How to recover your notes

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If you lost notes or content, there are multiple ways to recover them:

From the note history

If the note is still there but doesn't have the content you expect, you may be able to restore it using the Note History feature. In the desktop app, click on the "i" button, then click on "Note revisions". From there, see if you can restore the content.

From the trash

If you manually delete a note or notebook, it will be moved to the trash folder - check if it's there.

From the built-in backup

By default, Joplin saves at regular interval your notes in the JoplinBackup folder in your home directory (c:\Users\YOUR_NAME\JoplinBackup on Windows, /Users/YOUR_NAME/JoplinBackup on macOS, /home/YOUR_NAME/JoplinBackup on Linux).

Check there if one of the backup sets contains the data you're looking for.

See the restore documentation for more information.

From another device

If the note is deleted on a device, it may still be available on another device you synced with. In that case, follow these steps:

  • First, disconnect the device from the internet (or else it will sync too and delete your note)
  • Then check if the data is in your note collection

From your backup software

If you are making your own backup, look for the folder ~/.config/joplin-desktop in your backup set. If you have such a folder, here's how to restore it:

  • First close Joplin
  • Move the folder ~/.config/joplin-desktop to ~/.config/joplin-desktop-BAK (this is to ensure you don't lose your existing data)
  • Copy the folder joplin-desktop from your backup to ~/.config/joplin-desktop
  • Open the app and see if you can find your data
  • Export as JEX any relevant note or notebook
  • Once done, close Joplin
  • Delete ~/.config/joplin-desktop
  • Rename ~/.config/joplin-desktop-BAK to ~/.config/joplin-desktop
  • Open Joplin
  • Import the JEX file

Advanced method

If all else fails consider this advanced method to restore your note.

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