What does 'opens an Obsidian vault' mean?

A vault is a folder of Markdown files with a hidden .obsidian folder for settings, themes and plugins. Bedrock reads both, so your notes, [[links]], tags, properties, appearance and plugins come along without converting anything.

Will Bedrock change my files?

Only the way Obsidian would: notes stay plain .md files. Deleted notes go to the vault's .trash folder, never permanently.

Which other apps can read an Obsidian vault?

Any Markdown editor can open the files. What most can't do is the Obsidian-specific parts: wiki links with live preview, properties, canvas, the graph, and Obsidian's community plugins. Bedrock is built to handle those.

A free notes app that opens your Obsidian vault as it is

By the Toolbay team · Updated October 26, 2026

You don't have to migrate anything. Bedrock opens the vault you already have, reads its settings, and keeps writing plain Markdown, so you can switch back to Obsidian at any moment. It is free and open source (MIT), with end-to-end encrypted sync between your computers built in (switching on soon).

What comes with you

From the Bedrock README and release notes.
Feature	In Bedrock
Notes, folders, attachments	Yes, the same files
[[Wiki links]], embeds, tags, properties	Yes
Callouts, math, Mermaid diagrams	Yes
Live preview, source mode, reading view	Yes
Graph view, canvas, backlinks, outline	Yes
Tabs, splits, quick switcher, command palette	Yes
Themes and CSS snippets	Yes
Community plugins	Yes (asks once whether to trust a vault that has them on)

How to open your vault in Bedrock

Install Bedrock from the Toolbay app (or the installer on its GitHub releases page).
On first start Bedrock makes a vault at Documents\Bedrock with a welcome note and a short setup guide.
Go to Settings › General › Advanced. Choose to open your Obsidian vault as a separate vault, or import it into your synced vault.
Sign in to Toolbay to sync it to your other computers once sync switches on.

Other free options

Logseq (AGPL-3.0, ~45,400 GitHub stars) is a free, open-source outliner that also works on Markdown files, but it organizes notes as outlines and does not run Obsidian plugins. Plain Markdown editors such as VS Code open the files but not the Obsidian features.

Coming from Obsidian for the sync? See free Obsidian Sync alternatives. Want an AI to organize your notes? See let Claude build your personal wiki.

Questions people ask

What does 'opens an Obsidian vault' mean?: A vault is a folder of Markdown files with a hidden .obsidian folder for settings, themes and plugins. Bedrock reads both, so your notes, [[links]], tags, properties, appearance and plugins come along without converting anything.
Will Bedrock change my files?: Only the way Obsidian would: notes stay plain .md files. Deleted notes go to the vault's .trash folder, never permanently.
Which other apps can read an Obsidian vault?: Any Markdown editor can open the files. What most can't do is the Obsidian-specific parts: wiki links with live preview, properties, canvas, the graph, and Obsidian's community plugins. Bedrock is built to handle those.

Obsidian is a trademark of Dynalist Inc.. Toolbay's tools are independent open-source projects, inspired by Obsidian, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by Dynalist Inc..