Hey! Do not update Joplin at this way. All notes not opening

Support
1

Operating system

Linux

Joplin version

3.5.2

Desktop version info

Joplin 3.5.12 (prod, linux)

Device: linux, Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900 CPU @ 3.10GHz
Client ID: eb0005ba3a5643959d196dc790923662
Sync Version: 3
Profile Version: 49
Keychain Supported: No
Alternative instance ID: -

Revision: 449555c

Backup: 1.4.2
Better Code Blocks: 2.0.1
CodeMirror Line Numbers: 2.0.0
Conflict Resolution: 1.2.3
Copy Code Blocks: 1.1.3
Draw.io: 2.2.0
Font Size Shortcut: 1.0.0
Freehand Drawing: 4.2.0
GitHub Theme: 0.3.0
joplin-plugin-ai-tools: 1.0.2
NoteLLM: 0.7.5
OCR: 0.3.2
Plugin Bundle: 0.5.5
ReMoods Theme: 4.6.4
Rich Markdown: 0.15.1

Sync target

Joplin Server

Editor

Markdown Editor

What issue do you have?

I did a update to latest version via script and Joplin desktop loose my all notes and stopped to sync with my local server.
What is happening?
My local folder has all files and I just move it to earlier version and it is working. Earlier version works.
Why this update crashes this way? Why it stopped to sync data?

Screenshots

Screenshot_20260127_082719.png
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2

OH no! you changed it to app image?

3

The official install script has always used an AppImage.

Did you previously use an unofficial version of Joplin such as Flatpak or Snap, possibly from your OS's "software store"? If these versions store the note data in a different location to what the AppImage is expecting, the AppImage it is going to open as if Joplin has never previously been installed.

4

oh sorry. my fault here. It came from script installation. Too much time using and updating via script. I forget it was an app image.
But it is really strange it updated from script and stopped to sync even from server. And not loading nothing. Appears to create a new one note db and ignore what was existing earlier.
How to start to debug and solve it? It was in sync with my local server and notes there are updated.

5

Do you mean it gives errors or that there are no longer any sync settings. If you go to Tools > Options > Synchronisation does the Synchronisation target show Joplin Server or None? If you see errors, what are they?

Do you get any error messages, or are there no notes at all and the app appears "empty", or do you only see the "Welcome" notes you got when you first installed Joplin.

If you used the AppImage before the update then all your notes, plugins and settings are stored in ~/.config/joplin-desktop. Unless that directory has been renamed, moved or tampered with the new AppImage will use that existing data.

The confusing thing is that previously said that you reverted to an earlier version and it works. If that earlier AppImage version was 3.4.12 then that should not be possible as 3.5.12 and 3.4.12 use a different database format, so reverting by just installing the older AppImage is not possible.

6

Hi. For shure!
”you see errors, what are they?” Any sync errors. But any data synced.

image
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just 2 notes. that 2 notes are the last notes I read before update.

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see it and it is strange. I read these two notes before update and they are appearing but where are the other notes?

7

“The confusing thing is that previously said that you reverted to an earlier version and it works.”
yes, I am talking about server and sync to be more specific. My note is syncing with sever. it is working. That’s why I discard remote problems and focused in local desktop installation problem.

8

“AppImage version was 3.4.12 then that should not be possible as 3.5.12 and 3.4.12 use a different database format”
Nice. Thanx. This is a local problem about database conversion maybe. I will fix it

9 

#!/bin/bash
# Joplin Deep Clean Script for Linux

echo "Stopping any running Joplin instances..."
pkill -i -f "joplin" --exclude-pid $$ >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
echo "process killed"

echo "Removing application files and binaries..."
#Remove official AppImage install location
rm -rf ~/.joplin
echo "appimage removed"

# Remove desktop integration files
rm -f ~/.local/share/applications/appimagekit-joplin.desktop
rm -f ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/joplin.png

echo "Wiping configuration, notes, and cache..."
# Standard Desktop config and data
rm -rf ~/.config/joplin-desktop
# Electron-specific cache often found in newer installs
rm -rf ~/.config/Joplin
# CLI version config
rm -rf ~/.config/joplin

echo "Checking for package manager installs..."
# Uninstall Flatpak version if present
if command -v flatpak &> /dev/null; then
    flatpak uninstall -y net.cozic.joplin_desktop 2>/dev/null
fi

# Uninstall Snap version if present
if command -v snap &> /dev/null; then
    sudo snap remove joplin 2>/dev/null
    sudo snap remove joplin-desktop 2>/dev/null
fi

echo "Joplin has been completely purged from this system."
10

Just clean installing and removing it woked.
Beware if someone needs this script and did not have Joplin Server syncing and rely only at local files. You must backup those folders first. Not recomended.

For those with Joplin server the caveat of clean install is to loose plugins. You must install then later.

So to shorten things - clean install solved. Thanxx for your help DP.