So I’ve drank the Kool-Aid and I am diving into Obsidian. I have installed it on my Mac and set up my first vault. So far (after four day), I’m loving it. But I’ve run into a problem. The folder that is linked to my vault is on my OneDrive. This is a OneDrive that is connected to my university and all university related files need to be on it for as they say security reasons. My research notes, which is what I’m using Obsidian for right now, do not need to be on OneDrive and had I known that there was an issue with sinking I would have simply stored them locally on my Mac.
So now I have a vault that points to Files on OneDrive , my question is firstly do I need to move it onto my local Mac storage if I want to sync with my iPad (which I do: about half my work is done on my iPad)? suspect the answer to that question is yes. Secondly, how do I do that without losing data or starting from scratch? I have heard some pretty bad stories about relocating vaults.
This is probably not what you want to hear but on iOS/iPadOS, due to the design of the OS and what Apple allows (or doesn’t), you really only have two choices for syncing Obsidian:
iCloud
Obsidian Sync.
There’s technically a third option as well, which is using Working Copy to sync to a private git repository.
Obsidian needs to have access to the full folder of files so that it can index all the files, and iOS/iPadOS does allow that only for any app’s native home folder in iCloud Drive.
This will not work via the Files app for OneDrive or any other cloud provider as Obsidian will not be able to have folder-level access.
I tried lots of different options for syncing, but settled on Obsidian sync. As well as being very reliable, and end to end encrypted, it also allows granular syncing between devices. So, for example, on my iPhone I don’t sync active plugins from my Mac, but I do sync the plugins themselves. That means I don’t need to load plugins I never use on mobile, but they’re just one switch away. Obsidian sync also offers granular restore.
All this is possible using other options, but with OS it’s very easy.
I relocated my vault from iCloud to my Documents folder by creating the new vault then dragging files across.
Even though it means that my PDFs are going to be in iCloud (for Bookends), my finished writing on OneDrive (because I have to format in Microsoft Word), and my research notes locally on my Mac, it’s probably best to use Obsidian sync. A bit disappointing.
Do you really need the full Obsidian power on your iPad? My middle ground is syncing my vault through iCloud Drive and then simply use the Files app and a standalone markdown editor given the case, but on my iPad I basically read and annotate PDFs. I believe you can set up OneDrive as a file provider for Files on iPad.
The Obsidian Sync service, yes, because syncing would be done by One Drive.
Come to think of it perhaps you may even need to dispense with Obsidian altogether on mobile, because while your files may be there on your mobile device, the Obsidian mobile app may not expect them to be in a custom location (the one owned by OneDrive file provider). That’s my case, by the way: i do not use Obsidian on my phone or ipad.
This is the case if you’re storing files in OneDrive. Like most iOS apps it’s sandboxed and - due to Apple limitations - can only sync with iCloud or using a specifically developed sync service like Obsidian Sync (which doesn’t work in tandem with another sync service like OneDrive) or GitHub.
On iOS/iPadOS, you probably could open and edit Obsidian files stored in OneDrive one at a time with a markdown editor like 1Writer or iA Writer, but you’d have to rely on Apple’s buggy “open in place” feature. You couldn’t pin your vault in the other editor’s library.
If someone wants to sync Obsidian with OneDrive, the Remotely Save plugin seems to be the best option. It’s what I’d try first if I didn’t use Obsidian Sync, which I’m very happy with.