Keep your notes safe
Conflict copies and backups
When 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.
Most edits merge on their own, however many people type at once. A few situations cannot be merged, and in each of them Nectenda keeps both versions rather than choosing one. Nothing is thrown away silently: if a version is set aside, it is somewhere you can see.
A stray copy costs you a file to delete. A lost paragraph cannot be got back. So when in doubt, Nectenda keeps.
Conflict copies, beside the note
A file named like this appears next to the original:
Meeting notes (conflicted copy 2026-09-26T10-41-07-512Z).md
This happens when:
- Someone deleted a note while you had unsent changes to it. The deletion goes ahead, and your version is kept as a conflict copy, so your work survives.
- Two people changed the same attachment or canvas at once. The newest version wins, and the other is kept as a conflict copy.
A conflict copy is an ordinary file in the shared folder, so it syncs to everyone. Open it, take what you need into the original, and delete the copy.
Backups, in .nectenda-backups/
Some situations are about your own copy of a note rather than someone else's. Before Nectenda replaces or empties a note on your disk in one of these, it saves your copy to .nectenda-backups/, in a folder named with the date and time, keeping the note's path:
- You added a shared folder, and your vault already had a different version of a note in it. The shared version is written, and yours is backed up first.
- Another program changed a note while Nectenda was offline, and both versions have something the other lacks. What you see in the editor is kept, and the file's version is backed up.
- A note that had content was emptied by a sync. The content is backed up before the note is blanked.
Backups are only on the device that made them, and they do not sync.
Finding the backups
Obsidian's file explorer hides folders whose names start with a dot, so .nectenda-backups does not appear there. Open your vault folder in your computer's file manager instead:
- macOS: in Finder, press Cmd + Shift + . to show hidden folders.
- Windows: in File Explorer, choose View → Show → Hidden items.
- Linux: in most file managers, press Ctrl + H.