--- title: My Obsidian vault got too bloated, so I switched to this... description: A heavy Obsidian vault with thousands of notes and numerous plugins became too slow for quick note-taking, prompting a switch to HelixNotes for lightweight,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: My Obsidian vault got too bloated, so I switched to this app for simple notes | daily.dev og:description: A heavy Obsidian vault with thousands of notes and numerous plugins became too slow for quick note-taking, prompting a switch to HelixNotes for lightweight,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/s8fCxqI3h.png og:image:alt: My Obsidian vault got too bloated, so I switched to this app for simple notes og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # My Obsidian vault got too bloated, so I switched to this app for simple notes **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 27 upvotes · 16 comments ## Summary A heavy Obsidian vault with thousands of notes and numerous plugins became too slow for quick note-taking, prompting a switch to HelixNotes for lightweight, disposable notes. HelixNotes is a small, open-source markdown app that opens instantly, stores files locally as plain .md files, and uses the same internal linking syntax as Obsidian. The workflow keeps Obsidian for long-term knowledge management while offloading quick, throwaway notes to HelixNotes, preventing vault bloat and preserving markdown compatibility for easy transfer between the two apps. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I take quick notes without opening my slow, bloated Obsidian vault? Use a separate lightweight markdown note app like HelixNotes for quick, disposable notes instead of opening a large Obsidian vault. HelixNotes opens in seconds, uses minimal resources, stores plain .md files locally, supports the same double-bracket wiki-style linking as Obsidian, and lets you copy or import notes into Obsidian later for long-term storage. _daily.dev surfaces workflow tips for developers juggling multiple note-taking tools without losing markdown compatibility._ ### Why does my Obsidian vault take minutes to open? A vault can slow to two or three minutes to open once it accumulates thousands of notes, images, and experimental plugins, since performance depends heavily on vault size and installed plugins rather than a fixed limitation of the app itself. Trimming plugins or offloading disposable quick notes elsewhere can reduce the strain. _developers optimizing local-first tools follow performance troubleshooting stories like this on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@toonchavez8** · 5 upvotes > Sounds like a user issue. Nice plug for HelixNote, though. > > I use Google Keep for quick notes and grocery lists, but I use Obsidian on my tablet, laptop, desktop, and phone, all synced via Git. It opens fast, even with around 15 plugins. I run `git pull --rebase` on startup so I always have the latest information, and when I close Obsidian it automatically does a `git push`, so merge conflicts are rare, and when they do happen, they're usually minimal. > > The key is to split things into multiple vaults. I currently have four: > > 1. **Work** > 2. **Study** – This is where I do everything: coding... **@neoscripter** · 4 upvotes > If it doesn't have a vim mode, I am not interested.... **@devinweidinger** · 2 upvotes > Just use a triage folder in obsidian **@lukyan** · 2 upvotes > you installed plugins and then switched because of too many plugins?? **@godblaze** · 2 upvotes > RemNote supremacy ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I expected to bounce off Obsidian like every other note app, and a year later it's running my entire life](https://daily.dev/posts/i-expected-to-bounce-off-obsidian-like-every-other-note-app-and-a-year-later-it-s-running-my-entire-nl9it9alr) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [I gave up on Obsidian twice before I found the setup that finally stuck](https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-up-on-obsidian-twice-before-i-found-the-setup-that-finally-stuck-jp6tjdd6q) · XDA Developers · 80 upvotes · 9 comments - [Introduction to Obsidian](https://daily.dev/posts/introduction-to-obsidian-ceake8lug) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Privacy Notes: Markdown Editor With Built-in Encrypted Vault](https://daily.dev/posts/privacy-notes-markdown-editor-with-built-in-encrypted-vault-xv6z9tndc) · It's Foss · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Please stop overcomplicating your notes — these lightweight apps do everything Obsidian does](https://daily.dev/posts/please-stop-overcomplicating-your-notes-these-lightweight-apps-do-everything-obsidian-does-ynfhllcvh) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#markdown](https://daily.dev/tags/markdown) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"My Obsidian vault got too bloated, so I switched to this app for simple notes","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h"},"datePublished":"2026-07-13T21:02:46.105Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T18:26:31.087Z","description":"A heavy Obsidian vault with thousands of notes and numerous plugins became too slow for quick note-taking, prompting a switch to HelixNotes for lightweight,...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7c4ef2c73870c96ae6290675d1e5ef54?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7c4ef2c73870c96ae6290675d1e5ef54?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":16,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":27},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":16}],"keywords":"markdown","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"My Obsidian vault got too bloated, so I switched to this app for simple notes"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Sounds like a user issue. Nice plug for HelixNote, though.\nI use Google Keep for quick notes and grocery lists, but I use Obsidian on my tablet, laptop, desktop, and phone, all synced via Git. It opens fast, even with around 15 plugins. I run git pull --rebase on startup so I always have the latest information, and when I close Obsidian it automatically does a git push, so merge conflicts are rare, and when they do happen, they’re usually minimal.\nThe key is to split things into multiple vaults. I currently have four:\n\nWork\nStudy – This is where I do everything: coding challenges, my master’s coursework, notes, and more. It’s my largest vault, with around 154 folders, 992 files, and about 900 MB of data. It opens in about 5 seconds on my XP-Pen Magic Tablet and around 2 seconds on my work laptop.\nLife\nD&D – This is the heaviest vault in terms of plugins. It takes about 6 seconds to load, is around 600 MB, and can occasionally crash on lower-memory devices like my tablet. I usually keep one plugin disabled to avoid crashes and only enable it when I actually need it.","datePublished":"2026-07-15T18:18:59.874Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/s8fCxqI3h#c-vlBYtKniE","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Miguel Chavez","url":"https://daily.dev/toonchavez8","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/104461542?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"If it doesn’t have a vim mode, I am not interested…","datePublished":"2026-07-13T22:59:27.927Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/s8fCxqI3h#c-DnllqTXxS","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ilya Andreev","url":"https://daily.dev/neoscripter","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/140309026?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":4}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Just use a triage folder in obsidian","datePublished":"2026-07-13T23:40:02.518Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/s8fCxqI3h#c-d9cJxZHad","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Devin Weidinger","url":"https://daily.dev/devinweidinger","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocLXFU-SGryQUuzkPdVe_WektQsSN-6WCoMkaEqwFaPzujH4DQDQcg=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"you installed plugins and then switched because of too many plugins??","datePublished":"2026-07-16T07:14:55.291Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/s8fCxqI3h#c-QNew390Cq","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"lukyan","url":"https://daily.dev/lukyan","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"RemNote supremacy","datePublished":"2026-07-14T08:22:02.133Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/s8fCxqI3h#c-n9qgM8pLr","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Namith","url":"https://daily.dev/godblaze","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/92907249?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-obsidian-vault-got-too-bloated-so-i-switched-to-this-app-for-simple-notes-s8fcxqi3h#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I take quick notes without opening my slow, bloated Obsidian vault?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Use a separate lightweight markdown note app like HelixNotes for quick, disposable notes instead of opening a large Obsidian vault. HelixNotes opens in seconds, uses minimal resources, stores plain .md files locally, supports the same double-bracket wiki-style linking as Obsidian, and lets you copy or import notes into Obsidian later for long-term storage. daily.dev surfaces workflow tips for developers juggling multiple note-taking tools without losing markdown compatibility."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does my Obsidian vault take minutes to open?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A vault can slow to two or three minutes to open once it accumulates thousands of notes, images, and experimental plugins, since performance depends heavily on vault size and installed plugins rather than a fixed limitation of the app itself. Trimming plugins or offloading disposable quick notes elsewhere can reduce the strain. developers optimizing local-first tools follow performance troubleshooting stories like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```