Deacrivated and Changed Account Name -- Lost All My Notes

Kailas · May 30, 2014

I changed my name... so I wanted to change the user name in the online account. I made the (mistaken) assumptions that the online account and my mac were separate and my Mac Evernote would be "standalone"

Since you can't change your user name... I change the email address to one I don't use much... then deactivated the account. Then I signed in again with the email I usually use to create a new accountm, and now I have my new user name. So far so good (I thought)

So then I go to my computer, I see all my notes etc. I sign out of the account and then sign back in... thinking that now all my notes on my Mac will sync "up" to my new evernote "cloud" account.

Instead I get a completely blank, no-notes account window on my Mac! My entire database of notes is now unavailable. I immediately quite Evernote

Went right away to my /library/Evernote/accounts/Evernote

and I see my old account folder there with old user name. in the folder "content" i see a lot of folders with numeric ID's p1, p2... p179... I open some of these in a browswer and see my notes...

I zipped the entire /Library/Evernote folder for safety.

Now: how do I migrate all these notes to my new account name?

BurgersNFries · May 30, 2014

I changed my name... so I wanted to change the user name in the online account. I made the (mistaken) assumptions that the online account and my mac were separate and my Mac Evernote would be "standalone"

Since you can't change your user name... I change the email address to one I don't use much... then deactivated the account. Then I signed in again with the email I usually use to create a new accountm, and now I have my new user name. So far so good (I thought)

So then I go to my computer, I see all my notes etc. I sign out of the account and then sign back in... thinking that now all my notes on my Mac will sync "up" to my new evernote "cloud" account.

Instead I get a completely blank, no-notes account window on my Mac! My entire database of notes is now unavailable. I immediately quite Evernote

Went right away to my /library/Evernote/accounts/Evernote
and I see my old account folder there with old user name. in the folder "content" i see a lot of folders with numeric ID's p1, p2... p179... I open some of these in a browswer and see my notes...

I zipped the entire /Library/Evernote folder for safety.

Now: how do I migrate all these notes to my new account name?

This is expected behaviour b/c the notes on your Mac are associated with your first account. AFAIK, you cannot change your account (login) name. If all your notes on your Mac were sync'd to the EN servers, then the notes will still be there. In order to get the notes from your old account to your new one, you'll need to be able to log in with the Mac client. Since you deactivated the account, you may need to submit a support ticket (see my sig) to get the account activated. From the Mac client, you can select all notes & export them to enex file. (Please search the board on exporting to enex so you can retain tag & notebook info.) Then, you would log out of that account & sign in to the new account & import the enex file(s).

Good luck.

Sentinel · May 30, 2014

Is it possible to do it this way?:

Copy the Evernote database you found in the library (not a zipped file). Paste it somewhere safe, like your desktop.
Open your EN Desktop Client so it syncs with the "empty" EN Server.
The sync occurs, EN Server writes an empty folder in the Library on the Mac
Paste the original EN Database back into the Library folder on the Mac
Sync again so all the Notes get thrown back to the Server.

Isn't that the way a use a back-up of your database?

I am asking because I am not sure either!

BurgersNFries · May 30, 2014

Is it possible to do it this way?:

Copy the Evernote database you found in the library (not a zipped file). Paste it somewhere safe, like your desktop.

Open your EN Desktop Client so it syncs with the "empty" EN Server.

The sync occurs, EN Server writes an empty folder in the Library on the Mac

Paste the original EN Database back into the Library folder on the Mac

Sync again so all the Notes get thrown back to the Server.

Isn't that the way a use a back-up of your database?
I am asking because I am not sure either!

I am not Mac, so cannot address this. However, this would not work on the Windows client b/c on the Windows client, all your notes (sync'd & local notebooks) are stored in a single, MySQL file named your-database-name.exb IDK if you renamed the MySQL file if it would work or perceive the file as corrupted. But regarding the Mac, someone with expertise on restoring on a Mac would need to address this.

Sentinel · May 30, 2014

This link may be helpful. It is from a Mac Expert: https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/40558-restore-en-local-database/

Kailas · May 30, 2014

Yes, drag and drop might just work...I have:

/accounts/Evernote/sivak (# my old user name) and inside there:

atlas
content
Evernote.sql # this is dated Feb 27... though I have used Evernote a lot since then...
external-edits
meta
note.index
pending-audio
pending-emails
promos
props
purgatory
session
sync-downloads
typeAhead.index

In don't see anything related to Evernote in the mac application support or Prefrerences folders, so hopefully everything is just all there in this one.

I tried renaming the user folder to my new user name and then logging in and creating a new note book... but nothing changes on disk.. except I can see modification times changing on the content folder to today/now...

but I'm not picking up all my old notes... (there are all there int he content folder...

Sentinel · May 30, 2014

This Quote:

Certain notebooks were 'lost' (missing and not in trash) after several drag and drops.

If I mount a disk image from several days ago I could overwrite the current EN database with an older, corrected version.

1. What is the filename and the usual location of the database?

2. Do I first open EN, take it offline and then close it so when I reopen EN after overwriting the database EN will not automatically sync?

Mark

What's your OS? I assume Mac, because you used the word "mount." Here is where the data is:
http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=135

If it were me, I would uninstall everything related to Evernote, download the app, install, sign in, turn off syncing, shut down the app (don't forget the elephant in the top menu), copy/paste your correct file into your directory, start up the app, and see what happens. If all goes well, it will process and work fine. Then, I'd turn on the Internet. Again, if all goes well, it will sync and you'll be done.

Have I done this myself? No. This is just what I would try

Sentinel · May 30, 2014

You found the correct folder. That should have everything in it.

But if you allow EN to rename the folder with a sync, then paste your old folder content into it, that should work.

Disclaimer: I am apprehensive in advising you further on this, but I don't think you will lose anything because you do have a copy of your original notes. Make sure you do a simply copy of the library folder as well as what you have zipped.

GrumpyMonkey · May 30, 2014

Yes, drag and drop might just work...I have:

/accounts/Evernote/sivak (# my old user name) and inside there:

atlas
content
Evernote.sql # this is dated Feb 27... though I have used Evernote a lot since then...
external-edits
meta
note.index
pending-audio
pending-emails
promos
props
purgatory
session
sync-downloads
typeAhead.index

In don't see anything related to Evernote in the mac application support or Prefrerences folders, so hopefully everything is just all there in this one.

I tried renaming the user folder to my new user name and then logging in and creating a new note book... but nothing changes on disk.. except I can see modification times changing on the content folder to today/now...

but I'm not picking up all my old notes... (there are all there int he content folder...

Sentinel kindly posted my instructions, but they were for a more straightforward process. I'm afraid there are a few issues to address in your case:

(1) Evernote syncs (exchanges and updates files) with the Evernote servers. With the exception of local notebooks (it sounds like you don't have any), everything is on Evernote's servers.

(2) The most straightforward and recommended process for getting your notes is to just sync with the servers.

(3) The problem here is that you are syncing a new account with the servers. Naturally, it has no idea where the notes are for your other account. From the Evernote server's perspective, you are just another user.

So, here is what I would do: talk to customer support.

If you hadn't have deactivated your old account, I'd say log into the old account, export everything as an .enex file, and then import that .enex file into your new account (a process that only takes a few seconds in many cases). Here, though, if you log into your old account, you are likely to have it erase everything (I guess -- I don't know), because your account has been deactivated.

Yes, you could copy paste folders in the hope of getting your new account to recognize the old account notes as your new account ones. I haven't tried it, but it seems logical. As long as you keep the original files separate, you should have no issues. Still, though, if you can wait, it seems safest to talk the experts -- customer support.

Kailas · May 30, 2014

Hmmm, I found the latest versions ofthe data in the containers folder... both my old account fold and the new account folder. I backed up the old account folder... then delete the "content" and database files in the new account folder and copied the old account folder files over to the new account. Rebooted Evernote, signed in... Evernote is not completely blank slate (still)

Kailas · May 30, 2014

when I copy the content and Evernote.sql files from the old account over to the new account folder. when I try to log in with the new account info.. it says "wrong username or password"

Sentinel · May 30, 2014

Well, maybe your best bet at this point is to contact Support as the others suggested.

Sorry I could be of no help. I was relying on who I consider to be a guru on the matter: GM.

GrumpyMonkey · May 30, 2014

when I copy the content and Evernote.sql files from the old account over to the new account folder. when I try to log in with the new account info.. it says "wrong username or password"

Sentinel is probably over-estimating my guru powers. As I mentioned above, once you have a handle on how Evernote works (syncing through its servers), the process of moving from one account to another is easy. In fact, you could have also signed into the new account (Evernote allows you to sign into multiple accounts), shared a notebook with that account, and transferred everything through that notebook. Alternatively, of course, the .enex export method would have worked.

The problem here (as I see it), is that you deactivated one account and you are trying to copy folders over directly from one account to another. This is essentially an attempt to circumvent the way that Evernote works (syncing) and I think that is why you are running into so many problems. Again, it is possible that you can accomplish this, but I haven't tried it myself, and I wouldn't recommend it. See the link in my signature for methods to contact support.

EDIT:

If you don't have many notes, it might just be easier to open each of the files in your database and copy / paste into your new account. This is not recommended for large accounts, but it is also a possibility.

Kailas · May 31, 2014

Right, deactivate was one issue and then creating a new account with the same email as the old account, but which gave me a different user name is the other issue... If I try to reactivate the old account, I keep getting dumped back into the new account with which has the same email address. As it turns our the business office (I'm in the media team) has a premium account and is going to add me.. then I can talk to EN Support directly on Monday. Until then I have several back ups of everything! I was thinking about moving back to Omnifocus... that may be a sign.....

BurgersNFries · May 31, 2014

Right, deactivate was one issue and then creating a new account with the same email as the old account, but which gave me a different user name is the other issue... If I try to reactivate the old account, I keep getting dumped back into the new account with which has the same email address. As it turns our the business office (I'm in the media team) has a premium account and is going to add me.. then I can talk to EN Support directly on Monday. Until then I have several back ups of everything! I was thinking about moving back to Omnifocus... that may be a sign.....

The email address has really nothing to do with this, since you changed the email address on the first account. It boils down to this: you have two accounts and are wanting the notes from the first account moved into the second account. Had you not deactivated the first account, this could be done very easily.

BurgersNFries · May 31, 2014

If you want to activate the first account, you need to use the email address you changed it to, not the one you assigned to the second account. That's why the good email address keeps bumping you to the new account.

GrumpyMonkey · May 31, 2014

I'm not sure that omnifocus has anything to do with this, whatever its merits as an app. Putting a square peg into a round hole (circumventing the core structure of the service) is the issue here. I've been known to push the limits of the Evernote service myself on occasion

I'm sure omnifocus is set up to do certain things and not others as well. I wouldn't hold this one against Evernote. Start a support ticket now (no need to wait for premium, as everyone has access to support), wait a few more hours, and you'll be back in good shape.

Kailas · June 2, 2014

I've been added to our premium enterprise account... and I did submit a ticket, but so far no response.... (sigh) does not appear to be any support phone numbers either. So, still not able to access all the notes on my old account. The issue is that I used the same email on both accounts. Evernote doesn't seem to be able to recognize this.. and an attempt to activate the previously de-activated user... even though I enter that user name... pulls up the new user (because it has the same email address as the old one) So I don't see a path to activate the old user.

Does anyone know if evernote.sql is a standard format? I could extract the data on my own... thought the notes in the content folder (folders p4 to p1663) would still be inaccessible (except to open each "content.html" in a browser which is not really "doable" as a retrieval strategy.

BurgersNFries · June 2, 2014

I've been added to our premium enterprise account... and I did submit a ticket, but so far no response.... (sigh) does not appear to be any support phone numbers either. So, still not able to access all the notes on my old account. The issue is that I used the same email on both accounts. Evernote doesn't seem to be able to recognize this.. and an attempt to activate the previously de-activated user... even though I enter that user name... pulls up the new user (because it has the same email address as the old one) So I don't see a path to activate the old user.
Does anyone know if evernote.sql is a standard format? I could extract the data on my own... thought the notes in the content folder (folders p4 to p1663) would still be inaccessible (except to open each "content.html" in a browser which is not really "doable" as a retrieval strategy.

Let me say this again...the problem is NOT because both accounts use the same email address b/c an email address can only be used for one account. Each account must have a different email address & you even acknowledge you changed the email address on the old account, in order to use it for the new account and that you have a new user name with the old email address. If you had not done this, you would have encountered an error message that that email address was already in use. The problem is that you deactivated the first account.

You could try activating the old account by logging in with the password & email address that you changed it to. You may be able to re-activate the first account without support intervention...IDK.

Sentinel · June 2, 2014

The Evernote folders from your Library directory is your Evernote database.

Do you have any data of any kind in your New EN account?

Natha · June 2, 2014

@ moderator

(red-faced, foot-in-mouth) This is "Kailas" but I'm now logged in as "Natha" to the forums because: it worked! Sorry for being so dense...I must have been getting tired at the end of the last day... and thank you for your infinite patience -- obviously I had forgotten the fact that I had indeed changed the email on the new account.

I moved back "myOldUser" folder from the desktop back up into ~Library/Evernote/Accounts/Evernote/myOldUser
reactivated the old account using the email I had changed it to (duh!)
Logged out, and logged back in as old user (online) all notes there!
went to my desktop EN app. booted up and logged in again as old user
Bingo Bongo! All notes there now.

Whew... how to shoot oneself in the foot. Coming back to these forums now I had to log in again as my old user...

Now that I'm part of a premium enterprise account I think I will play it safe and just make a user name change request and stop fiddling!

Thanks for your help! with over 12,000 posts, I do hope you get some remuneration for your endless patience and care for our needs!

Deacrivated and Changed Account Name -- Lost All My Notes

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