Extracting ENEX files from an EXB database is *still* possible

[gazumped 12,054]

As everyone should know by now,  Evernote 6.25 ('Legacy') is no longer officially available.  A new version 10 was issued some years ago,  and the servers providing Legacy features were switched off in 2024.  It's no longer possible to log in and use the app.

A couple of Windows users who had not logged into their accounts for a long time reported recently that they have been left with old-style database (EXB) files that can only be opened in Legacy Evernote or a SQLite reader - the files are not able to be imported into the new Evernote app - nor are they available to any other note-taking app.  Apparently these notes were lost.

However there is one little trick that an Evernote Legacy Windows install can still do,  even when not logged in.  I gave this tip to one user who reported it didn't work;  but I just  tried it myself on a 29GB EXB file,  and generated 37GB of ENEX files in 20 minutes or so.

EDIT: Seems like an 'official' download is still available at https://cdn1.evernote.com/win6/public/Evernote_6.25.3.9348.exe although it's uncertain how long Evernote will maintain that link.  If you aren't able to rely on that link you'll need to find a copy of Evernote 6.25 in an online repository like https://filehippo.com/.  Beware that this is not without risk - you're not using an 'official' source,  and the download could be corrupted or include malware - hence why I'm not giving you a direct link!

Install the app and run it.  You should get to this login screen.  Do not go any further - you can't log in. 

EDIT: When I did this I made sure to log out of my v10 app - I did NOT want to run the two side by side in case of unforeseen interactions!

Press Ctrl+Shift+E when that window is selected to get this - (I scrambled the file name in this image).

NB I left my original legacy database files in their default location,  which is C:\Users\<USER>\Evernote\Databases.  Your new install will be looking there for the file(s) to process.  If your source file is in a different location,  you will have to exit the app and copy the file there,  then restart Legacy and try again.

Choose OK and...

- Which in my case generated 548 ENEX files (I have a LOT of notebooks) in 37GB and about 20 minutes.

EDIT:  Beware that installing legacy will automatically add Clipper to MS Outlook if that's also installed on your system.  Don't get too excited about this 'new' option - it won't work without legacy being logged in.

~~~Final Edit (I hope) - A warning:  if you have both versions of Evernote on your device you'll have to uninstall both and reinstall one to get back to normal operations.  In fact I uninstalled 6.25.1,  but v10.100.3 crashed during the process - either it still shared some file locations with 6.25 or Revo was a bit too ambitious in its deletions.  Then Revo also crashed and left me with v10.100 remnants,  so I had to re-install Evernote v10,  and then Revo uninstall it again to tidy up.  Then my browser-of-choice wouldn't let me log in to the app so I used Chrome to log in,  and we're just rebuilding my database.

[AlbertR 694]

THX for giving us Ctrl+Shift+E 👍This makes the task of simply exporting notebooks very easy.

But if you want to do other things (at least to compare it to V10), follow this link to learn how it works to start Legacy interactively - with no server access -> and no possibility to sync any changes 😉

 

[gazumped 12,054]

9 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

how it works to start Legacy interactively

The link on that page to download 6.25 seems to be broken - repositories like Filehippo might be the only option for the software now.  I still have the legacy EXE file on my hard drive,  but I don't know if there's any crosstalk between the two apps that might risk my current notes.  Evernote don't have any reason to make sure that the two will cohabit,  and I worry there could still be an outside chance that current server activity might trigger something.  I made sure that legacy was the only app running when I was playing earlier. 

I have no need to revisit the old app - I remember the features and the drawbacks pretty clearly,  and being limited to one local device would be a killer for me - I need access from several devices and multiple locations on a regular basis.  I have some antique bits of tech around - my first computer was a Dragon 32 first produced 40 years ago.  The name celebrates 32KB of memory,  which was its total storage - there was no hard drive.  I still have the device,  but it has no use as anything but a door stop...

Same with legacy.  Looking back on the good old days isn't going to sharpen any pencils.  v10 now has rather a lot going for it* and it's working for me.  If it ever doesn't,  I'll consider moving on.  The occasional (OK - pretty frequent) glitches are generally either fixed quickly or can be gotten around with one compromise or another - any extra work involved is a LOT less disruption that retraining my brain to use different software would be. 

*https://tamingthetrunk.substack.com/p/evernote-2024-half-year-recap

[Jon/t 1,652]

6 minutes ago, gazumped said:

my first computer was a Dragon 32 first produced 40 years ago.

Oooo. A blast from the past. I remember that. A Welsh computer! I think they made them in Port Talbot.

I was stuck with a Vic 20 with a mere 3.5 Kilobytes of RAM.

[AlbertR 694]

16 hours ago, gazumped said:

The link on that page to download 6.25 seems to be broken

It works (at least on my site) - it's a working subdomain of Evernote.com and leads to the last "official Legacy" version of 6.25.3.9348 whereas the Filehippo lists only a 6.25.1.9001. But THX to remember me to check for this time by time in the future 😉 

16 hours ago, gazumped said:

my first computer was a Dragon 32 first produced 40 years ago

We both seem to be not really youngsters. 🤔. My first contact with programming was a Microprofessor I (by Multitech/Acer - a Z80 CPU with 2K ROM and Hex-I/O devices). Unfortunately I lost it during any relocation 😞

[gazumped 12,054]

7 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

It works (at least on my site)

I love computers - that works for me too today...  I edited the original post to include it.  Thanks!

[gazumped 12,054]

Just had a miserable hour trying to clean up my system after trying to uninstall 6.25.1.  I thought to possibly "update" it to 6.25.3, but the hassle of removing legacy at all has convinced me to stay firmly away - see the final para of my post above for more details!

 

[Nigel Pearson 0]

Interesting!

Is there a similar key combination for Mac OS legacy clients?

I have a machine with local files under ~/Library/Group Containers/Q79WDW8YH9.com.evernote.Evernote

[gazumped 12,054]

1 hour ago, Nigel Pearson said:

Is there a similar key combination for Mac OS legacy clients?

Sorry - not that I'm aware of!

[S Altman 0]

Oh, this is good news for me! In an hardly wait to try finding a legacy version! (I have 8 months of notes to recreate from other documents, otherwise.)

I hope it works for me. Part of my issue is between versions. In the legacy you could add alternate IDs, so I did. I didn't find out until I logged out that the server version was a new version than my desktop and no longer accepted alternate IDs, but now are seats. So, it deleted my old id and kept the new one. Once I logged out of legs y desktop, it no longer allowed me to log in,!

[PinkElephant 8,772]

Sure - once logged out after the server was shut down, no new login possible.

Maybe you post a feedback if it worked for you.