Backup Question

[oded 42]

If I make regular copies of c:/users/my username/evernote/databases, will this enable me to get back all my data (including notebooks, notes, attachments, tags) in case it gets lost/corrupted?
Would restoring the database folder from backup to it's original location do the trick?
Thanks for any help.

Oded.
 

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, oded said:

Would restoring the database folder from backup to it's original location do the trick?

Evernote is a cloud service, with the master version of your data stored on the Evernote servers (exception for Local Notebooks)

There is a copy of the data on your computer, but a mass restore has limited value.  The data would be overwritten by the master version.

Backups are important, especially for Local Notebooks.  The usual approach is to use the export/import feature

There is some documentation at https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208313528-How-to-back-up-and-restore-your-data-in-Evernote-for-Windows 

[oded 42]

49 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Evernote is a cloud service, with the master version of your data stored on the Evernote servers (exception for Local Notebooks)

There is a copy of the data on your computer, but a mass restore has limited value.  The data would be overwritten by the master version.

Backups are important, especially for Local Notebooks.  The usual approach is to use the export/import feature

There is some documentation at https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208313528-How-to-back-up-and-restore-your-data-in-Evernote-for-Windows 

I know that everything is on Evernote's servers. (I don't have any local notebooks...)
But if some of the data on my desktop gets corrupted and a sync is done, Evernote's servers are of no help to me.
So I'm asking again: I make daily backups of Evernote's database folder. If I copy the database folder from my backup location (say yesterday's backup) to it's original location (c:/users/my username/evernote/database) will I get back all my data (as it was just before the backup started?)
I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by "The data would be overwritten by the master version."
Thank you for your quick reply 

Oded.

[DTLow 5,736]

7 hours ago, oded said:

If I copy the database folder from my backup location (say yesterday's backup) to it's original location (c:/users/my username/evernote/database) will I get back all my data (as it was just before the backup started?)

Just double check the database location.  You want to include the .exb file

Yes, you will “get back all my data (as it was just before the backup started?)”

But then the sync process runs, and your data is updated from the servers

[CalS 5,280]

5 hours ago, oded said:

I know that everything is on Evernote's servers. (I don't have any local notebooks...)
But if some of the data on my desktop gets corrupted and a sync is done, Evernote's servers are of no help to me.
So I'm asking again: I make daily backups of Evernote's database folder. If I copy the database folder from my backup location (say yesterday's backup) to it's original location (c:/users/my username/evernote/database) will I get back all my data (as it was just before the backup started?)
I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by "The data would be overwritten by the master version."
Thank you for your quick reply 

Oded.

To amplify @DTLow a bit.  When you replace the current .exb with your backup, the first thing EN will do is sync with the server.  So there is an excellent chance any of the corrupted notes on the server will now sync and overlay the "good" version in the backup.  So not much help.

The first way around this is to be a Premium subscriber so that you can take advantage of Note history.  You can then recover a previous version of the note from the EN servers. 

This doesn't help with accidental deletes though and the way around that is to take ENEX backups by notebook, see File - Export.  Make sure tags is selected in options.  Then whenever you accidentally delete a note you can do an import of the ENEX, move the note(s), then delete the imported notebook.  You can also use this method for "corrupted" notes if you don't want to pay for premium.  Note history has a better chance of being current for an oft modified note.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

6 hours ago, oded said:

So I'm asking again: I make daily backups of Evernote's database folder. If I copy the database folder from my backup location (say yesterday's backup) to it's original location (c:/users/my username/evernote/database) will I get back all my data (as it was just before the backup started?)
I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by "The data would be overwritten by the master version."

The short answer is:  Yes, BUT you must take precautions

If you want to restore your Evernote data from your backup, you need to first disconnect your PC or Mac from the Internet, otherwise when the Evernote app does a sync AFTER your restore, the restored Notes will be overwritten by your bad/corrupted Notes that are in the EN Cloud.

So, a brief version of Restore is:

1. Disconnect your computer from the Internet
2. Backup your existing Evernote data
3. Restore the Evernote data from backup
4. Export the Notes you want to recover, to restore to the EN Cloud, using ENEX, with one ENEX file per Notebook.
5. Restore the current Backup from Step #2
6. Connect your computer to the Internet
7. Do a fully sync.
8. Import the Notes you exported in Step #4 into Local Notebooks
9. Either copy the contents of these restored Notes into the Original Notes in you sync'd Notebooks (recommended)
   OR
   Copy/Move the restored Notes into your Sync'd Notebooks.  This will create new sync'd Notes with new UUID.
10. Sync

For more info, See Evernote Backup and Restore Options

 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

@oded, please edit your original post and correct the spelling of the topic title to "Backup Question".

This will greatly help others find your topic in a search.

[oded 42]

7 hours ago, DTLow said:

Just double check the database location.  You want to include the .exb file

Yes, you will “get back all my data (as it was just before the backup started?)”

But then the sync process runs, and your data is updated from the servers

I backup the entire database folder which includes also the .exb file(s)
I understand now the sync problem.
Thank you!

[oded 42]

2 hours ago, csihilling said:

To amplify @DTLow a bit.  When you replace the current .exb with your backup, the first thing EN will do is sync with the server.  So there is an excellent chance any of the corrupted notes on the server will now sync and overlay the "good" version in the backup.  So not much help.

The first way around this is to be a Premium subscriber so that you can take advantage of Note history.  You can then recover a previous version of the note from the EN servers. 

This doesn't help with accidental deletes though and the way around that is to take ENEX backups by notebook, see File - Export.  Make sure tags is selected in options.  Then whenever you accidentally delete a note you can do an import of the ENEX, move the note(s), then delete the imported notebook.  You can also use this method for "corrupted" notes if you don't want to pay for premium.  Note history has a better chance of being current for an oft modified note.

I used to have a Premium account but after the price was almost doubled I changed to Plus, so no History for me now...
Regarding Enex backups - if I'm not mistaken this has to be done manually, and I'm looking for an automatic backup...
Thank you for your reply.

Oded.

[oded 42]

50 minutes ago, JMichaelTX said:

The short answer is:  Yes, BUT you must take precautions

If you want to restore your Evernote data from your backup, you need to first disconnect your PC or Mac from the Internet, otherwise when the Evernote app does a sync AFTER your restore, the restored Notes will be overwritten by your bad/corrupted Notes that are in the EN Cloud.

So, a brief version of Restore is:

1. Disconnect your computer from the Internet
2. Backup your existing Evernote data
3. Restore the Evernote data from backup
4. Export the Notes you want to recover, to restore to the EN Cloud, using ENEX, with one ENEX file per Notebook.
5. Restore the current Backup from Step #2
6. Connect your computer to the Internet
7. Do a fully sync.
8. Import the Notes you exported in Step #4 into Local Notebooks
9. Either copy the contents of these restored Notes into the Original Notes in you sync'd Notebooks (recommended)
   OR
   Copy/Move the restored Notes into your Sync'd Notebooks.  This will create new sync'd Notes with new UUID.
10. Sync

For more info, See Evernote Backup and Restore Options

 

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation 
Much appreciated 
Assuming a full sync is done before step 1, is step 7 really needed?
Thanks again.

Oded.

[DTLow 5,736]

5 minutes ago, oded said:

Regarding Enex backups - if I'm not mistaken this has to be done manually, and I'm looking for an automatic backup...

You can look into scripting options, or third party products like Backupery

I have my daily/weekly backups run automatically on my Mac using the export feature

[oded 42]

47 minutes ago, JMichaelTX said:

@oded, please edit your original post and correct the spelling of the topic title to "Backup Question".

This will greatly help others find your topic in a search.

DONE!
Thank you.

[oded 42]

5 minutes ago, DTLow said:

You can look into scripting options, or third party products like Backupery

I have my daily/weekly backups run automatically on my Mac

Thank you!