User guide

Using Nectenda in Obsidian

How to share a folder, bring people in, and keep your notes safe while you write together. Start at the top if you are new.

Get started

What Nectenda isNectenda lets several people edit the same Obsidian notes at once, encrypted on each device so the server that relays them cannot read them.
Install the pluginInstall Nectenda from Obsidian's community plugins on your computer or phone, turn it on, and open its settings to sign in.
Sign inConnect a vault to Nectenda with a passkey, a code sent to your email, or your Google, Apple or Microsoft account. Your passphrase is never part of it.
Choose your passphrase and save your recovery keyYour passphrase makes the keys that encrypt your notes, and nobody can reset it. Choose one, then save the recovery key that is your only way back.

Share a folderTurn a folder in your Obsidian vault into a shared folder, encrypted on your device, so you can invite people to edit it with you.
Invite someone to a folderInvite a person to a shared folder by email. Someone new gets an invitation and has the folder as soon as they join; your vault sends them its key.
Join by invitation or linkAccept an invitation to someone's organisation in Obsidian, from Shared with you in Nectenda's settings or by opening the link in the email.
Add a shared folder to this vaultWhen someone shares a folder with you, add it to your vault in one click, or choose where it goes. Your existing notes are never shared by accident.
Editing togetherWhat you see when others edit the same Obsidian note as you, live cursors with names, mouse pointers and faces in the note header, and how to turn them off.
AttachmentsHow images, PDFs, canvases and other files sync in a shared folder, which plans include them, and what to do when one will not sync.

People and rolesWho can do what in a shared folder and in an organisation, where to see everyone, and why Nectenda has no read-only role.
Compare encryption keysCheck that the key you share a folder with really belongs to your collaborator, by comparing fingerprints outside Nectenda, and what a changed key means.
Remove someone or stop sharingTake a person out of a shared folder, stop syncing a folder in one vault, or stop sharing it for everyone, and what each leaves on people's disks.
Share linksCopy your organisation's share link so people can join it without an emailed invitation, and what someone who opens it can and cannot reach.

Plans, storage and devicesWhat an organisation's plan sets, seats, devices per seat and attachment storage, and where to see how much of each you are using in Obsidian.
UpgradeMove an organisation to a paid plan from inside Obsidian, pay on the payment provider's page in your browser, and manage or cancel it later.
Signed-in vaults and passkeysSee every vault signed in to your Nectenda account, sign one out from another device, and remove passkeys you no longer use.

Conflict copies and backupsWhen two versions of a note cannot be merged, Nectenda keeps both. Where the extra copies go, how to find them, and when it is safe to delete them.
Using Nectenda with other sync servicesWhy a shared folder should not also be synced by Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Dropbox or OneDrive, and how to use both on the same vault safely.
Forgot your passphraseUse the recovery key you saved when you set up Nectenda to choose a new passphrase. Your notes and shared folders are unaffected.

Sync status iconsWhat the Nectenda status icon and the marks beside notes in the file explorer mean, colour by colour, and what to do about each one.
Waiting for a keyWhy a folder shared with you can wait before it opens, what the owner's vault has to do, and how to get it moving on either side.
Device limit reachedA device that does not fit your plan's device slots stops syncing that organisation. Free a slot or add this device, and syncing carries on.
Update requiredWhen the Nectenda plugin is too old for the server, syncing pauses until you update it. Your notes are kept on your device throughout.

Self-hostingRunning your own Nectenda server is not on offer yet. What the plugin supports today, why self-hosting exists at all, and how to ask about it.