Evernote has been a favored note-taking app since its launch in 2008. However, due to numerous recent changes, many users are either switching to other solutions or considering such a move.
Thinking about switching from Evernote or just want to back up your Evernote data? If the idea of transferring all your notes seems daunting, don't stress—this guide will help you go through the process of exporting from Evernote, step by step.
Migration from Evernote step by step
Prepare your notes for export
Evernote notebooks and notes can be exported easily. However, if you want to keep the internal links between notes or the hierarchy of your tags, you"ll need to do some extra preparation before exporting.
Export all notes from Evernote
Here's how to export your notes from Evernote to an .ENEX file. You can find full instructions how to do it the Evernote help files, but here are the quick steps:
- Make sure you have the Evernote desktop app installed. This process won't work with the web version, because it does not support notes export.
- Go to the Notebooks screen.
- Click on More actions (••• icon) and choose Export Notebook...
- Select ENEX as the file format.
- Choose a location for your exported .enex file and click Export.
- Repeat these steps for each notebook you have.
I've also included a video below to guide you through each step:
Import your .ENEX file(s)
The following are instructions how import your newly exported .ENEX file(s) in MyInfo.
- Choose File > Import.
- Import dialog will appear.
- Select Evernote .ENEX Notebook in the list and click OK.
- In the Open dialog that will appear find your .enex file and select it.
- Click Open and wait for the import to complete.
- If you have more .ENEX files, you can repeat the steps with each of them.
What will be imported?
MyInfo has one of the most complete importers for Evernote. It will import the following from your .ENEX files:
- rich formatting (fonts, sizes, bold, italic, lists, headings, colors)
- links (including internal links)
- tasks
- images
- tables
- attachments (Word, Excel, PDFs and other files)
- tags (including nested tags)
Advanced export steps (optional)
The following steps are required only if you use internal note links or nested tags in Evernote:
Retain internal links
If you're switching from Evernote to a new note-taking app and you've got a lot of linked notes, here's a useful tip: Create a "Table of Contents" note in Evernote.
This note should list all your notes, including their titles and links. This is important because when you move your notes to a new app, the ENEX file format used for exporting from Evernote doesn't always keep the note titles and links matching up correctly. By having a "Table of Contents", you help the new app's importer to properly import link to other notes in your notebook. MyInfo and other compatible apps support this kind of TOC notes, so when you import the ENEX file, your internal links will continue to work there.
To create a TOC note in Evernote, before you export to ENEX:
- Select all notes.
- Click on the Create Table of Contents Note button.
If your version of Evernote does not include this button, you can try this alternative:
- Select all notes.
- Right click on them and select Copy Internal Links.
- Paste the links in a new note called "Table of Contents" or "index".
Preserve tag hierarchy
Evernote export does not keep the tag hierarchy. To keep your tag hierarchy, you can "flatten" tags by separating them with "/". For example, if you have the following tag structure in EN:
ParentTag
ChildTag
In order to see tags properly nested in MyInfo and other compatible apps:
- Right-click on the
ChildTag. - Select Rename.
- Rename it to
ParentTag/ChildTag. - Repeat these steps for all child tags in Evernote.
Final words
You have just learned how to move your notes out of Evernote into a new app.
There are multiple note taking apps that can import your .ENEX files. However, if you use Windows, we recommend MyInfo - a full featured Evernote alternative for Windows.