Windows: Right-click delete in File Explorer freezes UI for ~2 seconds

Help
1

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Steps to reproduce

  1. Create a new vault (sandbox or empty vault).
  2. Ensure no community plugins are enabled (Restricted Mode / default theme).
  3. Create a folder with a few files (or use an existing folder).
  4. In the File Explorer, right-click a file or folder and choose Delete.
  5. Observe the UI becomes unresponsive for ~2 seconds.

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]

Y

Expected result

The item should be deleted immediately, and the UI should remain responsive (no noticeable freeze).

Actual result

After confirming Delete (no confirmation dialog enabled), the UI freezes for about 2 seconds before responding again.

Environment

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.11.4
Installer version: v1.11.4
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045
Login status: not logged in
Language: zh
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: dark
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on
RECOMMENDATIONS:
none

Additional information

  • Reproducible consistently on Windows.
  • Happens even with “Delete without confirmation” enabled.
  • Approximate freeze duration: ~2 seconds each time.
  • If needed, I can provide a short screen recording and logs.
2

I can’t reproduce this. There is something wrong specifically with your computer/setup to cause this.

3

Create a new empty vault and make a screen recording of it happening there.

4

Hi support team,

Thanks for looking into this. I have a new finding that might explain why you couldn’t reproduce it.

It turns out my vault folder is located under iCloud Drive (iCloud for Windows). The UI freeze only happens when the vault is in an iCloud-managed directory. My guess is that iCloud hooks/intercepts the delete operation and Obsidian ends up waiting for the filesystem operation to complete (possibly including cloud sync), which delays the UI thread. When I create a vault in a normal local folder that is not managed by iCloud, deleting files/folders from the File Explorer is instant and the UI remains responsive.

This is 100% reproducible for me:

  • Vault under iCloud Drive: ~2 second UI freeze on every right-click delete (file or folder)

  • Vault outside iCloud Drive: no noticeable delay

Suggestion: consider performing delete operations asynchronously (or at least ensuring the UI doesn’t block while waiting for the delete result). In normal cases the result would return quickly anyway, but this would make the experience much more robust in environments where cloud providers (like iCloud/OneDrive) add latency to filesystem operations.

If helpful, I can provide my debug info and a short screen recording showing the difference between an iCloud Drive vault and a local vault.

Best regards,

5

Sorry, we do no handle problems of third party sync systems. Moved to help section.