UI performance issues with large files

Bug reports
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1

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open large file (40k lines). See attached example.
  2. Open linked preview
  3. Scroll in either pane

Expected result

Smooth, responsive UI.
The attached test file is meant to represent a real-world large file I have that I had trouble with.

Actual result

The UI more freezes for seconds and otherwise is jittery and hiccups. It took over 20 sec to respond to close the linked preview.

Environment

  • Operating system: Windows 10
  • Obsidian version: 0.11.0

Additional information

test-large-file-with-structure.zip (8.7 KB)

Related

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/performance-issues-when-working-with-larger-md-files-with-video-footage

2 Likes
2

I do see it takes a lot to render/update in preview. The rest of the UI is fine for me. Are you useing custom css/plugins?

3

Thanks! Not using custom css or plugins. Glad you could reproduce this. Scrolling in a linked preview is the most painful part, which freezes up the entire UI for me. Have you tried this?

Would this be a use case that Obsidian is not meant for, or would you say this is a scaling issue that will be addressed?

4

Ok I don’t see any freeze and I can scroll just fine. The only problem I have is that it takes a long time to update the preview when I write in the editor. It’s possible that the situation is better for me because we already introduced some changes in 0.11.1 for large documents that you haven’t received yet.

Anyway, we’ll look into your file.

1 Like
5

Awesome, I’ll look forward to the next release, and will post an update here. Thank you for the response!

May I take a moment to say how awesome Obsidian is overall? I’ve been using it for a month. The local-file and markdown approach is what appealed to me given the privacy and data ownership angles. The polish of the UI blew me away because of how fantastic the usability is. Not to mention the extensibility with the plugins. It’s very quickly become a tool I use heavily now! Amazing work, kudos to the team!

2 Likes
6

Reminds me of other Electron-based editors, most notably Atom (which I abandoned as a Markdown editor just for that reason).

Tested your file on Linux (Mint), editing is quite ok but preview unbearably slow (especially notable when linked so you can see what you do).

And of course this will get worse the more plugins and/or CSS snippets one uses. It pays to stick with the bare minimum required for one’s work.

I hope Obsidian will stay/get as performant as possible (given the technology used), because its features are so much worth it.

7

is this still happening in 1.1.3?

8

I have a document I wrote on Google Docs that I wanted to migrate to Obsidian when I also ran into this issue. This is a file with a large number of characters. Text changes don’t appear in Obsidian until a minute later! Small edits appear faster.
File size: 7522060 characters, about 7,346 KB

The reason the file is long is because I have hyperlinked to images on the internet and the link paths are REALLY long. Reducing the number of characters in the file removes the delay, but this still feels like a problem.

9

A single markdown file of 8 megabytes? that’s very odd. What is it? Can you attach a copy here or dm it to me.

10

@WhiteNoise This is pretty easy to achieve. I just ran into this issue using the Chrome Markdownload extension with image downloading enabled to base64 encodings. File size = 7.6Mb. Looks great rendered but if I try to go into edit mode Obsidian completely freezes and I have to quit out.

11

We are not at the point of supporting markdown files with encoded/embedded stuff in them. You can search/open a FR for that.