Hello,
In the Joplin Help, there is a chapter about "Running multiple instances of Joplin".
In "How to launch a second instance", the help say "Open the main Joplin application. Navigate to the menu and select: File => New application instance..."
But... I have no this option in the File Menu...
So what ? A bug ? The Help in obsolete ?
Best regards
Ok, thanks !
Just tried : when the first instance is closed and second still open, it seems not possible to reload the first one before closing the second one. Is it a feature ?
Best regards,
No.
For example : Joplin -> Quit for the first instance.
Second instance still active.
Try to reload Joplin again (so, first instance), it give me focus on second instance.
Impossible to reload the first instance till second one is still active.
May be its a MacOS specific behavior ?
Thanks for this tip! The first time I tried this I thought nothing happened but I must have been too impatient as when I tried it a second time the new instance did indeed appear. I completely quit Joplin and restarted and tried again. After the normal (for v3.3) 8 second startup delay I went for the "new instance" and after a delay it appears.
Comes up with the standard "first time" welcome screen with instructions and there are no notes or profiles but a second instance is there. Just have to figure out what to do with this new installation.
In Windows the new installation creates "C:\Users\username\.config\joplin-desktop-alt1" and nothing of the original installation is available to it. It could be thought of as being able to have two "profiles" active at the same time but with completely different configurations.
As well, it's a toss-up once you close one of the instances as to whether you can get it running again. I have found it best that if I want to close one, I close both completely and start over. After playing around for an hour or so I think I'll stick with the single instance with multiple profiles.
Yes, I'm running a desktop version on Windows 11. I don't know what would happen if I set it to sync with an existing target, I'm not that brave, but the ability to open a second note in a new window (a recent feature as well) makes this second "instance" unnecessary for me. I don't quite know what I was expecting from the multiple instances, but this implementation, while tremendously useful for some people I imagine, doesn't really do anything for me. The ability to open a new note in a new window would be more useful for me.
I think we can expect the same things with multiple instances than with profiles except that profiles can't be open at the same time....
For this reason having two instances can be more interesting than to change of profile all the time... By my side I use about 15 profiles on a desktop version in order to separate activities. But I would be happy to have the todos (agenda) profile and the journaling profile open all the time in two another instances.
Agreed. That's the sole reason I also use Obsidian (usually have a couple of those open), so I can have more that one thing active at once. They may be minimized but I know what each is doing. The difficulty I've found so far with "multiple instances" in Joplin is reliability. I have a hard time telling which instance is which when minimized and after closing an "instance" I sometimes have a hard time getting it to open again without closing everything and starting over. It's still beta so problems are expected. In time the kinks will get worked out and this will be a great feature.
I found the command in Tools, but like HarSel, the "new instance" was completely new, with the Welcome Notes - as if I had just newly installed Joplin for the first time. I had expected to have a second instance of my currently active profile, and to perhaps be able to switch profiles within the new instance. I feel totally unsettled about this! I closed the new instance and closed my main Joplin instance and reopened it with crossed fingers, just to be sure that it was still working. Thankfully it was. But what is the use of a second empty instance? And how would I ever open it again? If I use the Command Palette again, will it open that same empty instance or create another one? Do I need to worry about cleaning up empty instances? I hope someone might have answers to these questions!
You can't open two profiles at the same time. You can open to instances at the same time and put windows side by side. That's the interest. BUT of course you have to fill first the new one with data. Like you do with a new profile...
Yes. Same feeling of insecurity for me at this moment.
My wish...
Not a new empty instance but an instance with the same datas than the main one. It means all the profiles will be present in all the instances that I will open.
Then, I choose for each instance the profile that I want to see.
For example I will open three instances in order to have 3 differents profiles open at the same time (in my case, one for curent datas, one for todos and one for the journaling).
to have shortcuts on desktop in order to open the 3 instances directly.
In fact the same idea than a shortcut to a text file on the desktop : it opens this file while opening the whole software.
But what would be the purpose of opening a "new" instance if it has the exact same data and profile as the other one?
The current supported use case is that you want a separate desktop app instance which you will setup with a different profile. For example you might have one for your personal notes and one for work. Happy to clarify and make it more intuitive but I'm not sure why you'd expect to see the same data in a new instance.
The current design for a second instance works for me. My use case would be to be able to, for example, have one instance for work notes and another for private ones. But it seems that it's only possible to start the second instance (home) if the first (work) is already active.
My question then: how do I launch the second instance (home) without the first having been launched first?
