’ changes appear after they sync, not in real time.
• If multiple collaborators edit the same file simultaneously, Sync merges the changes automatically. Version history lets you review and restore any version.
• Maximum 20 collaborators per shared vault.
• Maximum file size depends on the vault owner’s plan (5 MB for Standard, 200 MB for Plus).

If the remote vault uses end-to-end encryption, collaborators must enter the encryption password when they connect.