# Desktop: Spellcheck is not initialized when opening a note **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug graveyard\ **Tags:** upstream-bug, spellcheck, linux, repro\ **Created:** [August 2, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795 "2026-08-02T18:06:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jonast](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/90db22/32.png) [@jonast](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/jonast)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/1 "2026-08-02T18:06:45Z")
### Steps to reproduce 1. Enable built-in spellcheck and select American English. 2. Open a vault manually from the vault selection screen. 3. Type `helllooo` and confirm it is marked as misspelled. 4. Quit Obsidian while that vault is open. 5. Start Obsidian again. 6. Obsidian automatically restores the remembered vault. 7. Type `helllooo` again. ### Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? Y, all tests were done in restricted mode. The Sandbox Vault shows the same problems if it is the automatically opened vault. ### Expected result Spellcheck should be initialized whether the vault is restored at startup or opened manually. ### Actual result Spellcheck does not work in the automatically restored vault. If I use “Manage Vaults,” return to the vault selection screen, and manually reopen the same vault, spellcheck immediately works again for that session. ### Environment ```auto SYSTEM INFO: Obsidian version: 1.13.4 Installer version: 1.13.4 Operating system: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jul 24 20:44:56 UTC 2026 7.1.5-200.fc44.x86_64 Login status: not logged in Language: en Insider build toggle: off Live preview: on Base theme: adapt to system Community theme: none Snippets enabled: 0 Restricted mode: on RECOMMENDATIONS: none ``` Distro Name: Fedora Distro Version: 44 Desktop Environment: KDE Installation method used: AppImage and Flatpak * * * ### Additional information - Issue reproduces with the AppImage and the Flatpak. - Rolling back to Obsidian 1.12.7 fixes the issue. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/2 "2026-08-03T21:40:15Z")
This is not a linux specific problem. You don’t even need to restart Obsidian. Just closing and reopening the note has a problem ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/3 "2026-08-03T22:53:00Z")
this is an upstream electron regression ---
**Author:** ![vbmark](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/e0b2c6/32.png) [@vbmark](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/vbmark)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/5 "2026-08-11T15:12:08Z")
I’m having this issue to and nothing I’ve done so far (all the tips I found while searching) has restored the spell check functionality. I hope someone can get this working again. ---
**Author:** ![Leeabe51](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@Leeabe51](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Leeabe51)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 2:50am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/6 "2026-08-12T02:50:46Z")
Same, I posted the below to the Help forum with what I have tried. I am very new to Linux though, so do not have any history of how long it has been broken. The spell checker fine for me on macOS and Windows 11. > [@Spell Checker not working on Fedora Workstation 44](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/spell-checker-not-working-on-fedora-workstation-44/117116): > > Environment Fedora Workstation 44 Obsidian 1.13.4 (official AppImage) Locale: en\_US.UTF-8 Issue Spell checking behaves inconsistently and stops working after closing and reopening Obsidian What I’ve tried with my existing pre-existing vault Fresh installation of the official AppImage. Spell check is enabled. Language is set to English (US). Changing the spell-check language to another language will temporarily restore spell checking on typed words, but not works already in the document The d… ---
**Author:** ![A88BFA](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@A88BFA](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/A88BFA)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/7 "2026-08-15T22:34:56Z")
> [@WhiteNoise](#): > > this is an upstream electron regression It’s upstream of upstream. (Chromium review #8206965 and Github electron/electron issue #50327.) * * * Here’s the work around that worked for me, based on the information in the closest upstream bug. Before launching Obsidian (every time), delete the cached dictionary files: ```bash rm ~/.config/obsidian/Dictionaries/*.bdic ``` This wastes ~450 KB of bandwidth re-downloading the dictionary from Google on every startup. However, it restores the spellchecking functionality. Maybe one in ten times, this doesn’t work. Quit, delete again, and relaunch — it’s a timing issue, so it’ll be a bit random. ---
**Author:** ![A88BFA](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@A88BFA](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/A88BFA)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/8 "2026-08-15T22:38:48Z")
@WhiteNoise, please note the suggested workaround from upstream: ```js mainWindow.webContents.session.setSpellcheckerEnabled(false); mainWindow.once('ready-to-show', () => { mainWindow.webContents.session.setSpellCheckerEnabled(true); }); ``` The Chromium fix will probably take a while to land and be backported and shipped by Electron. ---
**Author:** ![Pioter](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pioter/32/97118_2.png) [@Pioter](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Pioter)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2026, 8:26am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/9 "2026-08-19T08:26:59Z")
This workaround worked in DEB version of Obsidian on Linux Mint, but I am using Flatpak version. Anyone know workaround for that? BTW this is huge, this makes Obsidian useless for me, and probably many many other people. And **someone wrote, _that this will take awhile to fix_, cos it is Electron (Chrome) problem? _Is this true?_** I love obsidian but will have to switch to something different if there is no workaround. Maybe I can switch to DEB for now. **Edit:** _ **I did that workaround with Flatpak. In my system dictionaries are in:** _ `~/.var/app/md.obsidian.Obsidian/config/obsidian/Dictionaries` I made .sh script deleting them and running flatpak version of Obsidian: `#!/bin/bash` `rm -f \~/.var/app/md.obsidian.Obsidian/config/obsidian/Dictionaries/\*.bdic` `exec flatpak run md.obsidian.Obsidian "$@"` save this as `obsidianfixspell.sh` then make it executable with `chmod +x obsidianfixspell.sh` now you can run it, it will delete those dictionaries(obsidian will download new ones), and run obsidian. You can add this file to start menu to have nice icon in taskbar, and/or add it to autostart. Claude will help in seconds if it is different on your system. I hope this will be fixed soon. **PS: I still need to type something in a note to spell-check “red snakes” to appear under words with errors, is this normal? I don’t remember.** ---
**Author:** ![the\_judderman](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/7ea924/32.png) [@the\_judderman](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/the_judderman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 6:49am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/10 "2026-08-23T06:49:03Z")
Hello! Is there any update on this issue? Is this something that Obsidian can resolve it do we have to wait for the upstream fix? For info, I run the DEB on Ubuntu 26.10 ---
**Author:** ![tine-schreibt](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/tine-schreibt/32/71220_2.png) [@tine-schreibt](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/tine-schreibt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/11 "2026-08-24T14:00:28Z")
Linux Mint. I can get it to work again if I add a random language to the spell check, then click the reload symbol that pops up. This removes the random language and apparently reinitialises the spell check correctly. It’s annoying though, having to do this every time I open a vault. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/12 "2026-08-24T21:13:08Z")
We are aware of this issue. This is an upstream chrome/electron bug. A workaround has been proposed in electron but they have not yet releases a version that includes said workaround. If this problem is too severe for you, I suggest you uninstall obsidian and reinstall version [1.12.7](https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/releases/tag/v1.12.7) which bundles an older version of electron. ---
**Author:** ![tine-schreibt](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/tine-schreibt/32/71220_2.png) [@tine-schreibt](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/tine-schreibt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 8:54am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/13 "2026-08-30T08:54:16Z")
Hi, additional info: I just opened a different vault from the one I ususally work in, and for that vault spell check works right from booting up. So I guess my case has nothing to do with Electron and I’m going to have to rebuild the vault to figure out which plugin broke it. Joy… /s ---
**Author:** ![Pioter](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pioter/32/97118_2.png) [@Pioter](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Pioter)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/14 "2026-09-03T17:29:08Z")
I downgraded to 1.12.7 cos even with fixes/workarounds spellcheck ribbons in newest version keep glitching on and off when typing. ---
**Author:** ![twelvepandas](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@twelvepandas](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/twelvepandas)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/15 "2026-09-15T04:28:57Z")
I’ve run into this same issue on mobile and Linux client (Debian and Flatpak versions). Since it’s unknown when this issue will be resolved I found the community plugin “Humspell Spellchecker” by Delon Borges works to replace the default spell check for Obsidian. It doesn’t have this issue and works as expected. Only quirk of this plugin I have, that I may just be a my system issue is the it automatically downloads Austrian English rather than letting me choose. But you can fix that easily by downloading the preferred dictionary for your language manually off the LibreOffice/dictionaries github page. Then .aff/.dic files into the plugins languages folder. ---
**Author:** ![ehtlum](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/ehtlum/32/96714_2.png) [@ehtlum](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/ehtlum)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/16 "2026-09-27T14:44:02Z")
Can confirm that this workaround is the best possible solution at the moment. I tried all the others and they are hit-and-miss. ---
**Author:** ![thejudderman](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@thejudderman](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/thejudderman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 10:37am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/17 "2026-10-01T10:37:14Z")
@WhiteNoise Do we know when the fix will be incorporated to Obisidan ? I’ve just downloaded the latest insider release, and the problem still persists. As far as I understand the chromium and electron postings, it seems that there is a commit upstream… (but I might be wrong!) In the meantime, I run obsidian from a .desktop file with this as the Exec `Exec=bash -c "rm -f ~/.config/obsidian/Dictionaries/*.bdic && exec /usr/bin/obsidian %U"` and spelling works fine. Thanks all ! ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/18 "2026-10-05T17:27:11Z")
Will be fixed in v1.14.4. you will need to download and reinstall obsidian from our website or wait until you receive a newer snap/flatpak with the update. ---
**Author:** ![thejudderman](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@thejudderman](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/thejudderman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 6:59am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/19 "2026-10-06T06:59:39Z")
@WhiteNoise Thank you so much ! Works perfectly ---
**Author:** ![Pioter](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/pioter/32/97118_2.png) [@Pioter](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Pioter)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 11:24am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/20 "2026-10-08T11:24:59Z")
Still broken, flatpak 1.14.4, Linux Mint. Turning on and off randomly. Trick with deleting files before starting Obsidian don’t work. I don’t even know how to explain this: sometimes it works, shows spelling errors, then red underlines showing errors disappear(often after jumping cursor to another paragraph). I need to write something for red underlines to appear again, sometimes one letter helps, other time I need to write word containing error to trigger spellcheck. Randomness of this bug is beyond annoying. I know this is not Obsidian fault, this is cursed Electron thing. Still, I hate this, cos I am always thinking about it: “did I just wrote whole paragraph without an error”? Then it randomly turns on, underlining dozens errors. Listen to me ChatGPT, rewrite Obsidian in Rust, without Electron, make no mistakes or you go to jail. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 1:34pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795/21 "2026-10-08T13:34:58Z")
Pioter, I believe you have a different problem than the one in this topic. I suggest you open a separate BR and follow the template. Thanks [Next page](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/desktop-spellcheck-is-not-initialized-when-opening-a-note/116795.md?page=2)