philrodo 60 Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 How can I move the Evernote Database to an external drive? I'm on a Mac running macOS v 13.2 (Ventura). Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 13, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Officially you can’t. In reality you can use a symbolic link (Symlink) - google for it. Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 12 hours ago, PinkElephant said: Officially you can’t. In reality you can use a symbolic link (Symlink) - google for it. Thanks. But where is the database located on a Mac? Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 13, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Here: /Users/myuser/Library/Application Support/Evernote It is a hidden folder, you need to unhide them first by running a command in the terminal. Replace myuser by your user name. Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 11 minutes ago, PinkElephant said: Here: /Users/myuser/Library/Application Support/Evernote Thanks, but it's not there. I'm on macOS Ventura v 13.2 in case the OS makes a difference. Could this be the path I'm looking for? /Users/user/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library/Application Support/Evernote So if this is the folder I'm looking for, do I move the folder and it's contents to an external SSD and then replace the folder with an alias pointing to the folder on the external SSD? Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 13, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 13, 2023 As I said this is a hidden folder. You have to make it visible first. Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 15, 2023 Author Share Posted February 15, 2023 2 hours ago, PinkElephant said: As I said this is a hidden folder. Thanks for the feedback. I realize I'm going down a rabbit hole... 🤓 I think you misunderstood when I said that the Evernote folder is not at: /Users/myuser/Library/Application Support/Evernote I meant it's NOT there. I use PathFinder from Cocoa Tech, and at a click of a button I can reveal hidden files and folders. A folder named Evernote does not exist at that path. As I mentioned previously, I did locate an Evernote data folder at:/Users/user/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data And this folder contains a bunch of subfolders, like /Users/User/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library which in turn contains many subfolders. The Library folder contains a total of 8.5 GB of data, most of which is found in an subfolder named "Application Support". The folder at the following path, appears to contain all the Evernote data: /Users/User/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library/Application Support/Evernote So it seems to me that things have changed and the folders and files have been relocated. Doesn't Evernote provide any documentation for this information? I can move this Evernote folder and then place an Alias there pointing to the folder that I moved it to, but there are so many other items related to Evernote in this and other folders, I'm concerned I'm going to mess things up. I suppose I should contact TechSupport and see what they have to say, though I suspect that their first tier support will not have that information available. Thanks again for your assistance. 1 Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 15, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Wherever you found it ... (Screenshot from Mac Mini, M1, Ventura), the blurred part in the thread is my user name, the folder holds more than 30GB of EN local data. But this is from MY Mac, and it may be that on YOUR Mac it is located elsewhere. Why not, if it is not there, it is not there, and if it is in another place, than be it : If you want to move it elsewhere, it still works through a Symlink. No, this is not official. Yes, Symlinks are official, and you find a ton of advise about it with Google or in YouTube. No, I don't know if support will assist on this, but I have my doubts, because nothing of this is official. But Yes, of course you can try. No, you can't really damage anything, worst case it will not work, and you can download a fresh copy. Yes, in case you want to try before you go all in, you can create a second, Free account, put some stuff in there, and try to move the local folder away. The main data will be in the Resource-Cache-Folder, with one subfolder per user. No, I haven't moved my database ever, I bought an SSD with sufficient space, and enjoy the rrrrrracecarfast function of the primary SSD on these new Apple Silicon Macs. But yes, I know how it works. I think this answered your questions. Good luck - and maybe you come back here to tell how it worked out. Link to comment
Evernote Expert agsteele 3,059 Posted February 15, 2023 Evernote Expert Share Posted February 15, 2023 Could the location depends on whether this a direct download installation or the Mac store version? Certainly the Windows versions install in different locations. 1 Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 15, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Probably yes - I am on the direct download. Haven’t thought about it … Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 Look what I accidentally found in the Downloads folder: a hidden Evernote folder that contains a number of subfolders which include some file attachments to Notes. The total space take by these hidden folders is about 11 MBs, not much, but still concerning if Evernote is storing stuff all over the drive in hidden folders. I see no reason for Evernote storing a hidden folder in the Downloads folder--am I missing something? I've sent a message to Tech Support about this, but I've been using Evernote since Jan 2008 and I haven't been very impressed with their Tech Support. I'll let you know if I get any response from them. Here's the file structure under the hidden folder (I've only expended one of the subfolders to show the PDF attachment, but each of the suborders labeled "external-edits" contain a subfolder that includes the file attachment--see highlighted lines): /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660 /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27 /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27/3f80a05502d48d7de0d23c7342b41252/Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27/3f80a05502d48d7de0d23c7342b41252/Scannable Document on Feb 13, 2023 at 1_23_34 PM.pdf /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/45ade2f2-6dc7-47c6-a9f9-c1e3ac70aa3e /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/3263ba6e-b826-ad3e-1d0d-e391ab38765b /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/d674ca49-fde0-47e7-b754-15897f22aa7e /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.localized Link to comment
eric99 1,079 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 14 minutes ago, philrodo said: Look what I accidentally found in the Downloads folder: a hidden Evernote folder that contains a number of subfolders which include some file attachments to Notes. The total space take by these hidden folders is about 11 MBs, not much, but still concerning if Evernote is storing stuff all over the drive in hidden folders. I see no reason for Evernote storing a hidden folder in the Downloads folder--am I missing something? I've sent a message to Tech Support about this, but I've been using Evernote since Jan 2008 and I haven't been very impressed with their Tech Support. I'll let you know if I get any response from them. Here's the file structure under the hidden folder (I've only expended one of the subfolders to show the PDF attachment, but each of the suborders labeled "external-edits" contain a subfolder that includes the file attachment--see highlighted lines): /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660 /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27 /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27/3f80a05502d48d7de0d23c7342b41252/Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27/3f80a05502d48d7de0d23c7342b41252/Scannable Document on Feb 13, 2023 at 1_23_34 PM.pdf /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/14c9fbb6-1406-1c0e-67c4-5db5decead27/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/45ade2f2-6dc7-47c6-a9f9-c1e3ac70aa3e /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/3263ba6e-b826-ad3e-1d0d-e391ab38765b /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/d674ca49-fde0-47e7-b754-15897f22aa7e /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/external-edits/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/628660/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.evernote/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.DS_Store /Users/UserAcct/Downloads/.localized I think these are temporary files, used while editing note attachments until they are saved back on the EN server. These files should have been removed afterwards. This is actually a disk leak, I'm afraid. Anyhow, these files may be neglected for your symbolic linking... Link to comment
macfixer 709 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 On 2/14/2023 at 8:05 PM, philrodo said: Thanks for the feedback. I realize I'm going down a rabbit hole... 🤓 I think you misunderstood when I said that the Evernote folder is not at: /Users/myuser/Library/Application Support/Evernote I meant it's NOT there. I use PathFinder from Cocoa Tech, and at a click of a button I can reveal hidden files and folders. A folder named Evernote does not exist at that path. As I mentioned previously, I did locate an Evernote data folder at:/Users/user/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data And this folder contains a bunch of subfolders, like /Users/User/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library which in turn contains many subfolders. The Library folder contains a total of 8.5 GB of data, most of which is found in an subfolder named "Application Support". The folder at the following path, appears to contain all the Evernote data: /Users/User/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library/Application Support/Evernote So it seems to me that things have changed and the folders and files have been relocated. Doesn't Evernote provide any documentation for this information? I can move this Evernote folder and then place an Alias there pointing to the folder that I moved it to, but there are so many other items related to Evernote in this and other folders, I'm concerned I'm going to mess things up. I suppose I should contact TechSupport and see what they have to say, though I suspect that their first tier support will not have that information available. Thanks again for your assistance. Word to the wise: An alias to a file is not the same as a symbolic link. If you're unsure of how stuff works, this article may be of use. I apologize if this comes across as 'gatekeeping,' — but once one starts moving Evernote data around in a manner that is not officially supported, bad stuff can happen. Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 2 minutes ago, eric99 said: I think these are temporary files, used while editing note attachments until they are saved back on the EN server. These files should have been removed afterwards. This is actually a disk leak, I'm afraid. Anyhow, these files may be neglected for your symbolic linking... Thanks. But the Evernote folder was added on 1/31/23, which I'm pretty sure was the first day I set up the MacMini and of course, Evernote was one of the first apps I installed. Obviously, these files were abandoned as Evernote has not deleted them in days. Yes, I realize that they're not needed for linking. Thanks. With Apple making their internal SSDs small and very expensive to upgrade, you'd think that every app that stores large amounts of data locally, would have a method for easily relocating their files to an external SSD. So far, I've only found specific instructions for relocating the Apple Photos library... Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 49 minutes ago, macfixer said: Word to the wise: An alias to a file is not the same as a symbolic link. If you're unsure of how stuff works, this article may be of use. I apologize if this comes across as 'gatekeeping,' — but once one starts moving Evernote data around in a manner that is not officially supported, bad stuff can happen. Thanks. No apologies necessary. I appreciate the feedback. 1 Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 16, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 16, 2023 …. and you don’t need to relocate the Photos library, if you use „Optimize my Mac“ plus an iCloud-subscription. With the newer Macs better avoid the smallest SSDs - they only have half the speed of the larger ones. You probably won’t notice it on regular file operations, but you will notice it if MacOS starts swapping when it is running out of RAM. Since in the Mini I think the smallest of the fast breed SSDs is the 512GB, it should have no problem to host the EN database. 1 Link to comment
macfixer 709 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 hour ago, philrodo said: So far, I've only found specific instructions for relocating the Apple Photos library... The Apple Photos Library dates back to the iPhoto / Aperture days, when photo libraries would sometimes fill your startup drive, causing OS X to grind to a halt or completely crash. Apple was smart enough to include that feature but hide it unless you absolutely needed it. 1 Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 3 hours ago, PinkElephant said: …. and you don’t need to relocate the Photos library, if you use „Optimize my Mac“ plus an iCloud-subscription. With the newer Macs better avoid the smallest SSDs - they only have half the speed of the larger ones. You probably won’t notice it on regular file operations, but you will notice it if MacOS starts swapping when it is running out of RAM. Since in the Mini I think the smallest of the fast breed SSDs is the 512GB, it should have no problem to host the EN database. True, one should avoid the 256 GB SSD, as it's very slow, comparatively. The M2 MacMini comes with a 256 GB SSD unless you upgrade it. But you're right, the M2 Pro comes with a minimum of 512 GB SSD and that's the one I got. The M2 Pro, comes with four Thunderbolt/USC-C ports, whereas the M2 only comes with two ports, which wouldn't work for me. Link to comment
philrodo 60 Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 2 hours ago, macfixer said: The Apple Photos Library dates back to the iPhoto / Aperture days, when photo libraries would sometimes fill your startup drive, causing OS X to grind to a halt or completely crash. Apple was smart enough to include that feature but hide it unless you absolutely needed it. True, but at least Apple makes available step-by-step instructions on how to move the Photo Library. I wish other apps would provide this information as well. Frankly, I never experienced Aperture filling up the start-up drive, but this was long before SSDs becoming widely available, so getting a one or two TB HDD on a Mac wasn't as expensive as it's currently with their SSDs. Link to comment
Level 5 PinkElephant 8,777 Posted February 17, 2023 Level 5 Share Posted February 17, 2023 You just need to google for symbolic link Mac, and you get a ton of hits. Here is one of them, already a bit older, but it should still work. Symlinks are nothing specific for the Mac, so it probably doesn't need to be explained for the Mac. https://www.howtogeek.com/297721/how-to-create-and-use-symbolic-links-aka-symlinks-on-a-mac/ Why Apple will not post information about how to use SymLinks on 3rd party apps is self explaining: They never do. They expect us to configure a Mac in a way it will just make it work - surprisingly they don't take the price for storage upgrades as an argument 😉 1 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now