Why won't Obsidian open after installing?

The most common reasons are: GPU hardware acceleration crash, a hidden Obsidian process already running in the background, corrupted installation files, or a conflicting antivirus blocking app launch.

How do I fix Obsidian not opening on Windows?

Try these in order: kill all Obsidian processes in Task Manager, launch with the --disable-gpu flag, delete the app cache folder, then reinstall if needed.

Obsidian Won't Open After Install – 7 Fixes That Work (2026)

1

Kill hidden Obsidian processes

Sometimes a previous Obsidian session gets stuck invisibly in the background and blocks a new launch.

→Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
→Go to the Processes tab.
→Find any entry named Obsidian.
→Right-click → End task.
→Try launching Obsidian again.

2

Launch with --disable-gpu flag

GPU hardware acceleration is the #1 cause of Obsidian failing to open — especially on machines with older or integrated graphics.

→Right-click the Obsidian shortcut → Properties.
→In the Target field, add --disable-gpu at the end, e.g.: "...Obsidian.exe" --disable-gpu
→Click OK and launch. If it works, keep this flag permanently.

3

Delete the app cache

A corrupted cache can prevent Obsidian from starting.

→Press Win + R, type %appdata%, press Enter.
→Open the Obsidian folder.
→Delete the Cache and Code Cache subfolders.
→Relaunch Obsidian — it rebuilds the cache on first start.

4

Check display scaling (Windows)

Obsidian can fail to render at non-standard display scales (150%, 175%, 200%).

→Right-click Desktop → Display settings.
→Set Scale to 100% temporarily.
→Try launching Obsidian. If it opens, the scaling was the cause — adjust in Obsidian Settings → Appearance after launch.

5

Run as administrator (one-time test)

Permission restrictions can silently block the app from accessing its config files.

→Right-click the Obsidian icon → Run as administrator.
→If it opens, the issue is a file permission problem in your user profile — check that %APPDATA%\Obsidian is readable by your user account.

6

Whitelist Obsidian in your antivirus

Some antivirus tools block the Electron runtime that Obsidian is built on.

→Open your antivirus settings → Exclusions / Whitelist.
→Add the full path to Obsidian.exe (usually in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Obsidian).
→Relaunch Obsidian.

7

Reinstall Obsidian (safe — notes preserved)

If none of the above work, a clean reinstall almost always resolves launch failures.

→Your notes live in your vault folder — they are never touched by reinstalling.
→Uninstall Obsidian via Settings → Apps.
→Download a fresh installer below and reinstall.
→See our full safe reinstall guide for details.

Obsidian Won't Open After Install

7 Fixes — Try in Order