How to Migrate from Notion to Obsidian (the Honest 2026 Playbook)

The honest summary

Migrating from Notion to Obsidian takes about two hours for a solo operator’s vault — but a chunk of that is manual cleanup. The Notion export is Markdown-ish; getting it to clean .md with proper backlinks requires the Obsidian Importer plugin. Budget an afternoon and do it in one session.

What transfers cleanly:

• Text pages, nested page hierarchy, headings, lists, code blocks, inline formatting
• Images and file attachments (as local files in your vault)
• Internal links (with some path fixing needed)

What you’ll lose or rebuild:

• Database views (tables, kanban, calendar, timeline) — Notion exports these as CSV; in Obsidian you’d rebuild as Dataview queries
• Linked databases / relations — no direct equivalent; you rebuild as markdown files with links
• Formulas and rollups — no direct equivalent
• AI-generated summaries and Notion AI blocks
• Page icons and cover images (partially; icons often drop)
• Comments and page history

Who should NOT do this migration:

• You collaborate with a team in Notion. Obsidian is a solo tool.
• Your workspace is 60%+ databases with complex relations. The value-for-pain is bad.
• You use Notion AI heavily. You’d lose it and have to rebuild via community plugins.

Before you start

Set aside 2 focused hours. Don’t do this migration piecemeal — it’s the kind of task that snowballs if interrupted. Also:

1. Clean up Notion first. Delete stale pages, empty databases, old drafts. Every byte you migrate is time spent cleaning up on the Obsidian side.
2. Back up Notion. Run a full export (Settings → Workspace → Export all workspace content → Markdown & CSV). Keep this as your rollback option.
3. Pick your Obsidian vault location. Local folder synced via iCloud Drive / Dropbox / git is the most common pattern. Obsidian Sync ($8/mo) is cleaner if you want E2E encryption.
4. Install the Obsidian Importer plugin. Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search “Importer” → install + enable.

The 2-hour migration checklist

Step 1: Full Notion export (10 min)

Notion → Settings & members → Settings → Export all workspace content.

• Format: Markdown & CSV
• Include subpages: Yes
• Create folders for subpages: Yes (important — this preserves hierarchy)

You’ll get a .zip file emailed to you, usually within 5-30 minutes. Unzip it.

Step 2: Import into Obsidian (15 min)

1. Create a new empty Obsidian vault (or pick the folder you want imported into).
2. Open Obsidian → Command Palette → “Importer: Open importer”.
3. Select “Notion (.zip)” as the format.
4. Select your Notion export zip.
5. Output folder: the root of your vault, or a subfolder like Imported from Notion/.
6. Run import.

The importer cleans up Notion’s URL-encoded filenames, fixes internal links, and handles attachment paths. Expect a few warnings in the log; most are benign.

Step 3: Verify the structural import (20 min)

Spot-check:

• Top-level pages are present and named correctly
• Nested pages exist under their parents (check 5-10 random paths)
• Images render (not broken image icons)
• Internal links resolve (click 10 random [[wikilinks]] to check)
• Code blocks preserved with language annotations

If wikilinks are broken: the Importer sometimes converts them to markdown-style links ([text](path)) instead of wikilinks. You can bulk-fix with the Regex search in Obsidian.

Step 4: Handle databases (30 min)

Notion databases export as .csv files with the individual page entries as .md files. You have three options:

Option A: Treat database as a flat folder of notes. This is the path of least resistance. Each row becomes a markdown file; you browse them like any other notes. Works well for notes databases, tasks databases, contact lists.

Option B: Use Dataview plugin for table views. Install Dataview (Settings → Community plugins → Browse → “Dataview”), then write queries that render the folder as a table. Example in a note:

```dataview
table tags, status, due
from "Projects"

This gives you a Notion-like table view. Learning Dataview takes ~30 minutes.

**Option C: Rebuild complex databases in Bases.** Obsidian's 1.5+ has a native "Bases" feature for database-like functionality. Newer and less documented than Dataview, but first-party.

### Step 5: Rebuild what doesn't transfer (30 min)

- **Daily notes**: Enable Obsidian's daily notes plugin (core plugin, built-in). Set your daily note template. Daily notes are first-class in Obsidian — better than Notion's equivalent.
- **Templates**: Convert Notion templates to Obsidian's template system (core plugin). Place them in a `Templates/` folder; use the Templater plugin if you want more advanced logic.
- **Kanban boards**: Install the Kanban plugin if you want to keep board views. It stores boards as Markdown, so they stay portable.
- **Calendar view**: Install the Calendar plugin for monthly view linked to daily notes.

### Step 6: Set up sync (15 min)

Pick one:
- **Free**: iCloud Drive (Apple) or Dropbox. Point your vault at the synced folder. Works well for solo use.
- **Paid, E2E encrypted**: Obsidian Sync at $8/mo. First-party, encrypted, designed for conflicts.
- **Git**: Use Obsidian Git plugin to commit your vault to a GitHub repo. Technical but bulletproof.

Test sync: create a note on device A, check it appears on device B within 30 seconds.

### Step 7: Sunset Notion (10 min)

1. Keep your Notion workspace alive for at least 30 days as a safety net.
2. Archive individual pages rather than deleting — Notion keeps trash for 30 days.
3. After 30 days of confident Obsidian use, downgrade your Notion plan to Free (or cancel).
4. Delete your final local Notion export zip from your disk (you have Obsidian now).

## What to do about AI

Notion AI leaves a real gap. Options in Obsidian:

1. **Obsidian Copilot** (community plugin). Connect your OpenAI or Anthropic API key; get AI summarization, Q&A, and chat across your vault. Monthly cost = whatever your API usage is, typically $2-10/mo for light solo use.
2. **Smart Connections** plugin. Semantic similarity search across notes — shows related notes based on embedding similarity, not just backlinks.
3. **Skip AI**. Some migrants report they don't miss it after the first week.

## Common gotchas

- **URL-encoded filenames**: Notion exports filenames with URL encoding (`%20` for spaces, etc.) in some cases. The Importer mostly fixes this; re-run if it didn't.
- **Embedded web content**: Notion's embed blocks (YouTube, Twitter, etc.) export as links, not embedded content. Use Obsidian community plugins like "Auto Card Link" if you want previews.
- **Linked databases**: Notion's "linked database" views can't be exported in a way Obsidian understands. Rebuild as manual wikilink lists or Dataview queries.
- **Page icons / covers**: These often drop during export. Accept this; most solo users don't miss them after a week.

## The honest verdict

If you're a solo writer, researcher, or knowledge worker whose Notion workspace is mostly pages with some light databases — this migration is worth it. The local-first storage, ownership of your files, and plugin ecosystem pay back the afternoon you spend migrating.

If you're a team running Notion for project management or collaborative docs — don't migrate. Obsidian isn't the right tool for you; pick a different workspace or stay on [Notion](/tools/notion/).

## Related reading

- [Notion vs Obsidian head-to-head](/vs/notion-vs-obsidian/)
- [Notion review](/tools/notion/) — if you're reconsidering the migration
- [Obsidian review](/tools/obsidian/) — our full review
- [Notion alternatives](/alternatives/notion/) — the other 4 options worth considering