Conflicts are rare. They happen only when the same note is edited on two devices before either had a chance to sync, typically because one of them was offline.
Most of the time you will never see one. When two devices edit different parts of the same note, Caliu merges both sets of changes automatically, the way a version-control tool would, and syncing continues without interrupting you. Nothing is lost and no decision is needed.
You are only asked to choose when both devices changed the same lines in incompatible ways, so there is no safe way to combine them. Until you resolve that, both versions are kept.
In the web app
The sync indicator in the sidebar turns red and shows how many notes are in conflict. Click it to open the resolve dialog, then choose:
- Keep local version: what you wrote on this device wins.
- Keep server version: what synced from your other device wins.
Your choice applies to the conflicted notes and sync resumes normally.
On iPhone, iPad, and Mac
The apps show both versions of each conflicted note next to each other (side by side or stacked, depending on your screen), so you can read them before choosing which to keep. Conflicts are resolved one note at a time. If the conflicted note is already open, a button in the editor toolbar takes you straight to it.
Avoiding conflicts
Just let devices sync before switching between them. Pins, tags, and archive changes are designed to merge cleanly, and edits to different parts of a note now merge on their own. Only competing edits to the very same lines need your decision.