Notion importer hangs immediately after clicking the import button

[SanjayBysani]

Am on the latest Obsedian mac app version.

Followed import steps as outlined here - https://help.obsidian.md/import/notion

Force reload (after several minutes) reveals an empty Notion folder.

Confirmed that the dev console shows nothing.

The Notion zip file for reference was ~350MB. Unzipped it and confirmed that there were no nested zip files.

[danibalcells]

Experiencing the same issue.

[CBlair1986]

+1, same issue.

[kepano]

To confirm:

1. this is with Obsidian 1.6.3 and Importer 1.6.2?
2. are you using the HTML export from Notion (not Markdown export)

I tested on my end and am not able to reproduce the issue. I wonder if it is related to the size of your export. Perhaps you can try to export a subset of your workspace and see if the issue persists.

[SanjayBysani]

To confirm:

1. this is with Obsidian 1.6.3 and Importer 1.6.2?

Yes

2. are you using the HTML export from Notion (not Markdown export)

Yes

I tested on my end and am not able to reproduce the issue. I wonder if it is related to the size of your export. Perhaps you can try to export a subset of your workspace and see if the issue persists.

Surprisingly, the issue self-resolved when I tried again after a while (without any changes on my end). But, keeping the issue open cause looks like others are facing it, will wait for them to chime in if it's still reproducible for them.

[CBlair1986]

To confirm:

1. this is with Obsidian 1.6.3 and Importer 1.6.2?

Obsidian 1.6.3 AppImage and Importer 1.6.2

2. are you using the HTML export from Notion (not Markdown export)

Yes, HTML export.

I tested on my end and am not able to reproduce the issue. I wonder if it is related to the size of your export. Perhaps you can try to export a subset of your workspace and see if the issue persists.

It could be due to the size of the export (it's a rather large 1.6GB), the importer works for a split-second and hangs showing:

If I kill Obsidian and restart, no files are shown in the folder I'm importing into.

[linhnph05]

Same issue here

[linhnph05]

Ok now I solved it, I try to turn off community plugins and turn on again, also import the data into another folder

[CBlair1986]

... also import the data into another folder

This worked for me as well, interesting.

[kamal-stark-dev]

When I put the zip file which is just 3.5 mb but still obsidian freezes when i try to import the zip file. Help me~

[akuro-dsp]

Experiencing the same issue, but turning off and then back on community plugins and importing into a different folder did not resolve the issue. My .zip is 85mb.

[LukasDzenk]

Same issue. Suggested fixes could not help.

I noticed that the issue occurs due to some specific .html file content, but I couldn't pin point what it is exactly.

Obsidian v1.6.3 Importer 1.6.2

[kepano]

In order to explore this issue we would ideally need a .zip file that can reliably produce this result.

[kepano]

@j-palindrome @tgrosinger any idea what might be going on here? I wonder if something has changed in Notion's zip. We might need to add more logging.

[kamal-stark-dev]

Yeah I changed some things and it worked. I noticed there is another zip inside notion zip so extract that and select that file in obsidian. Try using importer now it'll probably not work on the first try but shall work in 2 to 3 tries.

On Wed, Jun 12, 2024, 06:06 Steph Ango @.***> wrote:

@j-palindrome https://github.com/j-palindrome @tgrosinger https://github.com/tgrosinger any idea what might be going on here? I wonder if something has changed in Notion's zip. We might need to add more logging.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-importer/issues/266#issuecomment-2161847837, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BBTLPWDH7QZ7BAKWY6YWYVDZG6JYPAVCNFSM6AAAAABJAPW55SVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDCNRRHA2DOOBTG4 . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[andrewgarner]

Anecdotally I tried a number of times to import a Notion zip by using the command palette to bring up the import modal. Each time the screen went blank immediately after confirming the import. I then saw that there was an import icon in the left sidebar, I tried that instead and it worked first time for me.

[Ssentiago]

The same issue has arisen. I performed a couple of tests for a few minutes and noted the following observations regarding the process of importing data in the .zip format exported from Notion as HTML:

• When the output folder is left empty, all content is imported to the root directory without any problems.
• When a specific name is given to the output folder, the import process freezes (but an empty folder is still created).

These findings were made on the Ubuntu 22.04 operating system.

[brando-soto28]

Anecdotally I tried a number of times to import a Notion zip by using the command palette to bring up the import modal. Each time the screen went blank immediately after confirming the import. I then saw that there was an import icon in the left sidebar, I tried that instead and it worked first time for me.

This ended up working out for me. Peeped it in the sidebar too and ended up working for me first try. No issue with default folder being used either (Notion) or import size cause my Notion was about 5 GB.

[tgrosinger]

If anyone that has run into this issue could provide a zip to us that exhibits this behavior it would be very helpful. Thank you!

[JasonLovesDoggo]

The same happened to me, nothing worked including restarting, disabling plugins, and clicking the sidebar. After a 1hr break, worked flawlessly

[achintyadesai]

Had the same issue. It worked after creating a simple note in the current vault. I think the problem arises if the vault is empty which is the case on the first time use of a vault

[JasonLovesDoggo]

Had the same issue. It worked after creating a simple note in the current vault. I think the problem arises if the vault is empty which is the case on the first time use of a vault

No, I had a vault with a bunch of other content in it and I was dealing with the same issue.

[mikecann]

This is happening to me.. not a great first experience of Obsidian :(

If anyone that has run into this issue could provide a zip to us that exhibits this behavior it would be very helpful. Thank you!

I have sensitive content in there so cant share.

[mikecann]

Interestingly after closing obsidian and trying to doubl click the zip I get:

Btw this is the zip inside of the zip notion provided (I unzipped it as per some people suggesting here)

[mikecann]

Anecdotally I tried a number of times to import a Notion zip by using the command palette to bring up the import modal. Each time the screen went blank immediately after confirming the import. I then saw that there was an import icon in the left sidebar, I tried that instead and it worked first time for me.

This ended up working out for me. Peeped it in the sidebar too and ended up working for me first try. No issue with default folder being used either (Notion) or import size cause my Notion was about 5 GB.

Oh wow! yes this indeed is the solution!!

[jxc876]

As mentioned above, using the side button over the command pallet fixes this!

Also noticed that you have to close & re-open Obsidian after installation & enabling the Plugin, otherwise it will not work.

[tgrosinger]

I've released a new version of the Importer plugin that resolves a couple of small bugs I found with importing in Notion, however I have not yet managed to reproduce this issue so there might still be another issue.

Interestingly after closing obsidian and trying to doubl click the zip I get:

Btw this is the zip inside of the zip notion provided (I unzipped it as per some people suggesting here)

Notion exports seem to create invalid zip files that contain multiple files of the same filename. This importer already accounts for that even though Windows cannot open the zip file.

If you're having this issue please test on 1.6.4 and let us know if the issue still persists.

We are still looking for someone that can provide a zip file that reproduces the issue. If you are willing to share please feel free to contact us directly if you don't wish to upload it to Github. Thank you!

[diggity314]

I also had this issue when loading the importer from the command palette. Clicking the sidebar button worked correctly.

[j-palindrome]

Are there options triggered in the command palette that aren't on the side pallete or something?

[kepano]

The command palette and ribbon trigger the exact same code and modal view, so my instinct is that this is just a coincidence.

[diggity314]

Just tried it again with the same result. If I use the command palette, then Obsidian turns into an empty gray screen. Then, if I restart Obsidian and click the import button from ribbon it works correctly. If I open command palette and attempt again, I get the gray screen. The import settings look the same in both cases and I'm importing the same file.

Here is a simple example file, but this has happened with both notion export files I've attempted. This one just has two pages and an image. cb177660-18fe-45a8-b1dd-b07f44a8af5e_Export-37869bf0-7d68-4796-8d85-1fb7ebdbd568.zip

[bellesamways]

@tgrosinger I had the same issue but at the end I got it.

I disabled all the community plugins, except Importer, closed the entire app and opened again. I tried to use the base .zip that notion provided but I got the same as the others. Then I noticed the other .zip inside the notion zip, so I extracted the first one and tried putting this second one to import.

The view got stucked when it was 31 items remaining, then I closed the entire app again and when I opened again all was there imported.

I'm not sure what happened, but I never got the "finished" screen.

Obsidian version: 1.6.3 Imported version: 1.6.4

[tgrosinger]

@diggity314 and @bellesamways, Can you please let us know what OS you are running Obsidian from?

Would you mind trying the import again a couple times to see if it is ever successful when starting the importer from the command palette?

@diggity314, I've tried the file you provided on Windows, MacOS, and Linux and have still not managed to reproduce the issue. Still searching for what the missing piece is.

Thank you.

[bellesamways]

@tgrosinger I'm using Windows 11.

All these times that I tried I started the importer from the command palette. Now I just tried using the button on the side bar and got the same as the last time. I tried again using the command palette and when it's about to finished, it's like this:

and then closing the app and opening again, all the data is imported.

I don't know what other information can be worthwhile for you, so feel free to ask.

Edit: I just saw that not all data came, some images didn't save.

[diggity314]

@tgrosinger I am using

Mac OS 13.5 (22G74)
Obsidian Version 1.6.3 (Installer 1.6.3)

I believe I did this with only Importer and BRAT plugins enabled.

To make things more confusing, when I test it now, I'm finding that I still get the gray frozen screen when I import from the command palette, but it appears that the imported files are actually being added to my notion vault if I restart the program. At least with the original notion export I was using the files were not imported at all.

I also updated to Obsidian 1.6.5 and the behavior appears the same.

[enelson]

Anecdotally I tried a number of times to import a Notion zip by using the command palette to bring up the import modal. Each time the screen went blank immediately after confirming the import. I then saw that there was an import icon in the left sidebar, I tried that instead and it worked first time for me.

The same approach worked for me. Black screen every time I launch importer from the command palette and import. But when I clicked the icon on the left and imported, it worked fine. I think we're narrowing down on the code path that is the issue.

[imbrettjackson]

HI - same problem!

MacOS Monterey 12.2 Obsidian 1.6.5 Importer 1.6.4 Followed import steps from https://help.obsidian.md/import/notion The Notion Zip file is large at 6.06 gb NO - probably can’t provide the ZIP for inspection YES - HTML Export YES - turn off community plugins and turn on again YES - restarted Obsidian after that NO - couldn’t unzip the file with “Unable to Expand” error YES used the import icon on the left NO - My vault wasn’t empty

Anything else I can be trying! Please help!

[j-palindrome]

Hi, does that mean the file doesn't unzip on the local system?

[imbrettjackson]

Correct. The file does not unzip on my Mac.

[dmarcolongo]

The same issue has arisen. I performed a couple of tests for a few minutes and noted the following observations regarding the process of importing data in the .zip format exported from Notion as HTML:

• When the output folder is left empty, all content is imported to the root directory without any problems.
• When a specific name is given to the output folder, the import process freezes (but an empty folder is still created).

These findings were made on the Ubuntu 22.04 operating system.

Empty output path also worked for me! Everything else failed (sidebar button, disabling and reenabling plugins). MacOS Sonoma 14.5, Obsidian 1.6.7 (installer 1.6.4), Importer 1.6.4

[oscartorres-10]

empty "Output folder" allowed me to successfully import a 2.7GB .zip exported from Notion, here are the versions and debug info:

Obsidian v1.6.7
Obsidian Installer v1.5.3
Obsidian Importer v1.6.4
macOS Sonoma 14.6
new vault created only for the import process, no community plugins

below is an error i experienced that may be candidate for a separate issue.

when i set an "Output folder" import failed with error Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: Cannot destructure property 'message' of 'e' as it is undefined.. It happened three times in different progress points hence in three different attachments with three different formats (.png, .mov and .pdf)

see screenshots

1. Output folder as "Notion", check top left the Files view. Setting `Files and links > Default location for new attachments > Same folder as current file.`. Failed in a `.png` file.  2. Output folder as "Notion", check top left the Files view. Setting `Files and links > Default location for new attachments > In the folder specified below > "Notion Attachments"`. Failed in a `.mov` file. 

[remihuguet]

Hello there,

same problem here, I can't have a ~30mb Notion export to be imported. Tried a bunch of things. I can reproduce it with the simple 2 files + 1 png file attached. Empty vault created for the occasion

Mac os Sequoia 15.0 Obsidian 1.6.7 Obsidian importer 1.6.5 Archive.zip

Hope it helps 🙏🏻