Obsidian

Version documented: 1.5.12 Installer type: .exe (Squirrel, user-level) Hives written: HKCU

📁 Registry Paths

Path	Hive	Purpose
`SOFTWARE\obsidian`	HKCU	Application settings
`SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\obsidian`	HKCU	Uninstall entry
`SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run`	HKCU	Startup entry (if enabled)

🔑 Keys

HKCU\SOFTWARE\obsidian

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`InstallLocation`	REG_SZ	`C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Obsidian`	Install directory
`DisplayVersion`	REG_SZ	`1.5.12`	Installed version

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\obsidian

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`DisplayName`	REG_SZ	`Obsidian`	Display name
`DisplayVersion`	REG_SZ	`1.5.12`	Version
`Publisher`	REG_SZ	`Obsidian.md`	Publisher
`InstallLocation`	REG_SZ	`C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Obsidian`	Install path
`UninstallString`	REG_SZ	`"...\Uninstall Obsidian.exe"`	Uninstaller

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (optional)

Value Name	Type	Example Data	Description
`Obsidian`	REG_SZ	`"...\Obsidian.exe" --startup`	Auto-start on login (if enabled)

📝 Notes

Obsidian uses the Squirrel installer framework (like Signal, Slack) — installs per-user to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Obsidian.
Vault data and all settings are stored in .obsidian/ inside each vault folder (not the registry).
Updates are handled by Squirrel's automatic updater, not Windows Update or any system mechanism.
The app registers the obsidian:// URI scheme at HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\obsidian.

# Check install location
(Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\obsidian" `
  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).InstallLocation

# Remove auto-start if set
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" `
  -Name "Obsidian" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

🗑️ Cleanup

# Remove Obsidian registry entries
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\obsidian" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Classes\obsidian" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" `
  -Name "Obsidian" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Remove uninstall entry
Remove-Item -Path "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\obsidian" `
  -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

📦 Package Managers

Manager	ID / Command
winget	`winget install Obsidian.Obsidian`
Chocolatey	`choco install obsidian`
Scoop	`scoop install extras/obsidian`