I have this issue with the Calendar Sync plugin that can make the app unresponsive, even after restarting it, on my 16’’ M1 MBP.
Proposed solution
Hopefully the plugin dev will look at it, however there are measures Obsidian could take when this happens. If a plugin makes the app lag really hard like that, perhaps suspend or kill the plugin process (if that’s possible) and then show a message whether to resume or restart that plugin.
If Obsidian crashes or force quit, regardless of if a plugin made it lag, it can show a message on modal before loading plugins asking if you want safe mode enable after the app crashed. If the message appears too often, there can be a checkbox saying “don’t show this again” and a setting somewhere in settings to re-enable it.
Current workaround (optional)
I can navigate to the plugins folder on Finder and move or delete the plugin folder.
I was going to create a new FR, but found this one and it seems similar to what I was going to post.
Use case or problem
Sometimes a plugin prevents Obsidian from opening properly. e.g. Obsidian hangs on the loading screen, an all white/gray/black screen, etc. Because of this, the user can’t get to the Settings screen to enable Restricted mode or to turn off individual plugins.
Proposed solution
Have an option for a “safe startup”, “restricted launch”, “restricted startup”, etc., that starts Obsidian with all community plugins disabled or in Restricted mode.
Some mac apps use a modifier key when launching to enter a “safe mode”, choose a different library folder, etc.
I don’t know if this is possible with a desktop Electron app or even if it’s possible with a mobile app.
Current workaround (optional)
With Obsidian / the troublesome vault closed, move or rename the {VAULT-NAME}/.obsidian/community-plugins.json file. This will keep all the community plugins, but they will be disabled when the vault is re-opened.
Renamed title. Was “Feature Request: offer to kill plugin process if it lags Obsidian, and offer to enable safe mode on startup if plugin crashes app”
Added new “Shake to debug” menu on iOS and Android. Shows a menu of quick actions to reset your vault. Useful for debugging plugins or themes that would otherwise leave your workspace unusable.
New App actions (the menu when you press and hold on the app icon):
“Manage vaults…” Closes the current vault and takes you to the vault selection screen.
“Today” — …
“New Note” — …
Vault switcher has a new option to “Open Vault in Restricted Mode.” This option opens the vault without activating any plugins. If your vault is failing to open due to a plugin issue, use this option to debug.
via a team member:
Do you have a vault that doesn’t open at all on mobile because of a plugin? Here’s what you do.
Close the app.
Press and hold on the app icon to open the App actions menu.
Choose “Manage vaults…” This will close the currently open vault and take you to the vault selection screen.
Select your vault and choose “Open vault in Restricted Mode”.
Your vault will be open with all plugins disabled.
It would be helpful if we could toggle plugins and snippets on or off even in restricted mode (to take effect after exiting restricted mode), as this would make it much easier to recover when issues arise.
As mentioned above, if you can get to the .obsidian folder (or sync it over from another device), you can rename/remove the .obsidian/community-plugins.json file and all community plugins will be disabled when you come out of Restricted mode. You could do the same with appearance.json to disable all snippets (and some other appearance settings).
But, yeah, that can be a bit technical or require another app if you only use mobile.
Yes, I know about that approach. However, being able to toggle individual plugins/snippets even in Restricted Mode would make recovery much easier, simplify troubleshooting instructions, and help isolate the root cause more systematically. This would be especially helpful on mobile, where editing config files is cumbersome.
