Archive Manager

An Obsidian plugin to archive and unarchive files and folders with automatic metadata tracking.

Features

• One-command archiving: Move files or folders to your archive with a single command
• Automatic metadata: Tracks original location and archive date, so you can always restore items to where they came from
• Smart unarchiving: Restore items to their original location with conflict handling
• Browse archive: Fuzzy search through archived items to quickly find and restore what you need
• Undo support: Accidentally archived something? Undo within a configurable time window
• Context menu integration: Right-click any file or folder to archive/unarchive

Usage

Archive an Item

1. Open a file or select a folder in the file explorer
2. Use one of these methods:
   • Command palette: Archive item
   • Right-click: Select "Archive" from the context menu
   • Hotkey: Assign your own in Settings → Hotkeys

The item will be moved to your archive folder with metadata recording its original location.

Unarchive an Item

1. Navigate to an archived item, or use the "Browse archive" command
2. Use one of these methods:
   • Command palette: Unarchive item
   • Right-click: Select "Unarchive" from the context menu
   • Browse archive: Search and select an item to restore

The item will be moved back to its original location. If the original location no longer exists, you'll be prompted to recreate it.

Browse Archive

Use the command Browse archive to open a fuzzy search modal showing all archived items. Select any item to unarchive it instantly.

How Metadata Works

For Markdown Files

Archive metadata is stored in the file's frontmatter:

---
archived: 2025-01-05T14:30:00.000Z
archived_from: 02 Projects/My Project/notes.md
---

For Folders

An index file (default: _archive.md) is created at the folder root:

---
archived: 2025-01-05T14:30:00.000Z
archived_from: 02 Projects/My Project
is_archive_index: true
---

# My Project

This folder was archived on 2025-01-05.

## Contents at archive time
- file1.md
- file2.md
- subfolder/

For Non-Markdown Files

A sidecar file is created alongside the archived file (e.g., image.png._archive.md).

Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Archive folder	Where archived items are stored	05 Archive
Confirm before archive	Show confirmation dialog	Off
Confirm before unarchive	Show confirmation dialog	On
Undo timeout	Seconds to allow undo after archiving	5
Show in context menu	Add Archive/Unarchive to right-click menu	On
Index file name	Name of metadata file for folders	_archive.md
Record contents in index	List folder contents when archiving	On

Changing the Index File Name

Click the button in settings to change the index file name. The plugin will:

1. Check for any naming conflicts
2. Rename all existing index files to the new name
3. Use the new name for future archives

Edge Cases

Conflict at Destination

If a file already exists at the archive or restore location, you can:

• Replace existing: Move the existing item to trash
• Keep both: Append a number to the name (e.g., "My Project 2")
• Cancel: Abort the operation

Original Path Missing

If the original folder structure was deleted, you can:

• Create path and restore: Recreate the folder structure
• Cancel: Keep the item in the archive

Installation

From Obsidian Community Plugins

1. Open Settings → Community plugins
2. Click "Browse" and search for "Archive Manager"
3. Click "Install", then "Enable"

Manual Installation

1. Download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release
2. Create a folder archive-manager in your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ directory
3. Copy the downloaded files into this folder
4. Enable the plugin in Settings → Community plugins

Support

• Report issues
• Source code

License

MIT