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EPERM, Permission denied when creating a backup #107

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EPERM, Permission denied when creating a backup#107
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JackGruber

Description

@derhappy
derhappy
opened on Jun 22, 2026

Since some update in May, backups won't work for my setup anymore. I already changed the backup folder from the user folder, but this didn't help. I get the following error:

Fehler beim Ordner erstellen: EPERM, Permission denied: \?\C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job\notes '\?\C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job\notes'

A folder C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job gets created an filled. There's also a notes.7z inside but no date folders containing the daily backup.

Activity

  1. github-actions
    assigned
    JackGruber
    on Jun 22, 2026

  2. JackGruber commented on Jun 23, 2026

    @JackGruber
    JackGruber
    on Jun 23, 2026
    Owner

    Please set the Log Level to Verbose and then upload the log, maybe I can see something in it.
    The log should be stored in .config\joplin-desktop\cache\io.github.jackgruber.backup

  3. derhappy commented on Jun 23, 2026

    @derhappy
    derhappy
    on Jun 23, 2026
    Author

    Unfortunatly the log does not tell anymore than the initial error message, it just ends with it.
    I'm a bit irritated by the "?" at the beginning of the path.

    Backup Log 

    [2026-06-23 20:56:40.678] [info]  Backup started
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.688] [verbose] Joplin Version: 3.6.15
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.689] [verbose] Node.JS Version: v24.14.0
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.689] [info]  Plugin Version: 1.5.1
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.689] [verbose] loadSettings
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.691] [verbose] loadBackupPath
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.691] [verbose] getInstanceInfo
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.693] [verbose] env: 
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.693] [verbose] altInstanceId: 
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.694] [verbose] profileName: default
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.694] [verbose] rootProfileDir: C:/Users/Markus/.config/joplin-desktop
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.694] [verbose] profileDir: C:/Users/Markus/.config/joplin-desktop
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.695] [verbose] append subFolder
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.696] [verbose] append profile / instance subfolder
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.701] [verbose] Plugin settings:
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.704] [verbose] path: C:\my files
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.705] [verbose] singleJex: false
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.705] [verbose] singleJexV2: true
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.706] [verbose] backupRetention: 7
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.707] [verbose] backupInterval: 24
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.707] [verbose] onlyOnChange: true
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.708] [verbose] usePassword: false
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.709] [verbose] lastBackup: 1778253111994
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.709] [verbose] fileLogLevel: verbose
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.710] [verbose] zipArchive: yes
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.710] [verbose] compressionLevel: 5
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.711] [verbose] exportPath: 
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.712] [verbose] backupSetName: {YYYYMMDDHHmm}
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.712] [verbose] backupInfo: [{"name":"202605081712","date":1778253111994},{"name":"202605071448","date":1778158073007},{"name":"202605061444","date":1778071432831},{"name":"202605051442","date":1777984945673},{"name":"202604300801","date":1777528874555},{"name":"202604290758","date":1777442317559},{"name":"202604280758","date":1777355881484}]
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.713] [verbose] backupVersion: 3
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.714] [verbose] backupPlugins: true
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.714] [verbose] createSubfolder: true
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.715] [verbose] exportFormat: md_frontmatter
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.715] [verbose] fsWorkaroundLinux: false
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.716] [verbose] activeBackupPath: C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.716] [verbose] backupBasePath: C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.717] [verbose] logFile: C:\Users\Markus\.config\joplin-desktop\cache\io.github.jackgruber.backup\activeBackup.log
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.717] [verbose] showDoneMsg: true
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.718] [verbose] installationDir: C:\Users\Markus\.config\joplin-desktop\cache\io.github.jackgruber.backup
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.719] [info]  Enable password protection: false
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.719] [verbose] Backup path: C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.720] [verbose] Active backup path (export path): C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.720] [verbose] Create folder C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job
[2026-06-23 20:56:40.722] [error] Fehler beim Ordner erstellen: EPERM, Permission denied: \\?\C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job\notes '\\?\C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job\notes'

  4. JackGruber commented on Jun 24, 2026

    @JackGruber
    JackGruber
    on Jun 24, 2026
    Owner

    I mean the \\?\, was fine. It comes from the Node.js path...

    Can you create on the in the command window the folder C:\my files\JoplinBackup\default\joplin_active_backup_job ?
    Most of the time, this has to do with access issues because another process still has the folder locked, such as an antivirus program, Dropbox, ...

  5. derhappy commented on Jun 24, 2026

    @derhappy
    derhappy
    on Jun 24, 2026
    Author

    yes, I have no issues manually doing anything in the folders. Here's what the structure looks like after creating some test-folders:

    Image

    In a somewhat desperate move I even gave write access to every user for every folder in the tree.
    However, I found something odd: The folder "JoplinBackup" and all subfolders seem to be created with write protection for some reason. When I remove the flag I get "Fehler beim Ordner erstellen: ENOTEMPTY, Directory not empty" on the same directory, the flag gets set again and I get the same issue as before.

    Image

  6. JackGruber commented on Jun 27, 2026

    @JackGruber
    JackGruber
    on Jun 27, 2026
    Owner

    The read only box on the folder is ok. The folder doesn't know the attributes of all files and folders, so it displays this message.
    This is indicated by the minus sign and the box that is not fully highlighted.

    Please try creating a backup directly to c:\testbackup or something like that—it shouldn't contain any spaces or anything like that. Is the same thing happening here, too?

    Is the C:\my files or some of the path a NTFS Hard Link/Junction?
    What version of Windows do you have?

  7. bwat47 commented on Aug 9, 2026

    @bwat47
    bwat47
    on Aug 9, 2026

    I'm seeing this issue as well, it seems related to the backup folder being shared with onedrive (even when always keep offline is enabled). I had it setup this way for a long time and it suddenly stopped working

    It actually seems to create the folder and the files fine during the backup process (if I look in the folder while backup is happening, the active backup folder is created, the jex file is created, the plugins are copied), but fails to delete the active backup folder after which causes the error

    Changing it to use a folder not shared by onedrive works

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