# How to Resole Conflicts on Mobile App

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [1 February 2021 04:24 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507 "2021-02-01T04:24:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![arndtc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@arndtc](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/arndtc)\
**Post date:** [1 February 2021 04:24 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/1 "2021-02-01T04:24:52Z")

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I'm using the Mobile App Version 1.6.7 and I've run into a Conflict. I reviewed the FAQ, but it just tells what a conflict is, it doesn't explain how to resolve it. I also searched the forums, but couldn't find a clear answer to my question. if I missed it, feel free to point me to the post.

What I was hoping was that I could sync to the desktop and use a diffing tools like Meld to figure ou the differences, because the note is pretty log. The Conflict only appears on the Mobile App.

Also it isn't clear how to clear the conflict, once it is resolved. I could try deleting the note, but I'm a bit nervous about doing that because when I try to tap on the conflict it takes me to the original note, and I don't want to accidentality delete the original since Joplin doesn't have a trash system from which to recover a deleted note.

If anyone has some advice, I'd appreciate it.

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**Author:** ![arndtc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@arndtc](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/arndtc)\
**Post date:** [2 February 2021 21:19 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/2 "2021-02-02T21:19:34Z")

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Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on he own to clear the conflicts on the Android mobile app since there doesn't seem to be any help.

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**Author:** ![arndtc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@arndtc](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/arndtc)\
**Post date:** [4 February 2021 02:42 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/3 "2021-02-04T02:42:19Z")

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I'm suprised no one knew the answer to this. So I decided to experiment.

- Made a copy of the conflicting note on my mobile device and synced both my desktop and mobile devices
- Copied the text in to a diffing tool and compared the notes and resolved the conflict and put it back in the original note and synced on both the desktop and mobile
- Made a back up of the original notes, just in case anything happened
- Deleted the extra copy I no longer needed and synced both the desktop and mobile devices
- I then deleted the note from the Conflict folder and synced both the desktop and mobile devices
- The Conflict folder then disappeared from my mobile.

_Note to self, make sure that the sync is complete before editing notes._

This seems to have resolved the issue without losing the original note.  
Not sure why it never appeared on my desktop, but I was able to work around that by making a copy.

Hope someone else finds this useful.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [4 February 2021 23:55 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/4 "2021-02-04T23:55:13Z")

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Sorry, I somehow missed your original post.

This is how I resolve conflicts:

- I duplicate the note in the `Conflicts` folder (renaming doesn't work, because the id would still be the same)
- I move it to the same folder as the original note
- delete the note in the `Conflicts` folder
- sync
- I use an external diff tool (usually just copy and paste the content into it) to check what the differences are and maybe create a new note with stuff from both
- copy back the new content to the orig note, delete the duplicated note

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**Author:** ![arndtc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@arndtc](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/arndtc)\
**Post date:** [5 February 2021 02:59 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/5 "2021-02-05T02:59:59Z")

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@tessus, no worries and thanks for the reply. I finally figured it out through experimentation. Looks like the solution I came up with was pretty close to what you are doing. I just added a backup just to be safe.

I really love being able to diff the version since the content is written on markdown. But with that said it feel like it could be a bit easier to resolve conflicts. A couple of quick thoughts.

- Sync conflicts across devices
- Maybe add a plugin that lets you point to any 2 notes and call an external diff tool to compare them

Anyway, thanks or a great app!

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [5 February 2021 04:17 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/6 "2021-02-05T04:17:20Z")

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> [@arndtc](#):
>
> Maybe add a plugin that lets you point to any 2 notes and call an external diff tool to compare them

That was my first idea for a plugin:

> [@Any suggestions on what plugins could be created?](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/any-suggestions-on-what-plugins-could-be-created/9479/16):
>
> A conflict resolution plugin with colored diff.

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**Author:** ![fskirschbaum](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/fskirschbaum/32/7097_2.png) [@fskirschbaum](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/fskirschbaum)\
**Post date:** [7 February 2021 03:31 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/7 "2021-02-07T03:31:11Z")

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Came here to suggest this exactly thing. I can't help but notice there still isn't one of these despite the brilliant suggestion. Not sure, is there was way to prioritization and roadmap? I'm finding Joplin very useful as a cross platform tool, but would love to have an easy way to resolve conflicts.

Edit: A word, or three.

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [7 February 2021 04:03 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/8 "2021-02-07T04:03:39Z")

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The problem is that conflict resolution is a highly complex topic, or at least it can become one.

There's no automatic path or algorithm one can use. Conflict resolution is **always** a manual process, unless you are ok with losing data.

Adding a diff tool into Joplin with an option to merge and create a new note is a bit out of the scope of this project. However, a plugin might be able to accomplish that. The simplest solution is to use an external diff tool and manually update the note in Joplin. I guess we'll see what people come up with.

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**Author:** ![anon55947162](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@anon55947162](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/anon55947162)\
**Post date:** [7 February 2021 08:20 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/9 "2021-02-07T08:20:33Z")

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Interesting 🙂. We are agree to say it’s easier to compare diff in Joplin desktop. Your 3 first steps could be automatic in Joplin without plugin ?

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**Author:** ![tessus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/tessus/32/13_2.png) [@tessus](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/tessus)\
**Post date:** [7 February 2021 16:13 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/10 "2021-02-07T16:13:03Z")

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The 3 first steps are the least of the issues when handling a conflict. Ans yes, they could be automated when one were to choose a menu item like `Start conflict resolution`.

But the first 3 steps are not the problem. When someone figures out a proper and easy way to handle the diff, we can talk about the first 3 steps....

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anon55947162](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@anon55947162](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/anon55947162)\
**Post date:** [7 February 2021 17:57 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/11 "2021-02-07T17:57:39Z")

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ok, for Windows users I recommend the diff tool [winmerge.org](http://winmerge.org), it's open source and easy to [use](https://manual.winmerge.org/en/Intro_diffs.html#Intro_diffs_merging).

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/cozic/original/3X/1/c/1c948e33314e232a0927789508474d8624f4270b.png) [@system](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [9 March 2021 17:58 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/how-to-resole-conflicts-on-mobile-app/14507/12 "2021-03-09T17:58:27Z")

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Closed on 9 March 2021 17:58 UTC

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