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Duplicate Notes get created automatically!

HemantVasishth

Asked by HemantVasishth,

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HemantVasishth

HemantVasishth 4

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I was simply typing in a note for approximately 2 hours. When I was done editing it, I could see that 3 duplicate notes got created automatically. Each of the duplicate notes was created at different times. For example if I wanted to write 100 lines in my note. When I was done, I would see multiple notes created with the same file name automatically - one with all 100 sentences, 2nd with 70 sentences, 3rd with 50 sentences, etc.. I never created any "duplicate copy" of any note 'manually' myself deliberately.

I am afraid this unpredictability in Evernote should not delete my precious note(s) altogether someday! Please have a look at the timestamps of all the notes (encircled in red) in the attached screenshot and suggest.

Evernote issue.png

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sherryerrera

sherryerrera 5

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To chime in on this matter for the recent record:  Never before have I had a duplicate note problem in Evernote until this past week on October 19th.

Before I go into my details,  I'll note that I am working from a  Windows 10 Pro laptop with the downloaded version of the Evernote App, version copied from the About Evernote tab under Help in the app menu shown here: 

10.47.7-win-ddl-public (3730)
Editor: v159.2.19536
Service: v1.59.4
© 2019 - 2022 Evernote Corporation. All rights reserved

Also note that I don't use the web app so I know this was not open while this happened, and my phone app wasn't open either because I rarely use that right now being between jobs. Anyhow...

So, a few days ago I had created two notes that I was bouncing back and forth between as I was researching a couple of topics at once.   Both notes were open in their own windows and expanded completely to fill my entire screen on one monitor, while doing my research on another.

What I didn't realize that was behind the scenes in my Evernote app window, each of these notes were being duplicated - so that I ended up with 4 copies of each note.

And at the top of the app screen - a thin blue bar appeared and it still appears right now even when I've dismissed it once it keeps coming back even when I'm not actively viewing, selecting, nor have open a version of this referenced note. I've attached a screenshot of the alert message. For those who can't view the attachment, it reads as follows:    "We found more than one version of NOTEBOOK TITLE . You can view the alternate here."   Note that the underlined instances of text within this message is linked to the referenced note.

I viewed the Note Info and Note History for one set of notes and it's seems that the original version was the only one that I ever edited or updated. As for the 3 duplicates,  each shows that the CREATED date/time and UPDATED date/time are the same dates/times - and they were created in a quick succession...so, something was happening in the short span of time to create 3 copies of my note. Who knows what I was doing then. 

ORIGINAL

  • Tuesday, Oct 18, 2022, 10:25 PM   
  •  Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 7:39 PM 

DUPE 1

  • Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 6:49 AM
  • Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 6:49 AM  

DUPE 2

  • Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 6:49 AM
  • Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 6:49 AM

DUPE 3

  • Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 6:50 AM
  • Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022, 6:50 AM 

Next I exported my log files and extracted them. Opened my code/text editor and started searching for the time code, but that was too tedious, so I began looking the link components - here's what I see of the links for each of these notes - the original and 3 duplicates.

Comparing each link I find that each component is the same between all four of them - except for this string of characters in the section that I typed in RED, as shown the original link in the list below. 

  • evernote:///view/199451362/s349/      d7f479e5-0aa7-a53d-ccaf-07d869f26abd/    c5a6781d-3ac5-4f56-8e16-c1ee709ee21f - ORIGINAL
  • evernote:///view/199451362/s349/    19824b43-bc67-4265-b4d8-cc9ca7a3756e/    c5a6781d-3ac5-4f56-8e16-c1ee709ee21f - DUPE 1 
  • evernote:///view/199451362/s349/     936734ca-eb7b-4ea8-9c41-a39b4f4a639d/    c5a6781d-3ac5-4f56-8e16-c1ee709ee21f - DUPE 2
  • evernote:///view/199451362/s349/      646971bc-2a21-48f7-843b-1b812f5cf405/    c5a6781d-3ac5-4f56-8e16-c1ee709ee21f - DUPE 3

I decided to do a search for this ID in my text editor and then isolate the results to show only those log file lines where this string apperaed along side them.

I just started to slowly scroll and visually scan the results....and that' where I ran into TWO instances of the following - one right after the other.

INSTANCE #1: 

    Line  1057: {"name":"electron.main","hostname":"MSI","pid":42716,"level":40,"msg":" conduit-electron-worker [[\"Note content conflict detected, copying original note to a backup before proceeding\",\"d7f479e5-0aa7-a53d-ccaf-07d869f26abd\"]]","time":"2022-10-19T10:49:41.864Z","src":{"file":"C:\\Users\\sherr\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Evernote\\resources\\app.asar\\node_modules\\conduit-utils\\node_modules\\en-ts-utils\\src\\logger.ts","line":202,"func":"warn"},"v":0}

INSTANCE #2 

     Line  1060: {"name":"electron.main","hostname":"MSI","pid":42716,"level":40,"msg":" conduit-electron-worker [[\"Note content conflict detected, copying original note to a backup before proceeding\",\"d7f479e5-0aa7-a53d-ccaf-07d869f26abd\"]]","time":"2022-10-19T10:49:42.505Z","src":{"file":"C:\\Users\\sherr\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Evernote\\resources\\app.asar\\node_modules\\conduit-utils\\node_modules\\en-ts-utils\\src\\logger.ts","line":202,"func":"warn"},"v":0}

 

Notice the log note for each of these instances reads "Note content conflict detected, copying original note to a backup before proceeding" and notice the time for both of these is 10:49 - which stumped me too at first until it dawned on me that the time shown here is UTC instead of my local time. So this translates to my local time as 06:49 am - just like the note times listed for my notes.

The exact times are these - talk about a split second...

  • 10:49.41.864Z  - 6:49 AM - DUPE 1
  • 10:49:42.505Z  - 6:49 AM - DUPE 2

Now I'll bet that I find Mr. 10:50 here when I scan further.... and INDEED I DID FIND IT! 

INSTANCE #3 - 6:50 AM 

    Line  1187: {"name":"electron.main","hostname":"MSI","pid":42716,"level":40,"msg":" conduit-electron-worker [[\"Note content conflict detected, copying original note to a backup before proceeding\",\"d7f479e5-0aa7-a53d-ccaf-07d869f26abd\"]]","time":"2022-10-19T10:50:16.216Z","src":{"file":"C:\\Users\\sherr\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Evernote\\resources\\app.asar\\node_modules\\conduit-utils\\node_modules\\en-ts-utils\\src\\logger.ts","line":202,"func":"warn"},"v":0}
  • 10:50:16.216Z - - 6:50 AM - DUPE 3

 

So, what I learned is that where duplicates are created, they are only snapshots of the moment a conflict happened and the dupe creation was triggered - but the duplicate note did NOT become the version I was editing in that moment. In other words, the duplicate note did not swap places with my original without me knowing. BUT it could have easily become the version I was editing had I become confused or accidentally opened the snapshot instead of the original if I'd stopped and came back to make changes minutes or even hours later after working on something else. By then, based on how my sorting and file displays are setup in Evernote, the original and dupe files may have not appeared in succession within my list of files and I could have opened any one of the dupes instead. 

Then, based on the explicit error message in the log files, these duplicates are being created ON PURPOSE and by some operation that is returning a conflict due to some circumstance that Evernote knows about already. There is an explicit error shown in the log files that was written into the application to trigger and recover from the conflict. Again, the log error says there was a conflict, so the app is copying the original note to make a back up before proceeding. But this is never communicated to the user. Instead dupes just appear without any explanation - AND definitely not appearing as a backup. And my question is then, a back up for whom or for what is the intent of this file creation?  So, along with these questions, and in general with how the entire yet to be disclosed conflict, I think it's safe to say that Evernote's conflict handling in this case is not fully baked. 

AND, based on how many years back the comments and questions about the duplicate note issue appears in these forums, I have to believe that Evernote is fully aware of this problem, but they've not been able to figure out a solution to solve the root of this conflict. Perhaps the way the notes save have an inherit flaw deep into the foundation of the app that if unwound to fix this issue would unwind a major functionality of the app is some way. That's the only thing I can think of as to why this still exists. 

The solution that's in place to handle this conflict however, I think, is the biggest problem. Referring back to this backup being created to handle the conflict. It's obvious the backup isn't for the user's convenience, so why even bother bringing these backups into the user's space in the UI where it causes confusion and risk? If they are neccessary to some conflict handling operation, couldn't Evernote instead just create these backups in the background of the app and use them as needed behind the scenes, then dispose of them whenever their usefulness to the system expires? I mean, ideally we users wouldn't even see these things, right? 

However, if for some reason it's not possible to suppress them from user view, could Evernote instead - in the very least - communicate the conflict and the resulting duplicate file creation and name them acccordingly? 

It's still ugly, but something like that would go a long way to gracefully degrade and recover the conflict vs. the way it's handled now.  For example, could there not at least be a method to update the name of the duplicate file so that it reads something like:
"Your Evernote Note Name (conflict backup copy 1)" 
and then for each subsequent duplicate created for any one note, increase the copy number incrementally "(conflict backup copy X)" ????

I'd even go for an insert into the top of the duplicate note explaining why the file was created...even a vauge message would be better what we have now...which is whole lot of nothing.

So, that's all I can find about these dupes from my perspective. I haven't seen it happen again on my system since the instances on 10/19, but they sure are bothersome.

If this helps anyone solve this issue - fantastic! If not,  well then I've documented my experience. 

Thanks,
Sherry

 

2022-10-22.png

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Dave-in-Decatur

Dave-in-Decatur 2,695

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OK, if you're using Evernote in Chrome, you may want to look a the Web client beta forums. There have been previous reports of this issue, going back almost a year:

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/120346-en-web-notes-duplicate-every-minutes/

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/124418-note-is-automatically-duplicated-when-i-edit-a-note/

I haven't experienced it in my use of the Web beta. I suspect it may relate to the browser--EN seems to have issues with Chrome; I don't know about Safari.

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alex chu

alex chu 2

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This is still happening on the web client (Chrome). do you have plans to fix this ? Or I should use OneNote or some other software?  Having to delete duplicate note every 2-3 minute isn't a feasible work-around.  P.S.  I'm on LAN, not wifi.   

Does this work on other browser?

(Sorry I replied on an older thread)

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JoeyTrotz

JoeyTrotz 0

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This issue also came up for me a few weeks back in the Evernote client on OSX. 

10.24.3-mac-ddl-public (3041)
Editor: v134.0.17043
Service: v1.41.4
 

This seems like a major problem and is cluttering my system with so much junk. Some notes are randomly duplicated just once, others not at all, and some 5+ times. I've relied on Evernote for many years and this is the first time I've ever had a significant issue. Can someone from the Evernote team suggest any workarounds?

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fpuckett

fpuckett 0

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I am having the same problem with duplicate notes being created automatically every few minutes. I am using Windows desktop client.

It just started happening today. I have tried trashing and emptying trash, but more duplicates just keeps being created

Some of the stuff I add to a note disappears also and I have to retype the info. Help please...

image.png.5fa071703216faf583344027f456938d.png

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PinkElephant

PinkElephant 6,283

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Try this:

  1. Go to File > Sign Out [name] from the menu bar.
  2. Select the "Remove my Evernote data from this device" option, then click Sign out.
  3. Restart your computer.
  4. Sign back in to Evernote
If it does not solve the issue, uninstall using an uninstaller software like RevoUninstaller, restart the PC and install again, using the downloader on the EN website.
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Dave-in-Decatur

Dave-in-Decatur 2,695

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I've had this problem off and on in the Web client; I don't have the v. 10 Windows desktop client installed yet. It's very disappointing to see it happening there, especially if the solution is going to be deleting the database and downloading it again, or reinstalling. My impression is that it is related to the constantly-syncing model of the upgraded Evernote architecture. Hopefully they'll find out what causes it, because I don't look forward to this once I've got the desktop app!

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PinkElephant

PinkElephant 6,283

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Maybe (but this is wild thinking) there is cached content stored in the browser. This could collide, as the local database may interfere.

We agree it should not happen at all - but maybe you could look if cleaning out a cache can solve the problem at the moment.

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ThePatrykolus

ThePatrykolus 0

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It's happening to me since 2017 tbh, Web(Chrome)
I did clear a cache for EN solely - i hope it will work for few months, if not - it's  definitely unhelpful. I just bought a premium version for one year, but I guess I should reconsider migrating to other platform, let's say Notion for that matter. 

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Dave-in-Decatur

Dave-in-Decatur 2,695

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Would it be possible for you to install the Evernote desktop app (Windows or Mac?) Its functioning is now almost completely identical to the Web version, and since there's no browser involved in using it, it might be less likely to do this duplicating of notes.

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Rkeely

Rkeely 1

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Having this issue on my Galaxy S22+ running Andoird 12.

You know, I'm just realizing as I'm typing this - I have my Evernote client open on my Mac. Maybe Evernote sees two "active"  versions of the note, and makes the copy for the "newer" active version or something? I wonder if that could be the cause....

For other people having this issue, do you have the client open in multiple locations?

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PinkElephant

PinkElephant 6,283

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Having 2 clients open - especially when showing the same note that is edited on another device - is a known cause of duplication.

EN always syncs the full note - and an updated note on the inactive device treated as „active“ by the server can result in the server getting 2 versions of the same note.

Avoid this situation, and you eliminate one major reason for duplication.

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kevingep

kevingep 1

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I came to the forums to see if the note duplication issue has been resolved. Doesn't look like it. The timing is not a coincidence — my subscription is coming up for renewal. This note duplication problem has been so disruptive for me that I am canceling. EN, sorry it had to end this way.

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Dave-in-Decatur

Dave-in-Decatur 2,695

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@sherryerrera, just to be clear, these are basically user-to-user forums. That was some fantastic research, but people who come here to try to help out on their own free time will be less likely to be able to wade through it. Good idea submitting the ticket--the info may be really useful to tech support. I've had a few duplications, and it is very aggravating, though rare enough not to cause me to want to leave.

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estetoro

estetoro 0

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Same issue.  It's gotten to the point where either I use evernote on a single device, or I have to do my own manual reconciliation of duplicate notes.  I use Evernote to keep a todo list, and I've dropped things off my radar due to the duplication issue.  Putting this up only for info for others.  I'm going to create a ticket and if it doesn't get resolved I'm afraid that I'm out. 

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skirsch

skirsch 0

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I am having exactly the same problem. One computer editing the same note. I get 4 different copies. 

I've been an evernote user for at least 12 years and they have NEVER been able to get syncing right. I always have conflicts even when all computers are always connected to the Internet. Evernote is the only program I have trouble with.

Google always gets it right. 

I've had it.

I'm looking for something to switch to where I can import my existing notes. 

Suggestions?

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agsteele

agsteele 2,374

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Honestly, we have no idea. These are user supported forums. You will have to open a support ticket to find out.

The synchronisation process is being revised and the new process is in beta test. This may resolve this issue but we cannot say if it will.

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