Notion to Obsidian Migration: A Complete Guide & Checklist

The shift from Notion to Obsidian represents a growing trend among knowledge workers and note-taking enthusiasts seeking more control over their digital notebooks. While Notion excels at team collaboration and structured databases, Obsidian offers a local-first approach with powerful linking capabilities that appeal to those building personal knowledge systems. The migration is often driven by desires for better privacy, offline access, and the ability to create more organic connections between notes. If you're considering making this transition, this comprehensive guide will walk you through the process step by step.

Pre-Migration Checklist

1. Evaluate Your Current Setup

• Audit your Notion workspace structure (Take notes of the structures/natures of folders/files...)

• List essential features you currently use (Todos, calendar, tables, habits, special views...)

• Identify critical workflows that need preservation (When marking tasks as done, create a new recurring task, etc...)

2. Assess Obsidian Compatibility

• Identify needed Obsidian plugins (You'll find examples and best plugins to use below)

• Research alternative approaches for databases (Dataview plugin is a good one for this)

• Verify media file handling requirements (Support for medias, pdfs, tables and views..)

3. Prepare Your Environment

• Install Obsidian on all devices

• Install the official Importer plugin

• Create a test vault

Migration Process

Now that everything is ready, we can now proceed to the migration, you can either follow this guide or follow the importer plugin directly.

Step 1: Export from Notion

1. Navigate to Settings & Members
2. Select Settings
3. Scroll to "Export all workspace content"
4. Choose HTML format (important!)
5. Enable "Include subpages"
6. Enable "Create folders for subpages"
7. Wait for export completion

Step 2: Import into Obsidian

1. Open Obsidian Importer plugin
2. Select "Notion (.zip)" format
3. Choose your export file
4. Select destination folder
5. Enable "Save parent pages in subfolders"
6. Start import process

Step 3: Post-Import Organization

1. Review imported content
2. Fix formatting issues
3. Reorganize folder structure
4. Update internal links
5. Verify media attachments

Essential Obsidian Setup

Core Settings to Configure

• Editor:

  • Enable/disable live preview

  • Set preferred line width

  • Configure spellcheck

• Files & Links:

  • Choose link format

  • Set default location for new notes

  • Configure attachment handling

Recommended Plugins

1. Core Plugins:

   • File explorer

   • Search

   • Quick switcher

   • Graph view

   • Backlinks

   • Tags pane

2. Community Plugins:

   • Dataview (for database-like features)

   • Templater (For reusable templates files)

   • Calendar (Calendar integration)

Best Practices for Success

Gradual Migration

1. Start with most-used notes

2. Migrate one project at a time

3. Keep Notion as backup initially

4. Test workflows before full switch

Remember that the migration process is a marathon, not a sprint. Take time to learn Obsidian's features and adapt your workflow gradually.

Focus on maintaining a system that works for you rather than perfectly replicating your Notion setup.