# Obsidian Vault An Obsidian vault is nothing more than a folder on disk. [[Obsidian]] opens it, indexes the Markdown files inside, and stores its own configuration in a hidden `.obsidian` subfolder. That's the whole model, and it's the reason Obsidian is local-first: your notes are plain files you can read, sync, back up, and process with any tool, with or without Obsidian (this is exactly what the [[Obsidian CLI]] and my AI workflows exploit). ## The .obsidian folder Per-vault configuration lives in `.obsidian/`: - `app.json`, `appearance.json`, `hotkeys.json` and friends: settings - `workspace.json`: open tabs and pane layout - `plugins/`: installed community plugins and their data - `snippets/`: [[Obsidian CSS Snippets]] - `themes/`: installed [[Obsidian Themes]] Because configuration is per vault, two vaults can have entirely different plugins, themes, and hotkeys. Whether to sync `.obsidian` along with the notes is a real decision: syncing it keeps machines consistent, but `workspace.json` churns constantly and causes noisy diffs (a lesson I learned the hard way; see [[Obsidian 2025-01 vault issue post-mortem]]). ## Multiple vaults The vault switcher (also reachable via `obsidian://choose-vault`, see [[Obsidian URI]]) manages any number of vaults, fully isolated from each other. Useful for separating work/personal, or for a sandbox vault to test plugins without risking the real one. ## Good to know - Obsidian never phones your notes home; everything stays local unless you add [[Obsidian Sync]], [[Syncthing]], or another sync layer yourself. - The [[File recovery core plugin for Obsidian]] keeps snapshots inside the vault config; it has saved me more than once (see [[Obsidian File Recovery]]). - Vault size is rarely the bottleneck; thousands of notes stay fast. Huge attachment folders are what slow indexing down. ## References - Manage vaults: https://help.obsidian.md/Files+and+folders/Manage+vaults - Configuration folder: https://help.obsidian.md/Files+and+folders/Configuration+folder ## Related - [[Obsidian]] - [[Obsidian Sync]] - [[Syncthing]] - [[Obsidian CLI]] - [[Obsidian URI]] - [[Obsidian CSS Snippets]] - [[Obsidian Themes]] - [[Obsidian File Recovery]] - [[File recovery core plugin for Obsidian]] - [[Obsidian 2025-01 vault issue post-mortem]]