diff --git a/main.ts b/main.ts
index 23de926..981efec 100644
--- a/main.ts
+++ b/main.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { Notice, Platform, Plugin } from 'obsidian';
-import { ComputeFileLocalShaModal } from 'src/pluginModal';
 import { Fit } from 'src/fit';
 import { FitPull } from 'src/fitPull';
 import { FitPush } from 'src/fitPush';
@@ -135,22 +134,6 @@ export default class FitPlugin extends Plugin {
 		// add class to ribbon element to afford styling, refer to styles.css
 		this.fitPushRibbonIconEl.addClass('fit-push-ribbon-el');
 
-		// This adds a status bar item to the bottom of the app. Does not work on mobile apps.
-		const statusBarItemEl = this.addStatusBarItem();
-		statusBarItemEl.setText('Status Bar Text');
-
-		// Command for computing an inputed file path's local sha for debugging purposes
-		this.addCommand({
-			id: 'compute-file-local-sha',
-			name: 'Compute local sha for file (Debug)',
-			callback: () => {
-				new ComputeFileLocalShaModal(
-					this.app, 
-					async (queryFile) => console.log(await this.fit.computeFileLocalSha(queryFile))
-				).open();
-			}
-		});
-
 		// This adds a settings tab so the user can configure various aspects of the plugin
 		this.addSettingTab(new FitSettingTab(this.app, this));
 
diff --git a/src/fitPull.ts b/src/fitPull.ts
index 8db763b..1162670 100644
--- a/src/fitPull.ts
+++ b/src/fitPull.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { VaultOperations } from "./vaultOps";
-import { ChangeType, compareSha, getFileEncoding } from "./utils";
+import { ChangeType, compareSha } from "./utils";
 import { Fit } from "./fit";
 import { Notice } from "obsidian";
 import { LocalStores } from "main";
@@ -89,11 +89,8 @@ export class FitPull implements IFitPull {
     // Get changes from remote, pathShaMap is coupled to the Fit plugin design
     async getRemoteNonDeletionChangesContent(pathShaMap: Record<string, string>) {
         const remoteChanges = Object.entries(pathShaMap).map(async ([path, file_sha]) => {
-            const encoding = getFileEncoding(path)
             const content = await this.fit.getBlob(file_sha);
-            const isBinary = encoding == "base64"
-            const decodedContent = isBinary ? content : atob(content);
-            return {path, content: decodedContent, encoding};
+            return {path, content};
         })
         return await Promise.all(remoteChanges)
     }
diff --git a/src/vaultOps.ts b/src/vaultOps.ts
index 5c6b614..f8a1054 100644
--- a/src/vaultOps.ts
+++ b/src/vaultOps.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { warn } from "console";
 import { Notice, TFile, Vault, base64ToArrayBuffer } from "obsidian";
-import { getFileEncoding } from "./utils";
 
 export interface IVaultOperations {
     vault: Vault
@@ -30,8 +29,8 @@ export class VaultOperations implements IVaultOperations {
     }
 
     async ensureFolderExists(path: string): Promise<void> {
-        // extract folder path, return empty string is no folder path is matched
-        const folderPath = path.match(/^(.*\/)/)?.[1] || '';
+        // extract folder path, return empty string is no folder path is matched (exclude the last /)
+        const folderPath = path.match(/^(.*)\//)?.[1] || '';
         if (folderPath != "" && !(this.vault.getFolderByPath(folderPath))) {
             await this.vault.createFolder(folderPath)
         }
@@ -41,28 +40,18 @@ export class VaultOperations implements IVaultOperations {
         // adopted getAbstractFileByPath for mobile compatiability, TODO: check whether additional checks needed to validate instance of TFile
         // temporary fix that works temporarily since path are garanteed to be for files not folders
         const file = this.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(path) as TFile
-        const encoding = getFileEncoding(path)
-        const isBinary = encoding === "base64"
         if (file) {
-            if (isBinary) {
-                await this.vault.modifyBinary(file, base64ToArrayBuffer(content))
-            } else {
-                await this.vault.modify(file, content)
-            }
+            await this.vault.modifyBinary(file, base64ToArrayBuffer(content))
         } else {
             this.ensureFolderExists(path)
-            if (isBinary) {
-                await this.vault.createBinary(path, base64ToArrayBuffer(content))
-            } else {
-                await this.vault.create(path, content)
-            }
+            await this.vault.createBinary(path, base64ToArrayBuffer(content))
         }
         new Notice(`${path} ${file ? 'updated' : 'copied'} to local drive.`, this.noticeDuration);
         return
     }
 
     async updateLocalFiles(
-        addToLocal: {path: string, content: string, encoding: string}[], 
+        addToLocal: {path: string, content: string}[], 
         deleteFromLocal: Array<string>) {
             // Process file additions or updates
             const writeOperations = addToLocal.map(async ({path, content}) => {