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I need to access notes on my Mac when I am not online. However, when I'm not connected to the net, I get a log in window that obviously won't log me in, and apparently nothing is available offline.

 

Actually it won't even let me make a note when I am offline. What gives?

 

I have a premium account.

 

I read somewhere here that notebooks can be designated for offline use. I looked all over for such a feature. I tried preferences and right-clicking on a notebook. I looked at every menu I could find. Nothing tells me how to do this. There's something called a local notebook, is that what I need? Will that be synced when I get online?

 

I have jillions of notes. I want to share them across devices. But I am often no online. What to do?

 

Please help me.

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I have a Mac Air. I'm running the Evernote application on the Mac.

 

I'm talking about offline access, so of course I'm not attempting to access it through the web.

 

I also have the application on my Windows laptop, where I am able to log in and see local notes even without net access. But not on the Mac.

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I have a Mac Air. I'm running the Evernote application on the Mac.

 

I'm talking about offline access, so of course I'm not attempting to access it through the web.

 

I also have the application on my Windows laptop, where I am able to log in and see local notes even without net access. But not on the Mac.

Hi. Welcome to the forums. The Evernote app works fine for me offline. I don't log out, though. I'll give a try to logging out offline. Is there any reason you would be logging out?

[EDIT:] Indeed, you cannot login when you are offline. I guess that is because the app needs to check withe server, which holds your password information. Because all of your account data is accessible without a password (use Spotlight), this seems like an unnecessary hoop to jump through, but that is how it is made. The solution is quite easy -- don't log out. There is no point in logging out, in my opinion.

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Well, that's pretty lame design. First, it's inconsistent with the PC version, which can handle this. Second, yes, I actually restart my computer and exit applications from time to time. One reason to do this is for the sake of security (although I wonder is the local Evernote database is secure... I kind of suspect that it isn't).

 

But thanks for helping. I thought maybe I had missed some subtle menu or option.

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Well, that's pretty lame design. First, it's inconsistent with the PC version, which can handle this. Second, yes, I actually restart my computer and exit applications from time to time. One reason to do this is for the sake of security (although I wonder is the local Evernote database is secure... I kind of suspect that it isn't).

 

But thanks for helping. I thought maybe I had missed some subtle menu or option.

Hi. Glad I could help.

The behavior is different, but neither the Windows nor the Mac Evernote app encrypts your data. Logging out on either device doesn't do a whole lot (as far as I know). I suppose it prevents someone from editing notes and syncing them to your account on the web. Beyond that, I don't know.

Your Evernote content is just as secure as anything else on your computer. Exiting an app is fine. Logging out is the issue. You are not usually logged into Windows or Safari. If you share your computer with someone, I recommend creating a new user profile for them in order to keep your data separated. Also, I encourage you to encrypt your hard drive (easily done on the Mac with FileVault, and free) if you are looking for additional security.

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  • 2 years later...

I'm on iPad and can't see my notes offline. Notes say this doesn't work for basic members. I thought it did in previous versions. Makes no sense to lose all notes just because an Internet connection isn't available. Seriously, this is a business app?

Offline does work in OneNote so I guess I move critical content there. It's free.

I like Evernote and was beginning to use it more and more, but this is a stopper for me.

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I don't remember offline access being a Premium feature. It isn't in other note apps. This seems like a poor differentiation between levels of the product. But, it's Evernote's right to structure their product however they wish.

 

Regardless, this is really a poor design for devices: https://evernote.com/contact/support/kb/#/article/23260131. You'll quickly see that on a device, the user must have all notes offline or they're only cached. There needs to be notebook level control for this because a user needs some notes all the time and others aren't as important. This article goes on to explain that Evernote only caches on a device without a 'Premium' membership but will allow offline access on a PC. In this case, it syncs all the notes. What a waste.

 

I like Evernote, and it's really handy with its web-features. I'll move all mission-critical notes to OneNote. OneNote also allows control of syncing notebooks. (NOTE: I am NOT a Microsoft fan. It gals me that they have a better solution, but currently they do.) I'll hope Evernote gets their licensing and architecture figured out and will gladly return if they do.

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It's been a premium feature for as long as I remember. It makes perfect sense to me that a feature that lots of people like is a premium feature that encourages people to pay for the service.

I think you are misunderstanding the article. Offline access is selected by at the notebook level for mobile devices. The windows and Mac clients store all notes offline.

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Thanks, I did misunderstand. Syncing my notebook makes sense.

 

I can see the logic for making people pay for the feature when it's unique. But, when I can get it on my laptop or my Mac or my PC but not my phone or tablet, I struggle. Just because I access with a tablet, they want me to pay? I can remote access my PC and bypass all this. I'm usually on a fiber connection so I'd never noticed this before or I'd not have installed it.

 

I'd always thought that the rationale for pricing structures was offering something unique, special or unusual at various levels. You know, give me something that others don't. Do it better. Something. But, to offer the same thing other apps offer for free but ask for a charge doesn't make sense. This is especially true when there are a number of great apps out there for notes. Heck, you can always keep DOC files in Dropbox or something and put notes there. (It's crude.) For what I do, I don't want to be downloading and syncing because when I need it most, it may not be there.

 

Anyway, Evernote is a great product. The pricing doesn't serve it well. Pricing should be to build loyalty and encourage purchases. Basic should be to get people hooked on Evernote as a content production tool. Then, expansion for import/export/sharing should be the purchases. For individuals, sell it by feature as a one-time purchase because most individuals dislike subscriptions. For businesses, offer groups of tools and do it by subscription because this is easier for businesses. (They're doing this now.)

 

Thanks again for the clarification. I'm switching to OneNote but will keep an eye out to see if/when things change at Evernote.

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Thanks, I did misunderstand. Syncing my notebook makes sense.

 

I can see the logic for making people pay for the feature when it's unique. But, when I can get it on my laptop or my Mac or my PC but not my phone or tablet, I struggle. Just because I access with a tablet, they want me to pay? I can remote access my PC and bypass all this. I'm usually on a fiber connection so I'd never noticed this before or I'd not have installed it.

 

I'd always thought that the rationale for pricing structures was offering something unique, special or unusual at various levels.

 

We try to offer a very rich set of functionality for Free users, which you can use for years without paying us a nickel. But we are a business with employees who like to eat food and pay rent, so we must choose some set of features and capabilities that are reserved for paying customers to encourage some people (approximately 5% of all active users) to cover the cost of writing the software and running the servers.

Adding full offline synchronization to low-powered mobile phones takes many months of engineering to build and tune, so we've put that into the "pay" bucket instead of other options (e.g. charge everyone for the Android client).

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  • 7 months later...

It seems that if I dont have web access - I cannot see my notes on my mac laptop even though I have Premium.

But mobile devices do still have access to all notes while offline. 

I travel a lot and often dont have web acccess, is there really really no way I can use evernote on a laptop without web access? It doesnt seem to even allow me to turn the app on. Its like its an online app only? Weird that my iphone or ipad can do it but not my laptop?!

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My understanding is this "feature" triggers when you sign out, and then try to sign back in without Internet access.  If you never sign out, you will have access to your data.

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  • 3 years later...

Wow this thread started back in 2013.

Now it's almost 2020, and I still can't use Evernote on my Mac without an internet connection if I happened to log out last time. 

It's not even a question of not being able to access notes, but being able to use the program at all. And I'm a premium subscriber.

So lame.

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14 hours ago, anroy said:

if I happen to log out last time. 

Don't "happen to log out last time" 
It's a bad practice if you need offline access to your Evernote  data

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