Sync and backups
Last updated 20 October 2026
Your vault syncs as an ordinary folder through iCloud Drive or another sync tool. MindLake can also mirror git folders and keep daily backups.
How sync works
A vault is a folder, so whatever syncs the folder syncs your notes. By default MindLake makes vaults in a MindLake folder in iCloud Drive (change it in Settings ▸ General ▸ Vaults home location), which keeps them in step across your Macs and your iPhone under your own Apple account. On a Mac you can keep the vault in a folder another sync tool looks after instead, or on that Mac only, but the iPhone app reaches the vault through iCloud Drive; see MindLake on iPhone.
MindLake’s own end-to-end encrypted sync is in development and isn’t available yet.
What travels and what stays
| What | |
|---|---|
| Travels with the vault | Notes, recordings and their word timings, sources, lists, canvases, chats, templates and snippets. Copies of your settings (settings.json) and transcription vocabulary (lexicon.txt), which a new install of MindLake reads back. Locked notes, as encrypted files. |
| Stays on each Mac | Contacts, the search index, clipboard history, the screenshot text index, synced folder pairs, backup settings, AI keys and sign-ins, and downloaded models. |
Contacts never sync, so set them up on each Mac you use. See File format for what each file is and where the rest lives.
When changes arrive
- On your Mac. MindLake watches the vault, so changes from your iPhone or another app appear while it’s open, and it checks again whenever you switch back to it. Changes to the note you have open appear once you move to another note. File ▸ Scan Vault (
⌘R) rereads everything, which helps once iCloud has finished downloading files. - On your iPhone. The app checks for changes when you open it, when you pull down on the list, and every 15 seconds while it’s open.
When a note changes in two places
- Two copies of one note. If two files carry the same note, for example after you edit it on two devices while one is offline, MindLake shows the one with the later
updatedtime and moves the other out of the vault, into~/Backups/Mindlake/duplicate-quarantine. Nothing is deleted. If both copies carry the same time but different text, or the copy is in a folder mirrored with git, MindLake leaves both files where they are for you to compare. - Deleted notes. A note you delete on one device is deleted on the others. MindLake only removes a note once it’s sure the file is gone: a file iCloud hasn’t downloaded yet still counts, and if the vault can’t be read at all, nothing is removed.
Deleting and the Trash
Some deletes go to the macOS Trash and some don’t:
| When you delete | What happens |
|---|---|
| A note | After asking, its file and recording are removed from the vault. They don’t go to the Trash. |
| A list | Its folder is removed from the vault. It doesn’t go to the Trash. |
| A canvas | Its file goes to the Trash. |
| A conversation on the Chats page | Its file goes to the Trash; deleting more than one asks first. |
| A file in Sources | The file goes to the Trash. |
| A source’s original (Clear out) | The original goes to the Trash; its extracted text stays with the note. |
| The silence trimmed from a recording | The untrimmed recording goes to the Trash. |
Because notes and lists don’t go to the Trash, a backup is the way to get one back. Sync copies a delete to every device.
Synced folders (git)
If you keep Markdown documents in a git repository, you can mirror a folder of it with a folder in your vault. In Settings ▸ General ▸ Synced folders (git), click Add pair…, choose the folder in your repository, then the vault folder to pair it with.
- Both ways. Edit the note and MindLake writes the change to its file in the git folder; change the file and the note follows. Subfolders are included.
- Paired by content. A git file is matched to the note in the vault folder that has the same text, and stays matched if either is renamed. A file with no matching note is left alone.
- When it runs. MindLake checks whenever you switch to it or away from it. Check now runs it straight away.
- Files only. MindLake reads and writes the files in the folder. Committing and pushing are still up to you.
- Locked notes stay out. A locked note is never written to the git folder.
The switch beside a pair pauses it and the minus button forgets it; neither touches the files. Duplicate… pairs the same vault folder with another git folder. Pairs are saved on the Mac you set them up on.
When both sides change
If a note and its git file have both changed since they last matched, MindLake opens Docs diverged from git and asks what to keep. Each button says how many lines it would lose.
| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| Keep both | Merges the two, keeping every line from each side, and refuses if it can’t. It uses Claude Code on your Mac, so both versions are sent to Claude. |
| Use git’s | Replaces the note with the git file. |
| Use my note’s | Writes the note into the git file. |
Daily backups
Sync copies deletions and mistakes to every device, so it isn’t a backup. MindLake can keep one for you:
- In Settings ▸ General ▸ Backups, turn on Daily local backup.
- Click Choose… and pick a folder, ideally on another drive.
- Set how many snapshots to keep: 7 unless you change it, up to 60.
Once a day, when MindLake opens or you switch back to it, it copies the whole vault into a dated folder. Back up now makes a snapshot straight away. Beyond the number you keep, the oldest snapshots are deleted. If the vault or the backup folder can’t be reached, it tries again an hour later.
My Vault Backups/
My Vault 2026-09-24-0915/
My Vault 2026-09-25-0902/Each snapshot is a plain copy of the vault folder, separate from iCloud, and a copy that gets interrupted is never left looking complete. To restore, copy what you need back from a snapshot in Finder. Contacts and the other things kept outside the vault aren’t in it.