Manual method
Copy an Obsidian vault, which is already a local folder of Markdown notes and associated files.
- Find the vault folder in Finder/File Explorer and ensure remote sync has finished.
- Close Obsidian before making a consistent snapshot.
- Copy the whole vault folder, including attachments and the hidden .obsidian settings folder if you want configuration.
- Open a copy as a separate vault or inspect the Markdown in a text editor.
Coverage and limitations: Sync and file-recovery snapshots are not complete independent backups. External attachments outside the vault need separate copies. Plugins, remote embeds and credentials are separate dependencies; avoid publishing private configuration.
Size and time to allow
Illustrative small / central / large case: 0.01 / 1 / 50 GB (decimal GB). These are planning assumptions, not a measured average per person. 1 GB models thousands of small notes plus images and PDFs. Video attachments can make a vault tens of GB.
Preparation: No provider export queue. Copying local text is quick; many small files and cloud hydration can increase time.
For the central 1 GB example, network transfer alone is approximately:
| Connection | Estimated transfer |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | 19.0 minutes |
| 50 Mbps | 3.8 minutes |
| 100 Mbps | 1.9 minutes |
Assumes 70% sustained use of the stated connection. Provider throttling, many small files, retries, local extraction and copying add time. For online backup use your upload speed. These are not estimates of the provider’s preparation queue. See calculation and large-file advice.
Store and verify the archive
An encrypted external drive is a practical main archive; a USB key can carry a copy if it has sufficient free space. Keep an additional encrypted copy on another device or private online backup, outside the source account’s sync folder.
Create obsidian/YYYY-MM-DD/originals/, preserve the untouched download, and extract a separate working copy when needed. Allow extra free space for archive plus extraction; compressed text can expand far beyond twice its size. Record account/scope, export date, date coverage and missing items in a local README without passwords.
Check internal links, images and attachment paths offline. Preserve the untouched snapshot before experimenting with plugins or migration. Reopen a sample from the second copy before deleting or replacing any source. Storage choices and verification.
Sources and review
Public documentation was reviewed on 27 October 2026. No signed-in export or restoration was performed. Account options and availability can change; follow the current provider instructions.