Where apps hide your files

Joplin's profile folder, database and attachments

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Joplin's desktop app stores everything in a hidden profile folder, ~/.config/joplin-desktop, with your notes in one database file. Here is what is inside, how to open it and the safe way to back it up.

The location

On a Mac, Joplin's desktop app keeps everything in one hidden profile folder:

~/.config/joplin-desktop

Joplin's own profile documentation gives this path for Linux and macOS. The leading dot makes it a hidden folder, and it is in your home folder, not in ~/Library. A Joplin notes "file" does not exist as such: your notes, notebooks and tags are rows in a database inside this folder, and attachments sit beside it.

The terminal version of Joplin is a different app with its own profile at ~/.config/joplin (Joplin's source names the profile folder after the app), so a joplin-desktop folder and a joplin folder can both exist if you use both.

Open it

Finder hides dot-folders. Choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), paste ~/.config/joplin-desktop and press Return. Or from Terminal:

open ~/.config/joplin-desktop

To see hidden folders in any Finder window, press ⇧⌘. (Shift, Command and full stop). Joplin also opens the folder for you: choose Help > Open profile directory, which current releases still have.

What is inside

This table follows Joplin's published profile specification:

Item	What it holds
database.sqlite	The notes, notebooks, tags and metadata, plus sync state and, if end-to-end encryption is on, encryption keys
resources/	Attachments such as images, PDFs and Office files, each with a hash-based name (.crypted for encrypted copies)
plugins/	Installed plugins (.jpl files)
settings.json	Your settings
keymap-desktop.json	Keyboard shortcuts you changed
userchrome.css	Optional CSS for the app's interface
profile-ID folders	Extra profiles, each mirroring this structure
cache/, plugin-data/, log files, lock, flags.txt	Working files, which the spec says you do not need to back up

Joplin's specification says to back up database.sqlite, resources, plugins, settings.json, keymap-desktop.json, userchrome.css and any profile folders. Resource file names are hashes, not the file names you gave them, so you cannot browse attachments by name here.

Privacy: what not to share

database.sqlite holds your notes in readable form unless you encrypt them, and it can hold encryption keys. settings.json can hold details of your sync target. Do not send either file to a support forum, and do not open them in a text editor: the database is binary, and an accidental save can damage it. Joplin's own advice for inspecting the database is to work on a copy.

Get notes out the supported way

Use the app, not the folder. Joplin's FAQ suggests exporting to a JEX archive as a backup before risky changes. In the desktop app choose File > Export all, then JEX - Joplin Export File, and keep the result somewhere outside the profile folder; File > Import reads it back.

Recent desktop releases also bundle the Simple Backup plugin, switched on by default. It makes scheduled JEX backups plus copies of settings.json, keyboard shortcuts and plugins, by default in a JoplinBackup folder in your home folder, and adds Tools > Create backup for a backup on demand. Check its settings before you rely on it.

Copying database.sqlite is the fallback. Quit Joplin completely first, then copy the whole folder:

cp -R ~/.config/joplin-desktop ~/Desktop/joplin-profile-backup

Never copy or edit the database while Joplin runs: the app writes to it as you work and sync, so a copy taken mid-write may be inconsistent.

Multiple profiles

Joplin supports several profiles. Choose File > Switch profile, then Create new profile and give it a name; to return, choose File > Switch profile and then Default. Per Joplin's profile documentation, language, font size and theme apply across profiles, while sync configuration is stored separately in each. Extra profiles live in the profile-ID folders inside the main folder.

If you sync, the data is also elsewhere

With a file-based sync target (a folder, Dropbox, OneDrive or WebDAV), the synced copy holds your notes as Joplin's own item files. Joplin's FAQ warns that if you point WebDAV sync at a new, empty location, Joplin treats the empty target as if you had deleted everything and deletes your notes locally too. So back up first, copy all the Joplin files, including the .resource folder with the attachments, to the new location, and only then change the URL. A sync target is a second copy, not a substitute for a backup: a mistake that syncs is a mistake everywhere.

Move to a new Mac

Three routes, in order of preference: sync the new install from your sync target, import your JEX export, or copy the profile. For the third, install Joplin, open it once, quit it fully, and replace the new ~/.config/joplin-desktop with your backup. Do the copy with Joplin closed on both Macs. If you use end-to-end encryption, keep your master password: the keys are in the database, and the data is unreadable without them.

Why a normal search misses it

Finder and Spotlight searches leave out hidden dot-folders such as .config, so database.sqlite and the resources folder do not appear in an ordinary search. Attachment names are hashes, so even a hit would not tell you what a file is.

Finding the profile again

Type joplin into Everywhere to see every Joplin folder at once (desktop profile, terminal profile, any backup you made), or database.sqlite to jump to the database. Hidden folders in your home directory are in the part of the disk Everywhere scans without extra permission, so .config is covered. Press ⌘↵ to reveal a result in Finder. It matches file names only, so it will not search the text of your notes, and since attachment names are hashes, use Joplin's own search for those.

Common questions

Where does Joplin store notes on a Mac?

In a SQLite database at ~/.config/joplin-desktop/database.sqlite. Attachments are in the resources folder beside it, and the .config folder is hidden in Finder.

How do I open the Joplin profile folder on a Mac?

Choose Help > Open profile directory in Joplin, or in Finder choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and enter ~/.config/joplin-desktop. In Terminal, open ~/.config/joplin-desktop does the same.

How do I back up Joplin on a Mac?

Use File > Export all > JEX - Joplin Export File, or quit Joplin completely and copy the whole ~/.config/joplin-desktop folder. Never copy the database while Joplin is running.

Are Joplin notes stored as separate files on my Mac?

No. The desktop app keeps notes in one database file, database.sqlite. Only a file-based sync target holds them as individual item files.