RedNotebook Backup Import turns journal days into Markdown notes

Name: RedNotebook Backup Import
Author: theluckystrike

Preview a local backup ZIP and import dated notes with categories.

Install in Obsidian

Directory page Source on GitHub

MIT · no telemetry · core features free

The backup preview lists journal dates and their categories. — Open larger

version: 1.1.0
released: 2026-10-21
downloads: 18
review: Passed
health: Excellent
license: MIT
listed for: Desktop, Mobile
obsidian: 1.13.4 or later

The directory takes these platforms from the plugin manifest. The automated tests run in the desktop app only.

Directory facts fetched 2026-10-23 07:28 UTC from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.

About RedNotebook Backup Import

You want to move a RedNotebook journal into dated notes while keeping its category entries.

Select a local RedNotebook backup ZIP and check its dates, conflicts and markup reports. Create a note for each day with text or categories.

Preview a RedNotebook backup, read a converted note, and see a merged daily note

Free features

Preview dates from the month files

Preview date counts, existing notes, conflicts and markup reports. Invalid month data or unsafe archive paths stop the import before note creation.

One note for each day

Days with text or categories become dated Markdown files. Notes keep source properties and category names and values in a body list.

Basic txt2tags conversion with a report

Convert basic headings, bold, italic and links while reporting unsupported markup. Existing note paths are skipped, and optional source copies retain the month YAML.

Pro features

Pro costs $5 a month or $15 one time through GitHub Sponsors. One sponsorship turns on Pro in every plugin that has it.

Category mapping rules Pro

Save category-to-property rules for later imports. Values become property lists, while the category list remains in the body.

Merge into a daily-note section Pro

Select existing dates and append converted day text under a named section. A note with that section heading is skipped.

See how Pro works

Set up RedNotebook Backup Import

needs

Obsidian 1.13.4 or later

steps

Make a RedNotebook backup ZIP and keep a copy.
Run Import a RedNotebook backup.
Select the ZIP and check the folder, counts and markup reports.
After changing the folder, select Preview again.
Select Create notes and read the result counts.

If the app can't find a new plugin yet, try again later. Obsidian says a plugin that passes the review shows in the app within 24 hours.

How to import a RedNotebook journal into Obsidian

Known limits of RedNotebook Backup Import

Images are not copied; their paths remain as text with a report.
Unsupported txt2tags forms retain their source markers.
Daily-note merging uses fixed date file names and does not read Daily notes settings.
Merge selection displays only the first 100 existing dates.
Tests used synthetic backups; backups made by RedNotebook and mobile devices were not tested.

Questions about RedNotebook Backup Import

Does the import copy journal images?

It reads month files only and doesn't copy images. Image paths remain as text with a report and a note callout.

Which archive sizes can I import?

The ZIP limit is 20 MiB with 100 MiB of declared expanded data. The archive can contain up to 5000 members.

What happens if I stop the import?

Cancellation stops after the current batch of 10 notes. Created files remain, and the next preview marks existing notes to skip.

Network use

Before you select Sign in with GitHub, the plugin makes no network requests. Sign-in sends its client ID, the read:user scope and device-flow data to github.com, then sends an authenticated sponsorship query to api.github.com. Checks reuse success for 7 days, retry failures after 6 hours or run on Refresh; they send no vault data.

Read the full network disclosure