Conflict Resolution

The short version: most edits merge automatically and you never see a conflict modal. When you do, N2O shows you both versions side-by-side and you pick - nothing is lost until you decide.

When does a conflict happen?

A conflict requires two things to be true:

You edited a page in Obsidian since the last sync.
Someone edited the same page in Notion since the last sync.

If your edits are in different parts of the page - Notion changed a heading, you edited a paragraph - N2O merges them automatically using character-level diffing. No modal, no interruption, nothing to do.

A conflict modal only appears when both sides changed the same block and N2O can’t safely decide which version to keep.

How N2O knows what changed

After every sync, N2O stores a base version - a snapshot of the content at the point both sides agreed. On the next sync it compares three versions:

Base - what both sides last agreed on
Notion - what Notion has now
Obsidian - what your vault has now

Changes that don’t overlap merge silently. Overlapping changes become a conflict.

Same-minute edits: Notion timestamps only update once per minute. If both sides were edited within the same minute, N2O compares content hashes instead of timestamps - so a false conflict isn’t raised just because you saved twice quickly.

Choosing what happens on a conflict

Set this in Settings > Sync > Sync rules > When both sides change the same note:

Choice	Best for
Ask me (default)	When you want control - the modal appears and you decide. Good while you’re getting started.
Always keep Notion’s version	Teams where Notion is the source of truth. Your Obsidian edits are discarded on conflict.
Always keep Obsidian’s version	Writers who work primarily in Obsidian. Your local edits always take precedence.
Always keep the newest edit	Light collaboration - whoever edited most recently wins. Uses file mod time vs. Notion timestamp.

Practical tip: if you mostly write in Obsidian and rarely touch Notion directly, “Always keep Obsidian’s version” eliminates the modal entirely without losing work. If your team writes in Notion, go with “Always keep Notion’s version.”

When strategy is “Ask me” and a true conflict is detected, a modal shows both versions side-by-side with color-coded diffs - deletions in red, insertions in green.

What you can do

Button	What it does
Use Notion’s version	Keep Notion’s version. Your Obsidian edit is discarded for this block.
Use Obsidian’s version	Keep your Obsidian version. It will be sent to Notion on the next sync.
Use the merged result	Use N2O’s auto-merged result. Only available when a partial merge was possible.
Edit merge	Opens an in-Obsidian editor pre-filled with the merged content. You hand-craft the final result, then click Save merged version.
Decide later	Leave both versions as-is for now. The conflict will appear again on the next sync.

Multiple conflicts at once

If several pages conflict in the same sync cycle, the modal steps through them one by one. You can:

Resolve each individually
Use Use Notion for all or Use Obsidian for all to resolve everything in one click

Backup of the discarded version (safety net)

Turn on Keep a backup of the discarded version in Settings > Sync > Sync rules and N2O saves the losing version as a file whenever a conflict is resolved:

Projects/
├── My Project.md              ← the kept version
└── My Project.conflict-2026-03-15T14-30.md   ← the discarded version

The conflict note contains the full discarded content, plus frontmatter showing the conflict date, resolution strategy, and which version won. You can open it, copy what you need, then delete it.

This is optional but recommended - it means you can always recover the version that wasn’t chosen.

Avoiding conflicts

The best conflict is one that never happens:

Sync before editing. Run Sync before you start writing in Obsidian, especially on pages you know others edit.
Pick a primary editor. If you mostly write in Obsidian, use “Always keep Obsidian’s version.” If your team writes in Notion, use “Always keep Notion’s version.” Fewer decisions, fewer interruptions.
Turn on “Send my edits to Notion.” Your Obsidian edits then reach Notion within seconds - before anyone else has a chance to edit the same content.
Shorter sync intervals. The more frequently you sync, the smaller the window for a conflict to develop.

Properties and frontmatter

Property conflicts (frontmatter fields like status, due-date, tags) follow the same smart merge logic as block content. If Notion changed a property and you didn’t touch it in Obsidian - or vice versa - it merges automatically. A conflict only appears if both sides changed the same property to different values.

Read-only properties (formula, rollup, created_time, etc.) are never sent back to Notion, so they can never conflict.