I lost my vault. Can you help me please

Help
1

I have been using obsidian for 2 years I guess. When I updated my windows, I lost my notes. Please help me find it. They were so valuable for me

What I’m trying to do

Things I have tried

2
  1. Where were they stored?
  2. Did you have a backup, such as external harddisk or USB stick?
  3. Do you use a file syncing service, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Nextcloud, Mega etc?
  4. From which version of Windows to which version did you jump?
    Some versions are famous for breaking stuff, and people share their workarounds and fixes on various forums.
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I guess they were stored in Disc C

I dont know whether I have backup. I thought they ill be stored in the cloulds with my Gmail.

I think I haven’t used anything

From windows 10 to 11

4

Did you just update Windows, or did you do a complete re-installation and erase your existing data?

Obsidian does not store any data in the cloud unless you subscribe, pay for, and correctly setup Obsidian Sync. It is just files on your computer.

If you erased your hard drive, then it is almost certain that the data is lost. It is very important to keep backups of your data. Even data that you think is being stored in a cloud. Cloud sync services are not the same thing as backups.

If you didn’t erase the hard drive, and you just misplaced your vault during an upgrade, you can try searching your hard drive for .md files (Markdown). And maybe you’ll find your notes. Good luck. :downcast_face_with_sweat:

1 Like
5

Look in C drive for Windows.old
Check the Recycle Bin: Files deleted during an update might be temporarily there
If nothing;

Step 1) Install Everything Downloads - voidtools
Step 2) Search for .obsidian folder
Step 3) If you can’t find .obsidian folder search for *.md files
Step 4) If still not finding anything it’s possible you did a fresh install, in which case you will need some data file recovery software to deep scan your hard drive

This is one method for backing up your Vault https://youtu.be/gWWSi-cQFzU?si=7cuGq5u9NrHoGz4W , I use this with a combination of pushing files to my NAS with Syncthing https://youtu.be/J-YO7rn8ZEQ?si=XWt1TTEXoZevwyAa

Good luck I hope you can find your notes

1 Like
6

Try looking in your onedrive files since, by default, it does backups