Encryption similar to Joplin

Use case or problem

Currently, Obsidian works on the .md files directly. It would be great if they are encrypted locally as Joplin provides.

Proposed solution

Encrypt the vault folder using a Master Encryption password. On opening the vault it should require for a password with the ability to remember password or not prompt for it again to decrypt content.

Work on your vault, on exiting the vault it should automatically encrypt the raw .md files.

So, that raw .md are not susceptible to any kind of privacy violations later in future or may be useful for ones threat model.

Current workaround (optional)

Encrypt the vault folder using Veracrypt or cryptomator and decrypt the data only when you use Obsidian.

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Yep, this sounds good. I’m currently looking in a different direction as I’ve been using Joplin on Android as I haven’t figured out how to encrypt Obsidian on Android.

Trouble is, Joplin sync has slowed to a, well less than a crawl. Have two Win10 laptops and they both take forever to sync. The android Joplin app works flawless though.

On the other hand, I like using Cryptomator/Dropbox, as I have control over the (open source) encryption.

As far as I can tell, Joplin doesn’t encrypt files at rest locally. It offers E2E encryption—that is, during transport between your devices while syncing. That’s an option with a number of Obsidian syncing methods, including Obsidian Sync and the Remotely Save and Self-hosted LiveSync plugins, and through certain cloud providers, most recently iCloud.

You can encrypt individual files locally with the Meld Encrypt plugin, and there’s a Cryptsidian plugin that’s supposed to encrypt your entire vault, but it’s not compatible with the mobile app.

Be aware that, unlike Obsidian, Joplin stores users’ notes in database rather than in standard folders, which may present different options to the developers when it comes to encryption. cc: @Smithy

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