If it means a financial strain, there are ways to sync with git (GitHub, Working Copy app; again, search the forum, but could be too tech for a newbie).
My proposal was only for removal of that file, which for some reason caused an issue; not having the file synced (as it is non-existent, as you say) still should not have caused the issue of Obsidian vault not opening. Hard to say from here why.
Good luck