Please add an "Export all notebooks" option to the desktop app Notebooks page.

[gazumped 12,075]

There are already a number of ways to get a backup (or 'goodbye Evernote') copy of your existing account - and I believe a few enterprising individuals have already provided 'import from Evernote' option in their own note apps.

My interest here is to get a regular backup of all my notes,  just on the basis that it's MY work,  or MY choices,  hosted on someone else's system.  I want to be able to access a full copy of it locally just in case the worst happens.  (Maybe Evernote's AI goes all SkyNet!)

Now Evernote already provide the feature that if I install Evernote on a new device,  the server will automatically download a local 'working copy' of my notes and notebooks so I can work offline.  One long continuous download for all my data.  It takes some hours or maybe days for the account to be fully available,  but it already happens.  This is not a 'human friendly' download though - it's Evernote's working copy of my account.

What I'm suggesting is that in exactly the same way Evernote could offer an 'Export Notebooks to ENEX Files' option where I can choose one or more notebooks and request a continuous download.  The icing on the cake would be if Evernote would offer to do that regularly - weekly / monthly / every xx days.  Such a download could (presumably) be pre-zipped for quicker transit,  and maybe sent to a cloud store if I have one.

It's just good IT practice to have backups of everything that you do,  and while Evernote's server copy and multiple Note History snapshots make a backup almost completely redundant,  I would feel just that little bit happier if this feature were available.

Now there are already third-party options available that do exactly this,  and I'm sorry Backupery that this is totally disloyal to you - but I get the impression that an Evernote backup is not your current priority,  and it is,  for me!

Please hit the vote button (top left) if you agree with me!

[eric99 1,083]

And to make a consistent and complete backup of it, please add the note id and notebook to the ENEX file.

 

 

[gyees 1]

Yes, I fully agree with your request to enable the current version of Evernote to be backed up and the backup stored wherever you choose.

This is the reason why I still keep the old Windows 'Evernote Legacy' version going,  mainly to back up all of my Notebooks. The old Windows Legacy version still allows me to export them as ENEX format or HTML web pages. I back them up using both formats but have to set a reminder to manually do the backups. I have been in business and know how important backups are, especially when things go wrong.    

I have noticed that in the past, Evernote sometimes took ages (hours/overnight) to sync correctly between my Macbook and Windows PC, but when I fired up the old PC  Windows Legacy version it would always synchronize straight away with the Macbook.

[gazumped 12,075]

47 minutes ago, eric99 said:

And to make a consistent and complete backup of it, please add the note id and notebook to the ENEX file.

There's a big 'plus' in this whole idea for Evernote too - if it's easy and simple to create a backup of your entire note structure,  there can be no more "lost content" or "lost note" Support calls.  Anyone who has passing access to a desktop can use their own backups to resolve issues.   But then when would you back up. as part of each sync?  At the end of each day?  At an optional time selected by the user?

I don't see (as suggested elsewhere) that this means the return of 'local notebooks' - what I'm wanting is a simple backup file I can save somewhere in case the Zombie Apocalypse happens.  It's something you tuck away and then (maybe) junk after a period of months.

I do see a downside too - every 'download' is a duplication of bandwidth usage.  What additional costs that involves I don't know.  Stepping firmly into tech waters that I do not understand... maybe a sync,  then local save?

I do suspect that if this were ever possible,  it would not be backwards-compatible.  Evernote maybe would have to finally end the Legacy lifeline to provide the access.

I will be happy if this starts out simple:  just a backup copy of the system 'periodic' backup of my account.  That still leaves leeway for data loss that doesn't make it to the account in the first place,  but it's a step forward...

 

[eric99 1,083]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

I do suspect that if this were ever possible,  it would not be backwards-compatible.  Evernote maybe would have to finally end the Legacy lifeline to provide the access.

I think it will be backwards compatible since it's ENEX XML format. New XML tags for tasks or other new stuff will be ignored by the legacy enex readers. I already tested that by adding a note-id and notebook name. Legacy importers still work fine, they just ignore these two new attributes...

[pbelcl 20]

I fully support this proposal! Software as popular as Evernote should DEFINITELY support automatic data backup!

Personally, I trust Evernote data that allows me to work flexibly, quickly and efficiently and therefore this should be one of the most important functions!

[Feitz 264]

Just came across this thread.

I'm still using 'Legacy' on my Macbook pro. 

I keep an installer of 'Legacy' and backup my local Evernote data regularly.

In case I need the backup I can install Legacy on any pre-Ventura machine, take it offline and restore the last data backup (should actually try this one dax). From there I can export to ENEX files and import into any other app that supports ENEX.

Am I missing something?

[agsteele 3,061]

5 hours ago, Feitz said:

Am I missing something

It depends what you need. A whole notes backup does not retain the notebook structure. If you don't need that and have a paid account then it would work. If you need to retain the notebook structure then you need to back up one notebook at a time. (Use evernote-backup or Backupery to automate).

If you have a Free account you can easily come up against the note and data limits. If you have a large ENEX you can even hit the data limits. Then the large single file ENEX becomes are largely useless collection of bits and bytes. We had a user with exactly this issue only a week or two back. His backup was in a multi-gigabyte ENEX which would not upload because it hit the data limits for his account.

So always worth testing the restore process works as well as being able dump the data into a large generic ENEX file.

[Feitz 264]

1 hour ago, agsteele said:

A whole notes backup does not retain the notebook structure

I do a regular backup of the complete Evernote folder structure on the Mac, not an ENEX backup of all notes into one ENEX, so in theory if I need to restore I should have a working offline (to prevent any further syncing) copy of Evernote, from where I can export by notebook into separate ENEX files. 

 

I think I need to try that backup/ restore over the weekend and see whether this works as planned...

[agsteele 3,061]

3 hours ago, Feitz said:

I think I need to try that backup/ restore over the weekend and see whether this works as planned...

Always wise.  I think the biggest risk is that your backup is, say, five days old when used. You then restore your backup which is subsequently out of sync with what you have subsequently sent to the cloud.  It would be interesting to know what happens if you have two copies of some notes.  Ideally you'll see conflicting notes so you can choose which version to retain.

Please let us know how you restore trial works out. A backup that cannot be restored is no backup at all so your experience may help inform others of us.

[AlbertR 709]

4 hours ago, Feitz said:

I do a regular backup of the complete Evernote folder structure, not an ENEX backup of all notes into one ENEX, ...

I think this is the only real complete backup strategy because ENEX ex-/imports destroy all links between notes.

I tested it before some time with Legacy's local data (because this is the only format I rely on for completeness): 

• stop EN
  • copy complete folder tree to a save location
• start EN
  • work some long time (including syncs...)
• stop EN (and don't forget to kill process EvernoteClipper.exe)
  • cut internet connection
  • replace complete folder tree from save location
• start EN
  • restore/save what you have possibly lost (attachments, notes, ...) to ENEX
  • reconnect internet
  • and wait for EN to sync to current data from server (*)
  • re-import lost information from ENEX

(*) This works because from EN-server's point of view,  it looks like a maschine that has been offline for a long time and has to be supplied with current data...

 

[s2sailor 2,456]

59 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

I think this is the only real complete backup strategy because ENEX ex-/imports destroy all links between notes.

I tested it before some time with Legacy's local data (because this is the only format I rely on for completeness): 

With Legacy using Windows you could backup the .exb file and know you had everything in that one file.  I miss that option with v10.  I'm on a Mac now and I suppose there is a directory that could be backed up and restored but I've not tested that and I haven't noticed any other users on the forum post the results of that test.

[PinkElephant 8,837]

Directories on the Mac:

 

Direct download:

~/Library/Application Support/Evernote

AppStore version:

~/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data 

 

The ~ symbol stands for your user name.

 

It should be possible to backup this directory, and use it for a restore. However I haven’t tried.

 

What I can tell is that it’s part of the TimeMachine backup. So even it might be destroyed on the Mac, it can be recovered.

[eric99 1,083]

6 hours ago, agsteele said:

  I think the biggest risk is that your backup is, say, five days old when used. You then restore your backup which is subsequently out of sync with what you have subsequently sent to the cloud.  It would be interesting to know what happens if you have two copies of some notes.  Ideally you'll see conflicting notes so you can choose which version to retain.

I'm afraid you won't see conflicting notes since the note id's are different...

[Feitz 264]

8 hours ago, agsteele said:

I think the biggest risk is that your backup is, say, five days old when used.

I would only restore this backup if my server-side notes are corrupt or not legible or if I do need Legacy to export to ENEX files.

Since the backup will be out of sync it probably would be wise to use the restore in offline mode and perform the ENEX exports from there.  

 

8 hours ago, agsteele said:

Please let us know how you restore trial works out. A backup that cannot be restored is no backup at all so your experience may help inform others of us.

I somewhat did that once when I made a full backup (CCC) to ssd and installed Ventura on my unsupported Macbook Pro (via -> OCLP). Since I had some issues I restored the former state and could sync instantly. I had used Evernote on other devices in the meantime. 

But I will try a restore to an old C2duo mini (do the backup on my Macbook Pro, install EN Legacy (what else) on the old C2duo and restore the backup to this machine).

I'll report back...

[Feitz 264]

7 hours ago, AlbertR said:

stop EN (and don't forget to kill process EvernoteClipper.exe)

thanks for the concise write-up. Do you refer to V10 or Legacy? Since Legacy doesn't have RTS there probably isn't going on much once all notes are in sync.

[AlbertR 709]

16 hours ago, s2sailor said:

With Legacy using Windows you could backup the .exb file and know you had everything in that one file.  I miss that option with v10.

Along with the .exb file there are some other files that might be necessary to control sync (assuption of mine). The other files don't need much space so it's better to save the who folder tree 😉

[AlbertR 709]

10 hours ago, Feitz said:

Do you refer to V10 or Legacy? Since Legacy doesn't have RTS there probably isn't going on much once all notes are in sync.

I refer to Legacy. Because EN10 doesn't provide an "all syncs done"-indicator, I do not rely on its completeness.

And there are some threads open (here in forum and as support tickets) that describe situations in which tasks and notes in EN-client are older than in history on server. These are clear indicators that EN-syncs cannot be trusted:

• How to delete ghost notes?
  • forum thread since Monday
  • open so far
• Deleted tasks still visible in "My Tasks"
  • forum thread since Monday
  • open so far
• EN10 not synchronizing reliably (once again - or still since ever?)
  • support ticket of my Professional account since Saturday
  • hint: It's a syncinc problem of EN10 clients!
  • open so far (no comments on it)
• EN10 not synchronizing reliably
  • support ticket of my Teams account from before app. 2 months
  • simply closed by support with comment that sounds like "it's a Legacy problem that we do not care of longer" 😞

[s2sailor 2,456]

3 hours ago, AlbertR said:

Along with the .exb file there are some other files that might be necessary to control sync (assuption of mine). The other files don't need much space so it's better to save the who folder tree 😉

I have found in the past that just the .exb file was needed but it has probably been several years since I’ve tried it.

[PinkElephant 8,837]

Legacy had a different structure to keep the data. With v10, the database only holds metadata. They are „pointed“ at a massive horizontal structure of folders, that hold the notes content and attachments.

AFAIK you need to backup the whole folder. On the Mac that‘s a no brainer, because Time Machine already does it for you.