We are in windows 10 (PC)
I didn't think twice and moved the "Joplin folder" to another parent folder in the wrong way on 2028-01-28.
My newest note from all my notebooks is from 2025-09. I know I have a notebook that I write a lot in, and here is the newest note all the way back from mid-2024 - I'm absolute sure that I in this note also wrote in 2025-09.
When I search for a special keyword that I have only used in 2026-01 I find nothing. When I "manually" search for the same keyword in "*.md" files in all the places I have backup and ongoing folders, I find no less than 8 files using the keyword. They are all from 2026.01.28.
So I'm not panicking. But what's the best way to get my notebooks and notes back?
I’m newbie to this forum, so bear with me.
I'm still having trouble getting my notes back.
Can I add any information I may be missing to make it easier to support?
To make it perhaps more easy to understand my problem: I can see my notebooks/notes anymore. I do have a lot of back up of the folder with *.md. files - so how should I recreate the note again? Any ideas/help on how I can get my notes back would be greatly appreciated.
BH Søren
Thanks for your answer
My question is getting a bit old and I've been struggling to solve the problem since I posted it. I've also become a bit more knowledgeable about my problem and how Joplin works. So it's probably a good idea to summarize (maybe create a new thread, if that's allowed?). Current status:
Database loss and failed note reconstruction from Sync Target (File System).
Context: Migrated from Joplin 2.14 to 3.5.12. The original SQLite database was lost. Attempted restoration via JEX file and "Raw Import" from Sync Target backups.
Two Backup Sets: I have two versions (actually many more) of the Sync Target: A "clean" set of 650 files (from the moment of failure) and a later set of 4000 files (generated during failed recovery attempts, containing a massive explosion of Type 13 files). Tried with the 650 file version, but it could not be imported error-free via "Raw Import".
Status: The JEX import works but leaves a massive data gap. My most important note is stranded in April 2024, other notes before and some later (2025-05).
Newer data (January 26 – 28, 2026) is found in the file system presumably (showing samples) exclusively as Type 13 (Revisions) fragments (as “.md files”).
Challenge: Joplin's editor does not reflect these changes. Since "Raw Import" as mentioned fails, I am unable to merge these latest deltas into the existing Type 1 notes.
Question: Is there a way to force Joplin to reconstruct or merge a note from a chain of Type 13 files when the base Type 1 note is outdated and standard import fails?
Is this chain of type 13 files from a backup of the file system sync directory, or is it from the jex backup? They are in a different format depending which is came from.
If they were a backup of the file system sync directory, then follow the instructions in my last post to get the files to be recognised by Joplin. Then you could export those notes to a jex, and import that into an existing profile, if required
Actually type 13 is a revision. If you don’t have a copy of the original type 1 object, then the entire revision tree will be corrupted for that note, and there isn’t really anything you can do. I’d say don’t bother trying to recover revisions - jex backups don’t include them because they’re not considered that important compared to the actual note data
So: I first imported the JEX file - and then it was my hope to be able to use the md.files from the filesync directory (created by me myself at the time) - but you say that can't be done? (and that's pretty much what I've experienced). With your last message I understand that you don't think I can get the last year and a half of notes (which I suspect are only of type.13) back in Joplin's "database.sqlite" again - is that correct?
Type 13 is a revision, which is equivalent to note history, so you can ignore those. The notes themselves should be recoverable if they are backed up by some means
I think I understand your problem. Read through the below to see if it makes sense to you.
You should be able to restore your notes from either the JEX file or the backup of the sync target. Not both together.
The JEX file will not contain note revisions, just the notes and attachments at the time the backup was made.
Your backup of the sync folder should contain everything that was available at the time it was created.
From what you have said above it seems that the backup you made of the sync target folder is likely to be the most up-to-date.
Your backup of the sync target data cannot be imported into Joplin. It was not an export of the note data, so it cannot be imported. It was the sync data to enable the sharing of the note data between clients. You can use it to manually recreate what your sync folder was like before things went wrong.
A suggested method using the sync data would be as follows:
In summary you reset Joplin to factory defaults, recreate the sync target with the data you backed up, and then you sync the fresh Joplin client with that restored sync data.
This method assumes that you do not have other clients using the file system sync target folder.
As I do not know the path you used for the file system sync I will use C:\Users\user\joplinsync as an example. Change it to match your path (or possibly create a new one?)
Restart Joplin. It will create a newC:\Users\user\.config\joplin-desktop folder. The app should open as if it were a new install with only the "Welcome" notes. Delete them. Empty trash. Leave Joplin alone.
Move / delete (your choice) the contents of C:\Users\user\joplinsync
Replace the contents of C:\Users\user\joplinsync with your "good" 650 file sync target backup.
Go back to Joplin and go to Tools > Options > Synchronisation and select File system. In the field Directory to synchronise with (absolute path) type C:\Users\user\joplinsync
Sync Joplin.
If that 650 file sync target backup was complete you should get your notes back. If for some reason you used encryption you will have to add your master password when the prompt to do so appears.
EDIT:
Forget to add... Welcome to the forum and Good luck!
