How to Migrate Your Notes From Evernote to Apple Notes

[MacRumors]

Apple's stock Notes app has come a long way since it first appeared on Mac, with password protection, tables, and document scanning being just a few of the top features it has gained in recent years. These and other improvements offer compelling reasons to migrate from a rival note-taking platform, especially if you've been paying for the privilege.

Evernote users in particular may feel they now have extra motivation to make the switch. Last month, rumors that Evernote was struggling to keep afloat were bolstered by reports of a flurry of key departures at the company, with one source even claiming the company was in a "death spiral" because of its inability to attract new users.

Whatever your reasons for migrating platforms, you can do so by following these simple steps. Note that the export file that Evernote spits out will also work with other note-taking apps like OneNote and Bear, which offer similar import options to the Apple Notes method described below.

How to Migrate From Evernote to Apple Notes

1. Launch Evernote on your Mac.
2. In the sidebar, click All Notes.
   
   
   
   Select Edit -> Select All from the menu bar.
3. Select File -> Export Notes... from the menu bar.
4. In the Save dialog, make sure Evernote XML (.enex) is selected in the Format dropdown and give the export file an identifiable name.
   
   
   
   Click Save.
5. Launch Apple's Notes app.
6. Select File -> Import to Notes from the menu bar.
7. Navigate to the .enex file that you just exported from Evernote.
   
   
   
   Check the box next to Preserve folder structure on import if needed, and then click Import.
   Click Import Notes.

Article Link: How to Migrate Your Notes From Evernote to Apple Notes

 

[Sasparilla]

Excellent, just what is needed to have in the old back pocket here, thank you. My wife is a big Evernote user.

 

[masteroflondon]

'flurry of key departures at the startup'. How is Evernote a ‘startup’? It was founded 11 years ago.

You guys really are paid by the word, aren't you?

 

[macgabe]

Tried about 6 months ago - not Mojave - Notes couldn't handle it. I think I have way too many notes. And it screwed up all the organisation and formatting. It was stuck syncing for about 12 hours, the only way to get my computer back was to painstakingly delete each note.

 

[matticus99]

No way the notes app can replace Evernote. If Evernote does eventually die, it makes more sense to just archive your Evernote content and look for a better alternative.

 

[timmyh]

'flurry of key departures at the startup'. How is Evernote a ‘startup’? It was founded 11 years ago.

You guys really are paid by the word, aren't you?

I've changed it to 'company'...

 

[aDRock1154]

I might seriously consider doing this. My needs are basic & it would be nice to do away with Evernote.

 

[DMinTX]

I tend to use Evernote as my reference library with Things 3 as my task manager. I have several tasks in Things that have links to a note in Evernote.

I don’t see how to do this in Notes today (i.e. have an external link).

If Evernote goes away, I will be replacing it with something that can do this.

 

[riverfreak]

Naive question: what if you’ve only ever used Evernote on iOS?

 

[spullum]

No way the notes app can replace Evernote. If Evernote does eventually die, it makes more sense to just archive your Evernote content and look for a better alternative.

My spouse was really into Evernote, but it got expensive. We both switched to OneNote, and it’s been great for us. It’s one of the better Microsoft products and entirely free to use.

 

[navigates]

Who has lost their mind to switch from Evernote.
Tell me this, one of the big features that Notes Lack.
1. Searching within the note in an advanced form. So for example, you are searching for a term that is listed 5 times in the note, getting to the 3rd one with apple is impossible.
2. Thick client on PC. Apple Lacks.
3. iCloud Notes are tied to your apple id / icloud. Not sure if I trust apple over apple but that's just me. So wonder why was there a need for such an article?

 

[ignatius345]

I tend to use Evernote as my reference library with Things 3 as my task manager. I have several tasks in Things that have links to a note in Evernote.

I don’t see how to do this in Notes today (i.e. have an external link).

If Evernote goes away, I will be replacing it with something that can do this.

It would be great to be able to generate a "link" to a specific note in Notes. I work in Omnifocus myself, and tend to just manually refer to Notes if I need to, but a direct link would be very cool.

 

[jbryant705]

My spouse was really into Evernote, but it got expensive. We both switched to OneNote, and it’s been great for us. It’s one of the better Microsoft products and entirely free to use.

I wish I could switch to OneNote. I wanted to switch my company to it since we already use Office365 for email and apps. But they don't even have basic features like sorting notes by created or updated date. The UI is also horrendous.

I also tried their migration tool and it just stopped randomly toward the end and didn't finish migrating. And probably half of the ones that did were missing crucial info like the create and update dates. Some had that data, but others didn't.

 

[ignatius345]

Who has lost their mind to switch from Evernote.
Tell me this, one of the big features that Notes Lack.
1. Searching within the note in an advanced form. So for example, you are searching for a term that is listed 5 times in the note, getting to the 3rd one with apple is impossible.

Untrue. Open the note and hit ⌘+F and search for the term. Use ⌘+G or the little right-arrow to look for the next occurrance. Like this:

2. Thick client on PC. Apple Lacks.

Definitely a point for Evernote here if you need a native app on Windows. I don't know what a "thick client" is, but with Notes you can get to all your stuff via icloud.com on a Windows machine if you need to, though.

3. iCloud Notes are tied to your apple id / icloud. Not sure if I trust apple over apple but that's just me. So wonder why was there a need for such an article?

I switched. I found Evernote had a lot more features than I wanted and frankly the interface just had too much going on for my tastes.

But of course we all have different needs and preferences. For you, sounds like Evernote is your ideal solution and that's great, but this article is for people like me who need something simpler and already native to their Apple/iCloud ecosystem.

 

[robinp]

I’m going to suggest something here that I’ve been mulling over for some time. Maybe if I was a coder I would have a go at doing it. But I’m not.

I want a note taker (like Evernote) that doubles as a task manager. The trouble I have is I take notes, some of which might be actions / tasks. Others are just notes for the record.

What I want is a way to rage / format the actions such that the app can create a single, organised to-do list from ALL notes with actions. The obvious way to do this would be a check box icon within the notes. The actions in the master to-do list would be arranged by the folder structure within which the notes are stored, or by date. Maybe there is also a way to set a deadline date for the action so you could then sort by target date for completion.

I’ve done some searching and not found anything that does this.

Other things it would need:
- ability to insert sketches with Pencil on iPad
- handwriting recognition (with an ability to allocate them as a to-do item)

 

[ignatius345]

Naive question: what if you’ve only ever used Evernote on iOS?

My guess is that installing the Mac version of Evernote would sync up all your notes from your iOS version and then you could export from there?

 

[goshya]

I’d be more interested in figuring out how to export my 900 Apples notes, so I have access to them on an Android phone I have to use at work...

Apple doesn’t seem to make the export of a large amount of notes easy it seems.

 

[nt5672]

No way the notes app can replace Evernote. If Evernote does eventually die, it makes more sense to just archive your Evernote content and look for a better alternative.

Unfortunately, I expect the Apple Notes App to die before Evernote. Apple free apps have no commitment from Apple, one day here, another day gone (or changed to completely unusable, like iTunes).

 

[OscarMV]

Naive question: what if you’ve only ever used Evernote on iOS?

Just download the Mac client and sync. It’s a cloud-based product.
[doublepost=1540569880][/doublepost]

Apple's stock Notes app has come a long way since it first appeared on Mac, with password protection, tables, and document scanning being just a few of the top features it has gained in recent years. These and other improvements offer compelling reasons to migrate from a rival note-taking platform, especially if you've been paying for the privilege.

Evernote users in particular may feel they now have extra motivation to make the switch. Last month, rumors that Evernote was struggling to keep afloat were bolstered by reports of a flurry of key departures at the company, with one source even claiming the company was in a "death spiral" because of its inability to attract new users.

Whatever your reasons for migrating platforms, you can do so by following these simple steps. Note that the export file that Evernote spits out will also work with other note-taking apps like OneNote and Bear, which offer similar import options to the Apple Notes method described below.

How to Migrate From Evernote to Apple Notes

1. Launch Evernote on your Mac.
2. In the sidebar, click All Notes.
   
   
   
   Select Edit -> Select All from the menu bar.
3. Select File -> Export Notes... from the menu bar.
4. In the Save dialog, make sure Evernote XML (.enex) is selected in the Format dropdown and give the export file an identifiable name.
   
   
   
   Click Save.
5. Launch Apple's Notes app.
6. Select File -> Import to Notes from the menu bar.
7. Navigate to the .enex file that you just exported from Evernote.
   
   
   
   Check the box next to Preserve folder structure on import if needed, and then click Import.
   Click Import Notes.

Article Link: How to Migrate Your Notes From Evernote to Apple Notes

Apple's stock Notes app has come a long way since it first appeared on Mac, with password protection, tables, and document scanning being just a few of the top features it has gained in recent years. These and other improvements offer compelling reasons to migrate from a rival note-taking platform, especially if you've been paying for the privilege.

Evernote users in particular may feel they now have extra motivation to make the switch. Last month, rumors that Evernote was struggling to keep afloat were bolstered by reports of a flurry of key departures at the company, with one source even claiming the company was in a "death spiral" because of its inability to attract new users.

Whatever your reasons for migrating platforms, you can do so by following these simple steps. Note that the export file that Evernote spits out will also work with other note-taking apps like OneNote and Bear, which offer similar import options to the Apple Notes method described below.

How to Migrate From Evernote to Apple Notes

1. Launch Evernote on your Mac.
2. In the sidebar, click All Notes.
   
   
   
   Select Edit -> Select All from the menu bar.
3. Select File -> Export Notes... from the menu bar.
4. In the Save dialog, make sure Evernote XML (.enex) is selected in the Format dropdown and give the export file an identifiable name.
   
   
   
   Click Save.
5. Launch Apple's Notes app.
6. Select File -> Import to Notes from the menu bar.
7. Navigate to the .enex file that you just exported from Evernote.
   
   
   
   Check the box next to Preserve folder structure on import if needed, and then click Import.
   Click Import Notes.

Article Link: How to Migrate Your Notes From Evernote to Apple Notes

The whole “Evernote is going to die” flurry of articles a couple months back was a great example of Silicon Valley groupthink and did hurt the company far more than any of the departures did. It has a large paying user base and it’s doing alright (pays the bills with its income as companies should).

There are other reasons for concern with Evernote but they are not the ones that have been reported.

 

[docjonnt]

It would be great to be able to generate a "link" to a specific note in Notes. I work in Omnifocus myself, and tend to just manually refer to Notes if I need to, but a direct link would be very cool.

I use Pocket Informant (iOS and MacOS). Pretty powerful calendar, task and event manager, integrating contacts and a Note function (the latter syncs with Evernote and its own native note format). Can at a URL to a note to associate with a task.

 

[ThomasJL]

I’m happy for how the Notes app has evolved in terms of features, but I really miss the skeuomorphic design of how the Notes app was during iOS 6 and before. Steve Jobs brought culture, familiarity, and intuitiveness to UI design. Tim Cook is mediocre and just let Jony Ive (a brilliant industrial designer and a horrible completely inexperienced UI designer) copy Microsoft’s stupid idea of flat design.

 

[neliason]

I’d be more interested in figuring out how to export my 900 Apples notes, so I have access to them on an Android phone I have to use at work...

Apple doesn’t seem to make the export of a large amount of notes easy it seems.

I like Notes just fine for my needs. But it can’t be a solid replacement for any system which actually allows you to easily export all your data.

 

[ignatius345]

I use Pocket Informant (iOS and MacOS). Pretty powerful calendar, task and event manager, integrating contacts and a Note function (the latter syncs with Evernote and its own native note format). Can at a URL to a note to associate with a task.

Nice. I used to use Pocket Informant on iOS (way back when I used to carry an iPod Touch as a bootleg iPhone alternative) because it had the absolute best month view of any calendar app I was able to find.
[doublepost=1540575169][/doublepost]

I like Notes just fine for my needs. But it can’t be a solid replacement for any system which actually allows you to easily export all your data.

Yeah, that's a troubling omission. I'm always big on having an exit/migration strategy for any app before I pour my data into it and Notes seems to be missing one.

I haven't tested it, but a quick search led me to this, which might be a decent option? Plain text is really limiting, but it's something at least:

https://www.macobserver.com/tips/how-to/macos-export-apple-notes-plain-text-files/

 

[abiem]

man I wanted to migrate to Notes badly but the folder design just isn't as convenient I think...and also I realized Evernote has 1 great feature — you can highlight certain areas of a note and hide/password protect that instead of the entire note itself!! : ( UGH. Guess I'll be keeping Evernote a bit longer

 

[aforty]

Wait, why was I still using Evernote for my saved recipes?

Exported, imported, Evernote deleted. Good riddance!