This solution takes some time, and I fear losing notes in the process.
Step to reproduce
Couldn’t identify the cause.
A loop happening on a device won’t happen on another device, it seems device related. Happened on Windows, Ubuntu, and Android.
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.7.4
Installer version: v1.5.3
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045
Login status: logged in
Language: en
Catalyst license: insider
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: dark
Community theme: Things v2.1.20
Snippets enabled: 7
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 41
Plugins enabled: 30
1: Advanced Tables v0.22.0
2: Editor Syntax Highlight v0.1.3
3: Settings Search v1.3.10
4: Templater v2.8.2
5: Update modified date v1.4.5
6: Image Captions v1.1.3
7: File Color v1.1.0
8: Dataview v0.5.67
9: Copy as HTML v1.1.3
10: Excel to Markdown Table v0.4.0
11: Fullscreen mode plugin v0.1.2
12: Git v2.27.0
13: Heading Shifter v1.6.1
14: Hover Editor v0.11.21
15: Notes dater v2.0.2
16: Open vault in VSCode v1.2.3
17: Sync Graph Settings v1.4.0
18: Zotero Integration v3.2.1
19: Another Quick Switcher v12.0.1
20: Simple CanvaSearch v1.0.0
21: Imgur v2.6.2
22: Command Alias v2.1.1
23: File Cooker v1.9.0
24: Metadata Hider v1.0.2
25: Plugin Update Tracker v1.6.0
26: Recent Files v1.6.0
27: Copy Block Link v1.0.4
28: Painter v1.1.0
29: Image Toolkit v1.4.2
30: Nicolas' Plugin v1.0.2
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Custom theme and snippets: for cosmetic issues, please first try updating your theme and disabling your snippets. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community theme and snippets.
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.
I am using and syncing my Obsidian vault on multiple devices.
Not sure if relevant but there’s a thread on Discord about a Sync loop problem. I was under the impression it was at least partly fixed for the people who were experiencing it, but I could be wrong (it’s a long thread, unfortunately). Discord
I have the same problem now on my Android phone (my MacBooks work fine). I’ve tried reconnecting but it still ended up in the same loop …
My phone can receive the changes from my MacBook but is unable to upload new notes because it’s stuck in a loop trying to upload the same files over and over again.
As an update, it still happens frequently (several times a week) on my two laptops, but strangely enough, never on my Android from what I can remember.
Observed that Sync was mysteriously disabled on my phone
Re-enabled
Noticed it uploading lots of files
Checked back hours later and it’s still uploading lots of files
Inspect logs closely
Observe lots of duplicate files repeatedly showing up in sync logs
Observe that notes recently updated on my phone aren’t being synced to my desktop
Pausing and resuming doesn’t help
Closing and reopening the app doesn’t help
After disconnecting from the vault and reconnecting, I’m not seeing the infinite loop (it’s only been a few minutes) and I do see recent changes on my phone synced to my desktop. So maybe it’s mitigated for now. Thanks for the workaround!
I have recently updated all of my plugins, and it seems to have solved the issue. I don’t have the loop anymore.
EDIT: No, it’s still happening
Maybe it’s related to the fact that I sync on 4 different OS.
From the most often to the least:
Windows 10
Android
Kubuntu 24.04
Windows 11
Previous post content (when I thought it was fixed)
Table below shows plugins I had and their version before and after the upgrade:
plugin id
previous version
current version
cm-editor-syntax-highlight-obsidian
0.1.3
0.1.3
copy-as-html
1.1.3
1.1.3
dataview
0.5.64
0.5.66
frontmatter-modified-date
1.3.2
1.3.2
image-captions
1.1.0
1.1.0
metadata-hider
1.0.1
1.0.2
notes-dater
2.0.2
2.0.2
novel-word-count
2.14.0
3.9.0
obsidian-another-quick-switcher
11.0.0
11.4.0
obsidian-command-alias-plugin
2.1.0
2.1.0
contribution-graph
0.8.0
0.8.0
obsidian-excel-to-markdown-table
0.4.0
0.4.0
obsidian-file-color
1.0.3
1.1.0
obsidian-file-cooker
1.9.0
1.9.0
obsidian-fullscreen-plugin
0.1.2
0.1.2
obsidian-git
2.24.1
2.24.2
obsidian-heading-shifter
1.5.1
1.5.1
obsidian-hover-editor
0.11.17
0.11.20
obsidian-imgur-plugin
2.5.2
2.5.2
obsidian-linter
1.23.2
1.23.2
obsidian-zotero-desktop-connector
3.1.7
3.1.8
open-vscode
1.2.2
1.2.2
recent-files-obsidian
1.3.5
1.4.1
settings-search
1.3.8
1.3.10
simple-canvasearch
0.1.0
0.1.0
sync-graph-settings
1.0.1
1.2.0
table-editor-obsidian
0.18.1
0.21.0
templater-obsidian
1.16.0
2.3.3
I was not aware that community plugins didn’t get automatically updated as they were released.
That’s where this kind of feature being implemented would prove useful: Automatic plugin updates
Sync loops can also rarely happen if there is a file or folder that contains an illegal special character on the receiving OS. For example, Android really dislikes filenames with more than one period . in its name. Try renaming the looping files and folders, and see if it helps.
As mentioned in the initial post, sometimes it would be my Windows 10, sometimes on Ubuntu, and some other times on Android. Once in place, the syncing loop would stay for the device (even after restart) while the other devices will not be impacted by the same issue. To get out, I need to disconnect the vault. This will fix the loop before the next occurrence.
I am not using any other third-party sync system, apart from the Git plugin that does a one-way sync (backup) to GitHub only on one of the devices.
The vault is stored in different location on the different devices, but those locations should not get interference from other apps.
It has to be noted that sometimes the files that are impacted with the loop would be some files that I opened on my phone for example and not on the Windows device where the loop happens.
It’s related to files I use in general (not necessarily used on the device that gets loop).
And it’s the same file in the sense of the loop (so if I restart Obsidian it’s the same in the loop as before restart). But not the same files every time I fix the loop by disconnecting and reconnecting, the next time it could be totally different files.
Currently, I have a loop on my Windows 10. I checked one of the files involved by the loop.
The last modification date is correct, as I didn’t modify it recently. I accessed it two days ago on my phone though, it’s still showing that it’s not been modified for two days which is fine.
However, the access date is constantly being updated, while I didn’t access this file from Windows 10 for a while. So Obsidian sync may be accessing this file by itself as part of the loop.
