Recently I gave the local-first note-taking app Obsidian a try. However, while setting up the app for my Mac and iPad, I ran into a problem. Since Obsidian stores notes privately on device, by default there isn’t a way to sync notes between your devices.
Obsidian does provide a syncing option, Obsidian Sync, as a subscription, with a Standard tier costing $4, and a bigger Plus tier at $8.
Now, while the subscription price is fair, by this point I had not yet given Obsidian a proper try yet. I switch between devices a lot, and personally find it a crucial feature to be able to continue my work seamlessly.
Eventually I did stumble upon a solution to this. The thing is, on Apple devices1, iCloud basically works the same way for syncing notes! And since I’m already paying for iCloud storage, it makes sense to utilise it here, instead of paying an additional subscription.
How to sync Obsidian for free with iCloud
Download Obsidian onto each Apple device (Mac, iPad, iPhone), then:
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On one device, select create a new vault.
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Name your vault, then pick its location, making sure the folder is inside iCloud. In my case, that was the default suggested folder.
Note that on iPad/iPhone, instead of choosing the location of the folder, you only have to make sure that “Store in iCloud” is turned on.
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Open Obsidian on your other devices, and choose “Use my existing vault.”
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Select iCloud.
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Done! Repeat for all other Apple devices.
Troubleshooting
When selecting the iCloud vault, if you get an error message that says:
Your iCloud vault was not detected. This could be due to any of the following reasons:
1. Your vault is on a different iCloud account than the one you are currently signed into on this device.
2. Your vault is not stored on the top-level Obsidian folder of your iCloud Drive.
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Make sure the vault folder has synced to your current device
We need to press Download Now here to download the folder to our device, if it has not been downloaded already.
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If above does not work, make sure that the Obsidian folder is at the top-level of your iCloud Drive.
Now, notes will sync seamlessly between Apple devices for free, using iCloud!
Footnotes
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Not at all limited to Apple devices, there are many alternatives such as Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. ↩