Use case or problem
I am a newbie, and this is the first hour I’ve spent using Obsidian. Obsidian is an excellent app, but I won’t be able to use it if AutoSave cannot be turned off.
I found an existing feature request named “Disable auto-save or change frequency.” However, that’s not the same as my request because I don’t think “change frequency” is an acceptable solution.
Sorry to say, but I have always believed that AutoSave is evil. This is because I have no way of knowing if my files have been unintentionally changed. And this happens quite often. The real problem isn’t that I can’t undo my mistakes; the real problem is that I might never even notice or realize that I made a mistake in the first place. It’s similar to accidentally typing ls in the wrong window. I believe that many people have done this at some point in their lives.
I normally use three monitors for work, and sometimes the focus ends up on a different monitor without me realizing it. This leads to situations where I accidentally add text or delete large blocks of selected text, which happens quite often. Without AutoSave, I could rely on visual cues like an asterisk (*) in the filename title to indicate that a file has been modified unintentionally.
I always press Ctrl+S to save manually, often every second after typing something. Some people might argue that this is no different from AutoSave, but it’s absolutely not the same. When I press Ctrl+S, it’s a deliberate action, signaling my intention to save the file. Mis-typing or accidental edits won’t trigger a save, which is why manual saving feels safer and more intentional to me.
Proposed solution
Add an option to disable AutoSave.
Current workaround (optional)
N/A