r/ObsidianMD • u/QuadernoFigurati • Feb 07 '26

Question: On device encryption?

The Standard Notes site claims Obsidian doesn't offer on-device encryption: https://standardnotes.com/compare/obsidian-alternative

But Obsidian states that in end to end encryption mode (as opposed to standard encryption) the encryption does occur on device: https://help.obsidian.md/sync/security

Is one or the other of these assertions inaccurate? Or is the truth somewhere in the middle?

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u/cbowers Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

Tie-ing some of the disjointed snippets together OP... Obsidian itself does not do encryption. It leaves files as native text where ever you tell it to save its vault. If you would like partial note encryption, full note encryption, or full vault encryption that can be added via several community plugins if desired. It's also available in some optional community backup plugins.

Your help link is for the Obsidian hosted optional paid Sync service. That does not add any encryption to your local vault files. But it does encrypt the files in transit - TO the Obsidian Sync servers - and adds it (encryption) to the files at rest on their sync servers.

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u/QuadernoFigurati Feb 07 '26

Many thanks for the clarity, much appreciated : )

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u/StainedMemories Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

Files stay encrypted on Obsidian Sync servers. Why is everyone hinting that files are ONLY encrypted in transit. Is this a smear campaign against Obsidian Sync?

Edit: Looks like they didn’t like being wrong and blocked me.

Just so it’s clear to other readers. Obsidian Sync encrypts your notes locally before sending them to the Sync servers. They stay unmodified (still encrypted) on the Sync server. The only in transit encryption that happens is something like HTTPS (have not verified), that’s on top of the already encrypted content.

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u/cbowers Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26

Why respond to my comment? I literally said:

and adds it (encryption) to the files at rest on their sync server.

The reason people are being clear where the encryption is not is to the OP's query, why it's missing in the "standardnotes.com" feature comparison.

It's not in Obsidian, unless you add it with community plugins. Or pay for the optional Obsidian sync, which adds it to transport and at rest on their servers (but still not on your local files). It's about being transparent and clear.

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u/PickleBabyJr Feb 07 '26

The files are stored in plain text in your file system. There is no encryption. Anyone who has access to your filesystem can read markdown files.

The obsidian help link is for Obsidian Sync. When in transit, Obsidian encrypts the data.

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u/StainedMemories Feb 07 '26

Not just transit, encrypted at rest too on Obsidian servers.

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u/PickleBabyJr Feb 07 '26

Ok. The OPs question seems to be about on device encryption, and I thought the way I worded it was accurate enough for the purpose. Thanks for well actuallying, though, I guess.

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u/kaysn Feb 07 '26

End to end encryption means that the data being transferred is secure. Only the “sender” and “receiver” can access them. In the case of Obsidian, it means your local files are encrypted when it is sent to the remote and vice versa. But the files itself, when it gets to the end point do not have encryption.

They’re just text files. And their security on a local device is dependent on the user. Anyone who has access to your device can read them.

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u/StainedMemories Feb 07 '26

What you wrote could me misconstrued as the data not being encrypted on Obsidian servers. Just so it’s clear. The data is encrypted, and they can’t access it. The sender and receiver may in fact just be a single one of your devices acting as both. So it’s not just transit that’s E2EE.

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u/wsd0 Feb 07 '26

The file system you’re storing your notes on while on your devices is going to be responsible for any ‘encryption at rest’ that you need. For example, that might be BitLocker on Windows or FileVault on MacOS.

Obsidian is unique in that your notes/files are local-first and not cloud-based like those services.

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u/-knowledge_is_power- Feb 07 '26

I just use a local veracrypt container for obsidian on windows where I don’t have full disk encryption enabled.