Obsidian

ApplicationDynalist Inc.

Also called obsidian md, obsidian vault

Dynalist Inc.Productivity

A local Markdown vault editor. The process is Obsidian.exe. Plugins are optional. It is not Notion.

What you need to know

Obsidian is a local Markdown vault. Notion is a different product.

Obsidian.exe opens a folder of Markdown files on disk. Notion is a cloud workspace. Notepad++ can edit the same .md files without the graph. Extra Obsidian.exe rows are usually Electron helpers.

What is it?: Local Markdown vault
Same as Notion?: No. Files live on disk
Need plugins?: No. They are optional

Feex says

If Obsidian.exe is here, I treat the vault folder as the data. I do not look for a Notion export to explain those .md files, and I do not end notepad++.exe to close the vault.

What is Obsidian?

Obsidian is a local-first Markdown app. It is not Notion, not OneNote, and not Notepad++.

If you have never used it

If you want notes as local Markdown files, Obsidian is a vault on disk. Download it from obsidian.md/download. Obsidian.exe opens a folder of .md files. Notion is a cloud workspace in a browser or its own app. Plugins are optional. The files stay in your vault folder even if you quit the app.

What is it used for?

Edit a vault of Markdown files

Plain .md on disk. Notion stores documents in a cloud workspace, not this folder.

Graph and links

[[wikilinks]] inside the vault. That graph is Obsidian, not a Notion database.

Optional plugins and Sync

Community plugins and paid Sync. Core app works offline without them.

Who is it for?

People who want notes as files they can copy
Users leaving Notion for a local vault
Anyone who should not treat a browser wiki as this exe

Current status

Obsidian (2020) is a current local notes from Dynalist Inc.. The vendor still points Windows users at https://obsidian.md/download.

How old is it?

Dynalist Inc. launched Obsidian in 2020. It is younger than Notepad++ and newer than most wiki tools. Current Windows Electron builds still update. A 2015 Evernote-only workflow is a different product.

Versions

Major channels first. Exact build numbers are not all verified here.

Obsidian desktop

Insider builds

System requirements

Values follow the publisher's public guidance. Workload still changes the real need.

Minimum

Minimum system requirements
Operating system	A current 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11 release, per Obsidian
RAM	Electron baseline. Huge vaults and many plugins want more

Resource profile

CPU demand: Follows what you open inside the app
RAM demand: Follows documents, tabs, or libraries

Installed processes

These executables belong to this product when it is installed.

Installed processes
Obsidian.exe	Obsidian vault window

Startup components

Obsidian can reopen the last vault. That is session restore, not a Windows service.

File locations

Common Obsidian locations
Typical install	C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Obsidian\

File formats

MarkdownPNG attachments

Common problems

Vault on a flaky sync folder

Two devices writing the same vault without Obsidian Sync or a careful Git setup can conflict. That is not a Notion block error.

A community plugin hangs the app

Safe mode disables plugins. notepad++.exe plugins will not fix this vault.

Getting unstuck

Install from obsidian.md/download

Dynalist hosts the real installer. An Obsidian pro pack is junk.

Open the vault folder in Explorer

The .md files are the notes. A Notion export is a different tree.

Start in restricted mode if a plugin breaks startup

Help documents that path. It does not apply to Windows Notepad.

Alternatives

Notion if you want a cloud workspace. Notepad++ or VS Code if you only need a Markdown editor. OneNote is a different Microsoft notebook.

Official help and downloads

Start with the vendor. Random exe sites are not a support channel.

Official contacts
Download	obsidian.md/download Official installer or vendor page
Help	help.obsidian.md/ Vendor support
Official site	obsidian.md/ Start here, not a random exe host
Obsidian help	help.obsidian.md/ Vaults, plugins, and sync

Related hardware

The shell is Electron-class. Huge vaults want an SSD. A GPU is irrelevant.

Technical details

Vendor version numbers change. This article does not pin a build.

Sources and verification

Reviewed by Feex editorial. Last verified August 2026 Status: Feex Reviewed. How we research.

Obsidian official site · Vendor product page
Obsidian help · Vendor support
Obsidian help · Official product documentation
Foxhole process map · First-party samples on Windows PCs. Not a lab benchmark.

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