I have problem to get backup of 6500 Notes

[Tunc 0]

Hi Everybody

I want to get entire backup of my stacks, notebooks and notes to feel safer. In case of need, I can restore them back.

My Database has around 6500 notes, and 375 Notebooks. 

My account is Evernote Professional and I am using Evernote on Mac.

Is there an easy way to get entire backup? May be another app for backup? 

Any suggestions? 

THANK YOU!

Tunc

 

[gazumped 11,667]

Hi.  AFAIK it's not (yet) possible to copy the structure of your v10 Mac database.  Best advice is to export notes to HTML or ENEX files notebook by notebook because the location is not part of the exported file.  If you exported and re-imported the whole account,  you would wind up with all notes in a single notebook.  If you go to the Notebooks page it should be possible to select one notebook and export the contents. 

There may be scripting methods to streamline the process - but I'm not a Mac user so I'll leave it to others to comment.

Evernote do have a complete copy of your database on their server which you should in future have some way to access and download.  Some third-party applications like CloudHQ offer backup options which may be useful.

[agsteele 2,950]

There's is a GitHub project that exports the whole data structure as a set of notebooks in ENEX format. Search for Evernote-backup.

[PinkElephant 8,117]

Just be aware that many EN backup projects on Github are old, and probably will not reliably work.

The current Evernote Backup project is easy to find, it was recently updated and will show on top of the search results list.

For the Mac install Homebrew first, if you haven’t got it yet.

[Mesoman 20]

The way I handle this is ugly, but works. I put all of my notes in a single notebook. Then when I click on the notebook, I can select all notes, and export them.

Evernote shamefully does not provide a way to do this properly (my approach eliminates the value of notebooks as an organizing method). Any company that does not provide a way to let you get the data you own in a single, usable lump, is a company I'd prefer not to do business with.

I stick with Evernote because I have over 10 years of notes in it. But Evernote, you are ticking people off - especially professional IT people like myself who want a safe copy of their data! Do you like have angry customers?

[DTLow 5,736]

16 minutes ago, Mesoman said:

I put all of my notes in a single notebook.

fwiw  You can store original notebook name as a tag

[PinkElephant 8,117]

The first questions why you think you need a backup …

This put aside, there are options to run a backup from time to time. If you don’t use too many notebooks (it can be more than one …), doing it manually is an option. Else the above posted solution by a dev can be used.

[Mesoman 20]

Why a backup? As a professional IT guy, I don't trust random companies to not use my data. I have designed and then helped operate big cloud based systems, and I have seen some real disasters.

I could, as you say, use a few notebooks rather than one. But instead, I use tags to organize - simplifies the backup, and using only a few notebooks.

[PinkElephant 8,117]

My setup uses a few notebooks, mainly tags, plus some notebooks for sharing.

For purely backup purposes you could simply copy the local database on a desktop. My Mac does it anyhow - it is part of the Time Machine backup.

[Mesoman 20]

Now that I look at things, I don't see a way to import notes into Evernote, which is weird.

So my backup is useless to Evernote. I can export all my notes, but how do I get them back? The dexported ata is in a relatively easy form to parse - readable XML. So I could write code to do something with it. But what? Move it into some other company's note product?


I just took a look at the local database. It isn't clear what's there. They have said they won't keep all notes locally. And if you restore the local database, what happens to the synchronization with what they have in the cloud?

Overall, I'd say that as a long time Evernotes user, they have backed me into a corner. I can trust their cloud, or I can do my backup with no way to get the data back into evernote.

I wish Evernote would pay attention to these issues. If they want to move into corporate IT, they are going to get these questions from decision makers evaluating their product.


On my previous note,  correction - I don't trust big companies to not *lose* my data. "use" is a different problem.

[PinkElephant 8,117]

If you have an ENEX file that is a backup of a notebook, you can simply double click or open it.

It will then import into EN, on the Mac always as a new notebook, called (Imported) Filename On Windows it is slightly different, but in general you can import an ENEX file the same way.

Many other note taking apps take ENEX as well as an import format.

Mentioning corporate IT: I don’t really see EN targeting this market. Even Teams is from its design a good solution for smaller entities, say 5, 10, 20 maybe 30 users. I doubt there are many entities larger than that that still function based on an EN Teams account.

But maybe I will be proven wrong here !

 

[Metrodon 2,184]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:06 PM, PinkElephant said:

The first questions why you think you need a backup …

 

That's a truly terrible question.

[PinkElephant 8,117]

Sure it is a terrifying question - people understand very different things under the word „backup“, and it is important to ask „to which end“. „Oooom - didn‘t think about it, have just heard it would be a good idea“ is better than „Backups are for the feeble minded fellows“, but:

• I want to save a few important documents, skip the rest …
• I want to save my whole notes, once in a year, just in case …
• I want to export my notes once, will jump ship …

All this works by exporting notebooks to ENEX.

• I want to run a backup every night, every day, automatically …

Then we are out of luck with v10 directly. Saving the local database off a desktop computer is the only manageable way to do this. Or use legacy (as long as it is around) plus Backuppery.com. But out of luck again if on a Mac, only supports a Windows client.

No backup, no mercy !

[Metrodon 2,184]

No, it all comes down to who is responsible for your data.

My data, my responsibility.

[Tunc 0]

Thank you all in advance for your contributions on this topic. I understood that this is a big problem for Evernote for mac users.

It’s a pity that a company like Evernote does not provide backup services. I think Evernote prefers their customers dependent on their cloud service to collect their monthly service fee as it gets harder to leave the app with more and more structured data.

Instead of questioning myself why and how frequently I need to have a backup, I believe this is the responsibility of Evernote to provide easy backup for entire data so people can be independently take their backups as much as they want.

To give an example from Google, they provide takeout.google.com so their customers can download all of their entire data which is sometimes more than 50GB data.

I hope Evernote solves this matter

 

[PinkElephant 8,117]

8 hours ago, Metrodon said:

No, it all comes down to who is responsible for your data.

My data, my responsibility.

Then you are wrong with EN. The whole idea behind the master copy on the EN cloud server is to take this task away from you, giving you as a user the chance to focus on your content, not on operating a note / document software.

If you want to take responsibility, you can get a server, connect it to the internet, make sure it is accessible and at the same time safe, install NextCloud or run a proprietary solution like Synology Note Station, etc. It is no one time job, you will have to permanently dedicate some time for admin jobs. But you have your data, and you take full responsibility.

Or in shorter words: You can’t have an omelette AND the eggs.

[agsteele 2,950]

8 hours ago, Tunc said:

I hope Evernote solves this matter

You can access your data to backup in Evernote but exporting notebooks. But I think you want something else. I use an external backup routine. Others are content with the device backup.

Evernote had provided a process but that doesn't suit everyone.

[Metrodon 2,184]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

Then you are wrong with EN. The whole idea behind the master copy on the EN cloud server is to take this task away from you, giving you as a user the chance to focus on your content, not on operating a note / document software.

If you want to take responsibility, you can get a server, connect it to the internet, make sure it is accessible and at the same time safe, install NextCloud or run a proprietary solution like Synology Note Station, etc. It is no one time job, you will have to permanently dedicate some time for admin jobs. But you have your data, and you take full responsibility.

Or in shorter words: You can’t have an omelette AND the eggs.

And you are so wrong, horribly so.

You can take advantage of all the great stuff that Evernote does and still be responsible for your own data. You can still back up as often as you like.

Be a grown up, take responsibility.

Why is this even an argument?

 

[PinkElephant 8,117]

If I were EN, I would think twice before I offer an easy „full backup“ option. Because there would probably be a lot of people like you, installing automatic tools to run „their“ backup.

Ever thought about what this means from the server perspective ? Obviously not. We currently pay for upload bandwidth, not for storage, not for access (download).

250 Million users doing Backup games, and you have a Server / Bandwidth problem. This will harm everybody using EN, because when the servers are loaded with backup traffic, they won’t perform for regular use (which compared is only a trickle).

Just to make it economically visible: The backup service for EN offered by Backuppery.com (only for legacy) costs the same as a Personal subscription, with all features.

My conclusion is posted above: Use within of the terms offered, or switch elsewhere.

Just to repeat: Omelette - eggs - you know what I mean.

[gazumped 11,667]

1 hour ago, PinkElephant said:

If I were EN, I would think twice before I offer an easy „full backup“ option. Because there would probably be a lot of people like you, installing automatic tools to run „their“ backup.

It's a fair point,  but if Evernote designed this it should be 

1. an incremental backup,  not a 'full' one each time it ran (provided the routine allowed for restoration of any or all of the database in case of need.)
2. optional,  by notebook because not everyone is as paranoid as @Metrodon (or me!}
3. a 365/24/7 feed to spread the bandwidth used.

All of which should vastly reduce the overall bandwidth cost of the operation - which,  by the way,  would also eliminate the current occasional requests for a full data download under the current system,  and a flood of 'lost content' complaints over time.

I'm currently relying on backupery-with-Legacy (still),  but with no disrespect to them,  it's a 98% solution because I'm not sure how up-to-date Legacy will be unless I use it daily,  which I no longer do...

Anyhow,  it's MY data,  so I want to be able to see and touch the backups...  {my precious,  oh my precious data....<in a creepy Gollum voice>}

[PinkElephant 8,117]

To run an incremental backup, you still need to read out what is backupped, and what needs a refresh.

We are talking backing up a cloud service. If I look at other clouds I use, there is not regular backup (except for manually, which is possible for EN as well).

There are special clouds build for backing up, but they are backup destinations, so backups are uploaded there, not downloaded to keep at home. When you use one, you usually pay little to backup - and you are charged a lot in case you need to use the backup. But again, it is just the opposite direction.

What I already posted: Everybody can run a backup, from every desktop client, by copying the local EN data folder. Macs with activated TimeMachine will even run it automatically. So no need for hysteria, just set it up, if you loose sleep about it.

[Metrodon 2,184]

just such a weird argument...

[Tunc 0]

9 hours ago, agsteele said:

You can access your data to backup in Evernote but exporting notebooks. But I think you want something else. I use an external backup routine. Others are content with the device backup.

Evernote had provided a process but that doesn't suit everyone.

Thanks for the feedback. Is there any solution other then exporting each Notebook separately and max 50 notes per each export?

 

[gazumped 11,667]

2 minutes ago, Tunc said:

Is there any solution other then exporting each Notebook separately and max 50 notes per each export?

Go to the Notebooks page and check the three dots menu to the right.  You should have an 'export notebook' option which will give you either ENEX or PDF files for the whole notebook.

[agsteele 2,950]

Of you want to retain your notes in a notebook then there is no other way to export than via notebook.

I use a third party application which can be scheduled in the background to backup. But this is not supported by Evernote.

If you are desperate to have a copy of all the data in one giant ENEX file but without the notebook structure then use the Legacy software which can be installed alongside the current release.

But to be honest having to recreate all the notebooks and remember which now should be in which and then to have to move the notes all around would be a nightmare. Far easier to export each notebook individually.

[Sadok 0]

@agsteele  Could you expand a little more on the backup system you use? I know it must be something like TimeMachine or Backblaze, but exactly where are those files that you're backing up? And, more importantly, how do you restore? Thanks!

[macfixer 705]

On 9/21/2022 at 1:50 PM, agsteele said:

There's is a GitHub project that exports the whole data structure as a set of notebooks in ENEX format. Search for Evernote-backup.

I recommend ExportNote (I am not an Evernote employee nor ExportNote, just a fan) for your Evernote exporting needs:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exportnote/id1619621104?mt=12

[agsteele 2,950]

16 hours ago, Sadok said:

@agsteele  Could you expand a little more on the backup system you use? I know it must be something like TimeMachine or Backblaze, but exactly where are those files that you're backing up? And, more importantly, how do you restore? Thanks!

I use a GitHub project evernote-backup. I have it set to run once a week. The program runs and copies the data to a directory in my PC. The export creates enex files for each Evernote notebook. If I wanted to import that data I would import one notebook at a time. Evernote-backup has version for Windows, MacOS and Linux.

[donbjr 0]

Not providing a BASIC backup for software is unacceptable. I will be looking for other note software as I have been waiting for this feature for months and it does not appear that EN is anywhere close to solving the issue. The solution they provide to this issue does not solve the problem.

[gazumped 11,667]

On 10/19/2022 at 11:56 PM, donbjr said:

Not providing a BASIC backup for software is unacceptable.

I don't remember Microsoft providing a backup feature for any of their products either - it's up to users to make their own copies of important files or databases.  Same with Evernote - I have an ongoing backup of my account and there are several methods for obtaining your own copy.  Your choice whether you decide to use them.  

[RBHannam 1]

I think there may be a bug/problem in the 'Export Notebook to PDF' function. If I have a PDF stored in a note, I see it displayed in Evernote. However, when I export that note as a PDF the stored PDF disappears and is replaced by just a reference. I have attached two images to demonstrate the problem.

Does anyone know a way to work around this issue?

Many thanks.

 

[PinkElephant 8,117]

A pdf can’t hold another pdf inside of it. This is plain impossible - setting a link is the only chance.

You could try to export to HTML instead. There all attachments are saved in an extra folder, outside of EN.

There was a bug (no idea if solved) that the links in the exported notes didn’t open the attached files. But the files themselves were exported and opened without a problem.

[gazumped 11,667]

1 hour ago, RBHannam said:

Does anyone know a way to work around this issue?

Maybe share the note if you're trying to pass the content to someone else...?

[eric99 980]

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

A pdf can’t hold another pdf inside of it. This is plain impossible - setting a link is the only chance.

The problem is that the links to the attached pdfs don't work either.

 

3 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

You could try to export to HTML instead. There all attachments are saved in an extra folder, outside of EN.There was a bug (no idea if solved) that the links in the exported notes didn’t open the attached files. But the files themselves were exported and opened without a problem.

And even in the export to HTML, the Hyperlink markup language, the links still don't open the attached files. The support ticket is still open for 1.5 years now 😕

Maybe BS can make the evernote codebase open source, then we can fix the problems ourselves...

[gazumped 11,667]

1 hour ago, eric99 said:

The problem is that the links to the attached pdfs don't work either.

I thought we were talking about printing a note to PDF here?  So naturally the links that are in the note reference the file's position externally,  which is not available to the copy note it's being called from.

1 hour ago, eric99 said:

even in the export to HTML, the Hyperlink markup language, the links still don't open the attached files.

Same sort of reason applies,  though I would expect the linked PDF file to be in a separate folder from the note HTML.  Whether the export is smart enough to link the attached note at the correct address I don't know.  The link might be fixable in that case though.

We don't have any background here as to why the note(s) + PDF(s) are being exported - I suggested sharing a note above,  or maybe use Postach.io to publish a group of notes as an independent blog?  Either way you'd have the native note link working for any attached files.  I think you have to subscribe to get it, but there's a password protection option if you're dealing with private information.  You get multiple blogs for free though if that's enough.  And unless you publish the URL the content isn't apparently readily searchable.

Edit: Oops.  Just read the title of this piece - got misled by the last few posts 

OK - I think we need a bit more detail - why are notes being exported here,  plus the usual device / os / EN version ...??

PS - have a look at FastPencil which aims to accept various inputs and (apparently) comes recommended... FastPencil - Web - English - Evernote App Center

[eric99 980]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

Same sort of reason applies,  though I would expect the linked PDF file to be in a separate folder from the note HTML.  Whether the export is smart enough to link the attached note at the correct address I don't know.  The link might be fixable in that case though.

Sure the link is fixable, the question is: why do we have to wait 1.5 years to fix such a simple bug?

The legacy windows client provides perfect htlml export for years already, including working attachments links and note links. It can't be that difficult to have a look in their colleague's code if they don't have the skills to rewrite it themselves?

Hopefully BS will put more prio on code quality.

[gazumped 11,667]

3 hours ago, eric99 said:

why do we have to wait 1.5 years to fix such a simple bug?

It's not a bug. You are the one choosing where to put your HTML output,  which could be on a local drive or somewhere in the cloud. The files are saved in folders,  and while the name of the folder is something assigned by Evernote,  its location address is somewhere you chose at random.  Don't know of any clever ways to design an all-purpose link code,  but I'd imagine it's difficult,  otherwise it would have been done by now. 

Fixing this is like banging your head into a wall. It hurts,  and the way to fix it is to stop banging,  not try to get someone to design softer brick walls...

[eric99 980]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

It's not a bug. You are the one choosing where to put your HTML output,  which could be on a local drive or somewhere in the cloud. The files are saved in folders,  and while the name of the folder is something assigned by Evernote,  its location address is somewhere you chose at random.  Don't know of any clever ways to design an all-purpose link code,  but I'd imagine it's difficult,  otherwise it would have been done by now. 

Fixing this is like banging your head into a wall. It hurts,  and the way to fix it is to stop banging,  not try to get someone to design softer brick walls...

It is definitely a bug that can easily be solved by specifying a relative path to the attachement, not an absolute path as it is now. The  legacy windows html export uses relative links, that is the reason that navigation to attachments and notes works perfectly and that you can move the html file(s) together with their attachments to any location in your filesystem.

You may test this yourself with the legacy windows html export: it behaves like your own private web in which you can navigate to other notes or attachments as you like. It's a shame that we lost this in V10 because html  is the only human readable archive we can generate in EN.

 

[gazumped 11,667]

12 hours ago, eric99 said:

It's a shame that we lost this in V10

Sorry - didn't realise it was a downgrade.  Have you raised it with Support*?  I tend not to export anything other than individual files or bulk ENEX.  I'm happy to use the Evernote apps to search, edit and view files,  and I'd be worried about multiple versions of notes being created if there was a permanent external copy,  plus a lot of alternative apps claim to import ENEX if there's ever a need to jump ship...

*again recently...

[eric99 980]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

Sorry - didn't realise it was a downgrade.  Have you raised it with Support*?  I tend not to export anything other than individual files or bulk ENEX.  I'm happy to use the Evernote apps to search, edit and view files,  and I'd be worried about multiple versions of notes being created if there was a permanent external copy,  plus a lot of alternative apps claim to import ENEX if there's ever a need to jump ship...

*again recently...

Yes, I raised many tickets and got always the same answer: "...I can assure you we're working diligently to fix it as quickly as possible..." 😕

Ticket# 3498658 - Re: Ticket# 3394987 - Re: Ticket# 3340943 - ticket 3309909

ENEX format is not as complete as you think: it looses the note-id, and therefore internal note links are broken!  Yes, legacy windows html export looses the note-id as well, but it doesn't need that ID to create a link to the other note, it uses a standard relative URL to the other note. You can test it yourself, you can navigate between notes. All the app links between notes are intact without the need for a note-id! So, this URL is an internal URL pointing to another note in the HTML export folder. (Please be aware that this has been implemented properly only in the legacy windows client, not the mac)

In that sense, HTML is a more complete and consistent export format than ENEX.

Properly working HTML export is the most important feature that may keep me loyal to EN because my data is safe and accessible for the next 100 years since it is stored in the standard Web format. If EN goes bust, no need for note apps or exotic viewers, just a browser.

[gazumped 11,667]

As an ex Support person (not for Evernote!) I have to say that quoting your original ticket number in a follow-up is always better than generating a new one each time you raise a query;  it saves a lot of internal clerical messing around to connect old records that just wastes time.  Plus in this case it seems like you've been getting a stock response to each ticket about something that's been back-burnered until they get around to looking at the exports system again.

I flagged it up for the Forum Admins - maybe they can give some more background...

[Kittyhawk 1]

On 9/30/2022 at 12:37 PM, gazumped said:

Go to the Notebooks page and check the three dots menu to the right.  You should have an 'export notebook' option which will give you either ENEX or PDF files for the whole notebook.

I am using Windows 10 and trying to export a backup copy of my notebooks, and I can't find the option to export anywhere. Reading various posts, I've seen instructions to either right click a notebook or click the 3 dots to the right side, and neither of those brings up an option to export. Below is a screenshot showing the only choices I'm given when I click the 3 dots (export is not found). When I right click the notebook name, I have the option to "Save as" and I tried that, but it saved just the first note and not the whole notebook, and there was no option to export as ENEX.

Do I have to install the Legacy version of Evernote to be able to export? If so, will you please tell me how to do that? (Do I have to delete the Evernote version I'm using now, or can I install both versions? And where can I download the Legacy version, if that's what I need?)

Thank you for any advice or insights!

[gazumped 11,667]

Hmmn.  If you click on your name in the top left of your screen,  you should have details of the Evernote version you're using - please let us know what they are.

Installing an older version is easy here - Install an older version of Evernote – Evernote Help & Learning - though it should not be required to export notebooks.

[Kittyhawk 1]

 

Thanks for replying, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Clicking on my name (left or right) doesn't show anything, but on the Account Info page, it says: Evernote Web  > You’re using the new Evernote Web Go back to previous version

I tried clicking the "Go back to previous version," and still didn't see any export option when clicking the 3 dots or clicking the name of a notebook with the previous version either.

[gazumped 11,667]

1 hour ago, Kittyhawk said:

it says: Evernote Web

Yup.  That's why you can't export anything.  THat feature is only available from the installed apps.

[Kittyhawk 1]

3 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Yup.  That's why you can't export anything.  THat feature is only available from the installed apps.

 

Thank you so much! I must have accidentally deleted the desktop app, but I just downloaded it again, and now I can export!

[gazumped 11,667]

You're welcome - glad we got there eventually!