---
title: Profiles and storage
description: Keep separate profiles with their own folder and sync, decide where your notes are stored, link other folders for [[Note]] links, export your notes and get back earlier states.
reviewed: 2026-10-29
---

## Profiles {#profiles}

A profile is a separate space for notes: work on the company cloud, private notes on your own
server, a second folder for a club. Each profile has its own notes folder, and tagwerk shows the
notes of one profile at a time.

What belongs to a profile and what belongs to the app:

| Each profile has its own | The same in every profile on this device |
|---|---|
| Notes folder (*Storage*) | Language, first day of the week, calendar weeks |
| [Sync](../sync/index.md#profiles): server, account, folder, password, *Check for changes* | *Appearance* (light, dark, system) |
| *Linked folders* (see [below](#linked-folders)) | *Apply task changes immediately* |
| Day templates and tag colours, and how tags are drawn | On Android: widget appearance, *Sync in the background*, the text selection menu |
| Revision history of its days | tagwerk Pro: a licence in any profile's folder counts for all of them |
| The task list's tag filters | |

The settings page follows the same split. Its first part belongs to the open profile, the second
part, *App*, to the app on this device, and the third is *Help & info*. With a single profile, the
first part is simply called *Notes*. From the second profile on, it is called *Profile: Name*, in
the profile's colour.

![The settings page on a phone](../shots/en/settings-dark.webp "The settings page in three parts: the notes of the open profile, the app, and help.")

Day templates, tag colours and the licence are files in the profile's folder, so they travel with
its notes. Everything else of the profile is kept in the app's own storage on this device.

> [!PRO]
> A second profile needs tagwerk Pro. Switching, renaming and removing profiles you already have
> stays free. On Linux every Pro feature is included.

## Creating a profile {#create}

1. With one profile: open *Settings* and tap *Profiles...* beside *Notes*. With more than one: tap
   the round profile button at the right end of the toolbar, then *Manage profiles...*.
2. Tap *New profile...*.
3. Enter a *Name* and pick an *Accent* colour. tagwerk pre-selects a colour no other profile uses.
4. Under *Folder*, keep the suggestion or tap *Choose folder...*:
   - On Android the suggestion is *A new folder in the app. You can move it later.*
   - On Windows and Linux it is *A new folder beside your notes*, named after the profile.
   - *A folder that already holds notes is used as it is.* Nothing is copied into it and nothing in
     it is overwritten.
5. Tap *Create profile*. The new profile opens at once.

Two profiles cannot share a folder, and one profile's folder cannot lie inside another's. tagwerk
refuses such a folder and names the profile that already uses it.

> [!WARNING]
> On Android a new profile starts inside the app, like the first one. Uninstalling the app deletes
> those notes. Move them into a folder of your own (see [Changing the folder](#change-folder)) or set
> up sync for that profile.

## Switching profiles {#switch}

From the second profile on, a round button in the profile's colour stands at the right end of the
toolbar. Tap it and choose a profile; the open one carries a tick. *Settings → Switch or manage...*
opens the same list.

Switching saves what you were typing into the profile you leave, then loads the other profile's
notes, task list and calendar. If the new profile has sync set up, a sync starts. A home-screen
widget on Android keeps showing the profile it was [set to](../widgets/index.md#configure); a widget
that was never set up shows the profile that is open.

## Renaming, colours and removing {#edit}

Open the list of profiles (*Manage profiles...* or *Profiles...*, as above). Each row shows the
profile's name and folder.

- **Rename or recolour:** tap the pencil (*Edit profile*), change *Name* or *Accent*, and tap
  *Save*. The folder does not change here; that is what *Settings → Storage* is for.
- **Remove:** tap the bin (*Remove profile*) and confirm with *Remove*. The notes stay in their
  folder - only the entry in tagwerk goes. Add the folder again later with *New profile...* and
  *Choose folder...*.

The open profile has no bin: switch to another one first. The last profile cannot be removed.

## Where your notes are stored {#storage}

*Settings → Storage* shows the folder of the open profile and how many notes it holds. If the
folder has gone - a removed memory card, a renamed folder - it says *This folder does not exist.
Nothing was loaded from it.*, which explains notes that seem to have disappeared.

| Platform | At first | A folder of your own |
|---|---|---|
| Android | Inside the app's own storage. Other apps cannot see it. | Any folder you pick in the system's folder picker, for example one that Syncthing or the Nextcloud app syncs. |
| Windows | `Documents\Tagwerk` | Any folder you pick in the folder dialog. |
| Linux | `Tagwerk` in your documents folder | Any folder you pick in the folder dialog. |

As long as an Android profile keeps its notes inside the app and has no sync, *Settings → Storage*
warns *Notes live inside the app*. [Getting started](../getting-started/index.md#first-launch)
explains the warning.

## Changing the folder {#change-folder}

1. Open *Settings → Storage*.
2. Tap *Choose folder...* and pick the folder.
3. tagwerk copies the notes of the open profile into it and uses the new folder from then on. It
   says *Notes were copied to the new folder. The old folder was left untouched.*

What the move copies:

- every day note, filed by year and month;
- the day templates;
- the files in `settings/`: tag colours and the licence;
- conflict copies that are waiting to be settled.

The move never overwrites a file that is already in the new folder, and it never deletes anything
in the old one. Where the new folder already has a note for a day, that note stays and the one from
the old folder is kept beside it as a conflict copy, unless both say the same - you settle it as
[after a sync](../sync/index.md#conflicts-settle). A template or a file in `settings/` that the new
folder already has in another version stays as it is there; tagwerk lists them first and asks,
and *Cancel* keeps the old folder. The old folder stays as a backup; delete it
yourself once you have checked the new one. If the move fails - the folder is read-only, the storage is full - tagwerk says *The move did
not finish. The notes are still in the old folder.* and names the reason. *Choose folder...* is
not available while a sync is running.

A folder that already holds daily notes, for example from Obsidian or Markor, is read as it is:
see [Choose a folder of your own](../getting-started/index.md#choose-folder) and the guide
[You already have a folder of daily notes](../../guides/daily-notes/).

## What is in the notes folder {#layout}

```
Tagwerk/
|- 2026/
|  `- 10/
|     `- 2026-10-28.md     one file per day
|- templates/
|  |- template.md          the default day template
|  |- template-monday.md   a template for a weekday
|  `- template-day01.md    a template for a day of the month
`- settings/
   |- tagwerk.colors       tag colours
   `- tagwerk.license      the Pro licence
```

- **Day notes** are named `YYYY-MM-DD.md`. tagwerk files the days it creates by year and month, and
  reads a day file wherever it lies in the folder. Folders whose name starts with a dot, such as
  Obsidian's `.trash`, are left out.
- **`templates/`** holds the [day templates](../day-notes/index.md#templates).
- **`settings/`** holds the [tag colours](../tags-and-search/index.md#colours) and the licence. A
  licence file dropped loose into the notes folder is found too.
- **Conflict copies** that a sync tool writes (Syncthing's `.sync-conflict-`, Nextcloud's
  "conflicted copy") are recognised and offered for settling under *Settings → Storage*; see
  [Sync](../sync/index.md#conflicts).

Nothing else belongs to tagwerk. Settings, sync state and the revision history live in the app's
own storage on each device, not in the folder.

## Linked folders {#linked-folders}

A `[[Note]]` link in a note opens a file in a folder you have linked to the profile - your
Obsidian vault, a project folder, a folder of manuals. How to write such a link is described in
[The day note](../day-notes/index.md#vault-links).

To manage the folders, open *Settings → Linked folders*:

- *Link a folder...* adds a folder. A link is looked for in the folders in the order of the list.
- *Read the folder again* (the arrows on a row) reads a folder anew. tagwerk also reads again by
  itself when a link finds nothing.
- *Remove folder* (the bin) takes the folder off the list. Nothing in the folder is touched.

**The list belongs to this profile on this device.** It is not synced, because a folder path on
one device means nothing on another. On a second device the same link reports that it found
nothing until you link the folder there as well.

A row that says the folder is too big to read to the end means a link may miss a file that is
there. Link a smaller sub-folder instead.

## Opening a linked file {#linked-files}

Tap the file mark behind a link. What happens depends on the kind of file:

- **Markdown** (`.md`, `.markdown`) opens in a sheet, formatted: headings, lists with checkboxes,
  tables, quotes, code and a front-matter block. *Formatted* and *Source* switch to the plain text
  and back. Web links in the file open in the browser; a `[[...]]` link inside it shows its label
  as plain text. The sheet only reads - to change the file, open it elsewhere.
- **Text** (`.txt`, `.log`) opens in the sheet as plain text.
- **Pictures, PDFs, audio, video, office documents** open in the app your system uses for them.
- **Any other kind** opens only after the question *tagwerk cannot show this kind of file. Hand it
  to the app your system opens it with?*, with the file's name and path. *Open anyway* hands it
  over. SVG pictures are asked about too.

*Open in the default app* at the bottom of the sheet hands a Markdown or text file to another app.
On Android you choose the app; the app you choose may also save its changes back into the file.
If the file is one of your notes, tagwerk shows the new text when you come back.

When a link does not lead to exactly one file, the sheet says so:

| The sheet says | What it means |
|---|---|
| *No folder is linked to this profile yet, so there is nowhere to look.* | Link a folder; the sheet offers *Link a folder...*. |
| *Not found in the linked folder.* | No file of that name or path is in the folder. With several folders it counts them. |
| *More than one file carries this name.* | Pick the one you meant from the list. |

## Export as ZIP {#export}

*Settings → Storage → Export notes as ZIP* writes the notes of the open profile into one ZIP file
named like `tagwerk-2026-10-28-1430.zip`:

- every day note, in the same year and month layout as the folder;
- the day templates.

Tag colours, the licence and conflict copies are not in it. Where the file goes depends on the
platform:

| Platform | Where the ZIP goes |
|---|---|
| Android | The share sheet opens. Save it to a file manager or a cloud drive, or send it by mail. |
| Windows, Linux | A save dialog asks for the place. |

The export is free and works whether sync is set up or not. To use it as a backup, unpack the ZIP
into an empty folder and pick that folder under *Choose folder...*.

## Revision history {#history}

tagwerk keeps earlier states of every day, up to 20 per day and none older than 180 days. You
reach them in the side panel under *History*; [The day note](../day-notes/index.md#history)
describes how to restore one.

The history belongs to the profile and stays with it when you move its folder. It is kept in the
app's own storage on this device: it does not travel with sync, and it is not in the ZIP export.

## Android's own backup {#android-backup}

Where Android's backup of app data is switched on, it carries the notes that profiles keep inside
the app, and nothing else:

- not the notes of a profile created inside the app with an older version of tagwerk - those
  folders sit beside the first profile's and are not part of the backup;
- not settings, revision history, sync state or the sync password;
- not a folder of your own - that folder is yours to back up, or to sync.

A profile whose folder of your own this phone may not read - restored onto a new phone, or after
a reinstall - says *Choose the folder again* in the profile list. Open it and press *Grant folder
access again* in *Settings → Storage*.

> [!TIP]
> The reliable copy of your notes is a second place you control: a folder of your own that a sync
> tool carries, the [built-in sync](../sync/index.md), or a ZIP export now and then.