Hi,
I am using only one vault for work and private notes, but I do have them separated in different folders.
When I’m at work, and searching some work-related file in Obsidian and a colleague is sitting next to me, I’d like to have private files excluded from search results.
Under settings → Files & Links → Excluded files it is possible to do exactly that, but it is kind of uncomfortable to go every day before work into the settings and exclude the private-folder…
How do you deal with that issue?
If the private notes are not work-related and you won’t need to open them during work, one potential solution is opening the work notes folder as its own vault during work. That way, personal notes are excluded entirely.
And when work is over, you can switch back to the other vault that contains both folders.
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Nice!!! 
I didn’t think on that!
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This would however lead to an extra .obsidian folder, which could pose as a ptoblem when syncing. But it’s well worth an attempt.
Do you mean a problem with Obsidian Sync specifically, or sync in general? I use OneDrive to sync my vaults, all of which are nested in one big vault. I haven’t noticed any issues yet other than duplicated workspace.json files.
I solved this by moving my work and personal files into completely separate vaults, just to prevent problems like this. I cheat a little, in that I have Sync, and simply don’t sync my personal vault to my work laptop.
I haven’t tried it myself, so I am not entirely sure - but spontaneously I don’t see why the proposed solution should lead to any sync conflicts, as both settings folders reside in two different locations.
Not sync conflicts, it is more of a potential problem of extra data within the outer vault due to the .obsidian folder of the inner vault holding all the configuration, plugins and internal cache databases and so on. So it’ll introduce javascript source code and modules, and databases to the outer vault.
I’ve not tried it, and experienced issues, it’s more a general concern which might be unwarranted, yet that I still wanted to mention.
I would use separate work and personal vaults and keep personal notes off my work devices. Employers generally don’t want personal activity on their machines — and they can and may read anything on them. I wouldn’t even log into any of my accounts on a work computer as others here are doing. If I needed to access my personal notes at work, I’d do it on my phone. (I work from home using my own device and don’t use Obsidian for work, so this isn’t something I deal with now.)