Obsidian
About Obsidian
Obsidian is a knowledge management and note-taking app that stores notes as local Markdown files. Founded by Shida Li and Erica Xu, it entered public beta in 2020 and reached version 1.0 in 2022. Your vault is just a folder on your Mac, and Obsidian says the data is not sent to its servers.
The macOS build is a Universal app that runs natively on Intel and Apple silicon Macs. Links between notes, a graph view and an infinite Canvas help you connect ideas, while the Web Clipper extension for Safari, Chrome and other browsers saves articles into your vault. Thousands of community plugins and themes extend it. It is free for personal and commercial use; Sync and Publish are optional paid services.
Key features
- Local plain-text Markdown vaults
- Universal app for Intel and Apple silicon
- Links and graph view
- Infinite Canvas
- Community plugins and themes
- Web Clipper for Safari, Chrome and more
- Optional encrypted Sync with version history
- Optional Publish to the web
Download via Quark Drive
We’re still preparing the Quark Drive share for this app. It will appear here once it’s ready. Tap “Request” to bump it up.
How to install
“App is damaged and can’t be opened”
Move the app into Applications, open Terminal, run this line, then open the app again:
xattr -cr "/Applications/Obsidian.app"“Developer cannot be verified”
In Finder → Applications, Control-click the app, choose Open, then Open again. On macOS 15 or later: System Settings → Privacy & Security, then “Open Anyway” at the bottom.
Apple silicon or Intel?
Apple menu → About This Mac. If the chip says Apple M, pick the Apple silicon build; Universal works on both.
Check the file
Run this in Terminal and compare the result with the SHA256 listed for the cloud file:
shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/file-nameAlternatives
Joplin
Logseq
Notion
QOwnNotes
Changelog
Release notes
FAQ
How do I download Obsidian?
The Quark Drive share for Obsidian is being prepared and will appear in the download section of this page.
Is Obsidian free?
Obsidian license: 免费（专有软件，闭源）. appwl only lists official builds and charges nothing for downloads.
Which systems does Obsidian support?
This page offers Obsidian for macOS, version 1.14.5.
Is Obsidian from appwl safe?
appwl only lists official releases with their version and date. You can verify the SHA256 using the install tips on this page.