How to sync your Obsidian vault with iCloud
On an iPhone and a Mac, iCloud needs no extra subscription and no extra app. Two things matter: putting the vault in the right place and keeping its files on the device. Here is the setup, taken from Obsidian's own documentation (the method comparison is not repeated here).
How do I sync Obsidian with iCloud?
Turn on iCloud Drive, then create the vault inside the "Obsidian" folder in iCloud Drive. On iPhone that means toggling "Store in iCloud" while creating the vault; on Mac it means picking the Obsidian folder inside iCloud Drive in the file picker.
On the second device, choose "Open folder as vault" and point it at the same folder. What Obsidian's documentation warns about is the location: create it outside iCloud Drive/Obsidian/[Your Vault Name] and you will hit syncing issues.
Step 1: Turn on iCloud Drive
It's usually already on, but check. With it off you can still create the folder — it just never syncs.
- iPhone / iPad
Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive. - Mac
System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Drive.
Step 2: Create the vault inside iCloud
Do this once, on your first device. Either platform works, but the flow differs: iPhone gives you a toggle, Mac makes you pick the folder yourself.
Creating it on iPhone / iPad
- Open Obsidian and tap Create new vault.
- Enter a name for the vault.
- Toggle on "Store in iCloud". This is the whole trick. Leave it off and the vault stays on that one device.
- Tap Create.
Creating it on Mac
- Open Obsidian and choose Create new vault.
- In the file picker, navigate to iCloud Drive → Obsidian.
- Create a folder for the vault and name it.
- Select Create to finish.
iCloud Drive gives apps their own area. The "Obsidian" folder carrying the app's icon is that area, and it is where Obsidian on iOS reads and writes. A plain folder you created yourself with the same name is a different thing — Obsidian's documentation says in so many words: do not use the plain folder without the app icon.
Step 3: Open the same vault on your second device
On the second device you do not create a vault — you open the existing folder. Creating one here leaves you with two vaults of the same name sitting side by side.
- Open Obsidian on the other Mac or iPhone.
- Open the vault switcher and choose Open folder as vault.
- Navigate to iCloud Drive → Obsidian and select the vault folder you created on the first device.
Three traps, and that's mostly the list
"iCloud sync isn't working" usually isn't about the steps. It's one of three things — location, offloading, or layering — and Obsidian's own documentation calls out all three by name.
The vault sits outside the "Obsidian" folder
The correct location is iCloud Drive/Obsidian/[Your Vault Name]. A vault created directly in iCloud Drive, or inside Documents, either isn't visible to Obsidian on iOS or causes syncing problems. Here's how to check.
- Open the Files app on iPhone.
- Tap Browse, then select iCloud Drive under Locations.
- Confirm the vault is inside the Obsidian folder. If it's somewhere else, move it in.
iCloud has offloaded the files
iCloud can push the contents of unused files off the device and keep them only in the cloud. Obsidian reads the vault's files directly, so when the contents aren't there, the files read as missing. The official FAQ states plainly that this offloading causes sync issues. The fix depends on your macOS version.
| Environment | What to do | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later | Right-click the Obsidian folder in iCloud Drive and choose Keep Downloaded | Only the Obsidian folder |
| macOS 14 (Sonoma) or earlier | Turn Optimize Mac Storage off in iCloud settings | All iCloud storage on that device |
Obsidian's documentation calls this optional but strongly recommended for keeping load times fast. Note that on macOS 14 and earlier the switch reaches beyond Obsidian — it affects everything iCloud stores on that Mac.
Two sync methods layered on one vault
Obsidian's documentation has a dedicated note — avoid mixing sync services — telling you not to sync one vault through several services at once, giving Obsidian Sync plus iCloud as the example. The reason is data conflicts and corruption. If you're on iCloud and want to try the official Sync, move to one or the other rather than running both.
For the same reason, skip iCloud Drive on Windows. The documentation lists iCloud's recommended systems as macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, and states that iCloud Drive on Windows may lead to file duplication or corruption. If Windows or Android is in your mix, iCloud isn't the method to pick.
iCloud carries the whole folder, settings included
A vault is just a folder, and alongside your Markdown files it holds a .obsidian folder with your settings. iCloud Drive syncs at the folder level, so your settings ride along with your notes. For most people that's the convenient default — same theme, same hotkeys, both devices.
If you'd rather keep settings separate per device, the documentation points to a per-device configuration folder feature. (The Syncthing section says to exclude .obsidian from syncing when you want separate settings — which is also confirmation that settings live inside the vault.) iCloud has no exclude list, so on iCloud that feature is the way to do it.
Is the Japanese documentation the same as the English?
Translated docs can lag the English original, so we pulled both on the day this article was written and compared them. They match. Reading the Japanese version is fine.
| Compared | English | Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| Headings (h2/h3) | 10 | 10 (1:1) |
| Callouts | 12 | 12 |
| Contents of the iCloud section | Steps, location warning, keep-downloaded | Same (terms map across) |
| File size | 12,796 bytes | 17,355 bytes |
The byte difference is UTF-8 (Japanese characters take three bytes), not a difference in content. The official repository states that the English locale is the source of truth and that every page should exist 1:1 in every locale — so when in doubt, the English page is the one to check.
Writing into an iCloud vault from outside Obsidian
A vault synced through iCloud is still just a folder, so other apps can write into it. But it is a folder where iCloud's sync process and Obsidian itself are already touching the same files, so a careless write drops data. Here is what Simple Memo actually does about that, straight from the implementation.
yyyy-MM-dd.md, or to a fixed Inbox note <Inbox>.md, creating the file if it isn't there. More on appending to the daily note in its own page.NSFileCoordinator — Apple's own mechanism for coordinating reads and writes with other processes such as iCloud's sync daemon and Obsidian itself, so simultaneous access doesn't lose an entry. Rapid-fire sends are serialized on a dedicated queue.Free to download. Setup is picking your vault folder in iCloud Drive, once.
On desktop? Scan with your phone
FAQ
Where in iCloud Drive should the vault live?
iCloud Drive/Obsidian/[Your Vault Name], tells you to use the folder carrying the Obsidian app icon, and warns against the plain folder without it. Check in the Files app: Browse → iCloud Drive, and confirm your vault is inside the Obsidian folder.Notes look empty or stale on my iPhone
Can I run iCloud and Obsidian Sync together?
Does iCloud Drive on Windows work?
Can Simple Memo write into an iCloud vault?
yyyy-MM-dd.md) or your Inbox note without opening Obsidian. Writes go through NSFileCoordinator so they don't race iCloud's sync process or Obsidian itself. Because iCloud has to sync, there's a few-second lag before it appears in Obsidian.Checked August 27, 2026, on Linux (no macOS or iOS hardware here). Hands-on (actually fetched and compared in this session): the English source en/Getting started/Sync your notes across devices.md (12,796 bytes) and the Japanese ja/はじめに/デバイス間でノートを同期する.md (17,355 bytes) were pulled directly from Obsidian's documentation repository obsidianmd/obsidian-help, and their 10 headings and 12 callouts were matched 1:1 programmatically. The steps and warnings quoted above come from that source. Based on official documentation (not verified on device): the iPhone/Mac settings paths, the behavior of Keep Downloaded and Optimize Mac Storage, and the Windows caveat — all documented by Obsidian, none of it confirmed on screen here. First-party (our own implementation): how Simple Memo writes (appending via NSFileCoordinator, the target filenames, AES-GCM encryption of the on-device queue) is taken from the app's implementation. Not testable in this environment: actual iCloud Drive sync and conflict behavior (no macOS/iOS). Conflict behavior is covered in our sync methods overview, where iCloud is likewise untested on device. Documentation changes over time — check the official site for the current version.
Related pages
References
- Obsidian Help — Sync your notes across devices (original English source) — Source repository for the official documentation, fetched directly in this session on August 27, 2026. The published version is the same page on obsidian.md/help
- Obsidian Help — Sync notes between devices (Japanese version) — The Japanese locale of the same document, used for the parity comparison
- obsidianmd/obsidian-help — Source for the policy that English is the source of truth and every page exists 1:1 per locale
- Obsidian sync methods compared (this site) — Where we measured how Git and Syncthing break on conflict, and where iCloud sits among the options
- Simple Memo - for Obsidian — App Store — App Store download page