Seeking help resetting the database and starting over

Bear feedback Bear Bug Report
1

  • Bear Version: 2.8.1 (14428)

  • OS Version: Tahoe 26.3.1

  • What were you doing: Attempting to delete a tag

  • What feature did you use:

  • What happened: After importing ~4,500 notes from Obsidian, I wanted to delete the #obsidian tag that is automatically appended to all notes—which appeared to import correctly. Each time I go to delete the tag, the app hangs (“Application Not Responding”).

    Separately but relatedly, when I downloaded Bear on iOS 26.4.2 and tried to sync, the sync seems to hang—no notes appear, even after leaving the sync running (and the iPhone 14 Pro on/unlocked) for 10–15 minutes at a time.

    Neither error happened upon previous Obsidian imports. I now would like to delete the app off both devices, remove any cache or other files associated with my current installation and account, and start fresh to see if it fixes the problem. May I have instructions or any best practices or tips to do so? Thanks.

2

If you want to reset both your online and offline note libraries, follow this procedure:

  • If you want to keep your local notes or have a way to restore your current notes, run a Bear backup
  • on macOS, quit Bear and delete this folder ~/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/
    • In Finder, you can hit CMD+SHIFT+G, paste the path, and hit Enter.
  • Delete Bear’s app on your iOS or iPadOS devices
  • Open System Preferences > [your avatar] > iCloud > Manage… > Bear > Delete From iCloud
  • Reopen Bear on macOS and reinstall on iOS to start with a clean note library
2 Likes
3

Thanks for the detailed reply. I did as prompted and tried to re-import those Obsidian notes. This time I got stuck on the holding screen with the illustration of the bear holding up a paper with the spinner overlaid. The app was not hanging, but it could not import the notes after about five minutes of leaving it on-screen and ten more minutes of doing other activity on my Mac simultaneously. The app didn’t enter into a “not responding” state, though I did eventually force-quit it. When I reopened it, there were zero notes.

One more update: on iOS 26.4.2 the “Manage Storage” screen is in Settings → [avatar] → iCloud → Storage → Bear, and the option to delete the data from iCloud appears after you tap the app’s name. If you have a macro for responding to questions like this you might want to update it!

Thanks, and any further thoughts are most welcome.

Brian

1 Like
4

Unfortunately, I’m aware that the Obsidian importer can take quite some time to complete the import. Please try to give it more time to finish importing everything.

5

OK, will do! It had previously handled a similar number of notes more quickly, but perhaps something I’ve done with Obsidian’s properties and bases, which I’ve been using more lately, slows it down. Appreciate your prompt responses.

6

Waited long enough for the 4,354 notes to arrive. Everything appears to be in order. Attempting to delete the #obsidian tag on all of them on MacOS creates an instant spinning beachball and freezes the app. Had to force-quit it b/c it’s not responding.

If there is any other diagnostic information I can send or any other tests you’d like me to run, please let me know.

7

I suspect the tag-removal operation is taking a long time, but eventually will end as the import.
Can you please try to let the wheel spin for some time and not kill Bear?

8

Thank you for encouraging persistence—and for continuing to respond to me. I set it up, left the house for a meeting, and came back 90 minutes later to find the tag gone. Not sure how long it took, but it worked. Thank you! I always took “Application Not Responding” as a “freeze state,” so hadn’t thought to just … let it do its work.

All the best,
Brian