I’d like to remove an instance of a remote vault from one of my computers, while leaving the remote vault intact.
Now that I’ve searched the help docs, I’m aware that the appropriate first step is to disconnect sync in vault settings. Instead I removed the vault from the list in the “Open Vault” panel.
Google AI confidently says “Because you removed the vault from the Obsidian list, the local Obsidian app is no longer tracking or syncing that folder, so deleting it will not trigger a deletion through official Obsidian Sync” with a link to Manage vaults - Obsidian Help, but I can’t find anything on that page that supports the AI’s claim.
Would be great to get confirmation that removing a vault from the list disconnects it from Obsidian sync, thank you!
It doesn’t go into detail. But it only syncs when Obsidian is open and connected to the remote vault. So if you are disconnected, it should be fine. You aren’t disconnected. If Obsidian is closed, it should also be fine. But there might be other ways the vault might end up getting opened again, even if it isn’t in the list. For example, maybe an Obsidian URL might still be able to re-open the vault? (I don’t know for sure.)
That said… In case you don’t know, if you ever lose the remote vault password, you will not be able to reconnect to the remote vault and that data will be lost. So strictly speaking, the safest thing would be to make sure to have a backup as well. Syncing is not meant as a backup. Then if anything goes wrong, you can rebuild or create a new remote vault.
The second safest thing (besides a proper backup) would be to make sure a new computer has fully synced before disconnecting the old device or deleting those notes. But that doesn’t override the recommendation of making (a) safe proper backup(s).
Finally (and I’m just speculating) “connected to a remote vault” might just be some text in a configuration file somewhere in the vault or app settings. If for some reason you are unable or unwilling to reopen Obsidian to disconnect the remote vault, it might be possible that you can delete that configuration file, and then Obsidian wouldn’t remember the remote vault to be able to connect to it. I have no idea where that would be stored. Just an idea.