File content sometimes gets lost/eresed/deleted if Obsidian is closed right after editing

I often close obsidian right after I finish editing a note. And sometimes the file content gets deleted.
Here is a screen recording:

I didn’t find any similar topic. Maybe this one may relate to this: Obsidian deletes the content of the last saved note

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I am unable to reproduce your video.

Post a screen recording of this happening in the sandbox vault and also provide the debug info (command palette->debug info)

I reproduced it in the sandbox. I reproduced it before I started to record therefore I start with an almost empty file. In this video it happens right at the first try. And then again at the end.

This is the debug info:

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.0.3
Installer version: v0.15.8
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.22621
Login status: not logged in
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Legacy editor: off
Base theme: dark
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

Ok, this is pretty weird. If you download and reinstall Obsidian (to update installer version), are you still able to reproduce?

It happened again in the sandbox after a few tries.

The currend debug info:
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.0.3
Installer version: v1.0.3
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.22621
Login status: not logged in
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Legacy editor: off
Base theme: dark
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on

RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

thank you, we’ll look into it.
Is there anything special in your system? Is your filesystem local?

Yes, it has a local file system. I have Synology Drive installed, which is a software for file synchronization between my PC and my NAS. But the sandbox vault is not synchronized, so it is most probably not the cause for the error. Just now I also tried to close Synology Drive and then I also could reproduce it.

I just tried it on my other PC, I was able to reproduce it there, too.

Debug info here (Here I had opened my main vault, not the sandbox):
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.0.3
Installer version: v0.15.9
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045
Login status: not logged in
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Legacy editor: off
Base theme: dark
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 8
Plugins enabled: 8
1: Dataview v0.5.47
2: Advanced Tables v0.17.3
3: Templater v1.14.3
4: Pauls Plugin v1.0.0
5: Obsidian Git v2.6.0
6: Pandoc Plugin v0.4.1
7: Commander v0.2.1
8: URI Commands v1.0.0

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Community plugins: for bugs, please first try updating all your plugins to latest. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community plugins.

thanks we can reproduce.

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Save time of large, 100-500kb, .md files may take a few seconds.
If, in usual way, close Obsidian in this time period there is a small probability of interrupting of save process and wiping of file content.
Unfortunately problem is exacerbate by file size growth and number of installed plugins. From extremely rare coincidence to practical need to remember that you can close program only after 2-5 seconds past any edit actions. Otherwise, unlikely but probably, next time it will open last edited files as totally empty. It creates unnecessary paranoia.
It seems that when Obsidian is closing there is an instant shutdown of all its functions instead of some time gap of confirmations that all files in the process of saving were completely saved.

1 Like

Fix please! This is a critical bug - software is unreliable!

I experienced this for a second time. The first time I was not sure if I had shut down Obsidian immediately after editing. Based on the comments in that thread it seemed like that was a trigger.

This time I was conscious of it and made sure to wait at least 30 seconds or so before closing.

But when I reopened Obsidian now hours later, that note is blank, and this time the only available recovery snapshot is 0-byte, so I am unable to recover.

Both times, it was the latest note I had created, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it, or would at least suggest that the latest created note is the only one vulnerable to this bug.

@luckman212 were you ever able to pinpoint anything with your plugin?

If you waited 30 seconds after the last edit before closing, you certainty do not have the issue described in this thread.

I think the same problem happened to me yesterday.

Even if I use iCloud on Windows, which also may be responsible for that, I didn’t have this problem in more than 3 years and thousands of files. Furthermore, the problem happened exactly in the circumstances you described (editing a file and quickly closing Obsidian after).

In addition to that, it seems the problem was mentioned in the subreddit ( 1, 2, 3, 4), possibly by people not using iCloud on Windows. Problem was also already mentioned here and here in this forum.

I could try to reproduce in the sandbox vault if desired.

I hope the problem can be fixed soon, because if confirmed it’s quite critical.

@luckman212 I just read your topic : do you still regularly have the same issue ?

@JamesKF I haven’t had it since I became highly mindful of waiting a few seconds after making edits before quitting Obsidian. I am still planning to release my logging plugin which helps me a lot by providing visual (and audio) feedback about file writes, truncated files etc… but as usual got delayed by work.

1 Like

It puzzles me why somebody needs to close Obsidian immediately after writing a note , impatient to wait just a few seconds

  • Obsidian wont kill computer performance if kept open

  • Obsidian is not just some little thing for 2 reminders, it is a powerful app to manage complex tasks, so treat carefully :slight_smile:

  • if working on a computer is not your usual task and everything on screen makes you anxious and clicking things away feels like having completed a task then take a break and walk your dog or similar,

At this point i am still wondering if users with this issue would not do better to take note on a piece of paper, their agenda. Maybe i didnt see the point of this thread so i continue wondering

Pardon, but this isn’t relevant. It’s a bug, and some people are losing data. Questioning why someone might close an app quickly, or suggesting they change their behaviours isn’t relevant to the bug report. Keep it on topic please.

4 Likes

will be fixed in v1.3.2

3 Likes

@WhiteNoise Now that 1.3.2 is out, I read the release notes and don’t see this mentioned. Is the fix in there?

2 Likes

Fixed the missing release notes!

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