Evernote Back Up

[dantinap 11]

Hey guys. After reading several threads on making Evernote Back Ups, I 'm not sure if I quit got the best way to do it. I think that the safest and most practical is this one (without using any 3rd party software):

1.-Make separate exports from notebooks (including tags), naming them as the Notebook to make the later Import easier.

Is this really the best way to do a back up?

Does this .enex export include attachments?

What about the .html exports (both the one web page, and multiple web pages) Do they have any advantage over .enex?

Thanks for the replies!

[DTLow 5,736]

For myself, I kind of rely on the copy on the Evernote severs as a backup.  When I upgraded to a new machine, I reloaded from that source.

The Evernote files are automatically backed up by my time machine (Mac thing).  I'd have to figure out which files to reload. With great difficult I can restore an individual note.

As to enex/html exports.  Just be sure you know the limitations of each. I'm not sure they could be considered a full backup solution.  You've already realized you have to do each notebook separately.  

I do a weekly html export as a last resort method for retrieving lost notes.  It doesn't contain information like notebooks or tags.

[CalS 5,280]

@dantinap,

My opinions, not necessarily good for all:

1. Don't know that ENEX is the best way to do backups, but it is how I do it.  Periodically I store them in a folder named ENEX BU yyyyy.mm.dd, on a different drive.
2. The back up does include attachments. 
3. I dump all notebooks, synced and local. Local notebooks since they aren't covered by the EN servers. 
4. A downside to this method is that note links get lost should you reinstall the notebook.  But I avoid note title changes which makes it easier to find a dropped link (just search on the link as it exists in the note).  Still a potential issue though.
5. ENEX backups are also good for synced notebooks since you are able to retrieve at least a version of an accidentally deleted note (can't get it back from EN at that point).
6. HTML backups don't have a benefit over ENEX for me anyway. 
7. Don't know what desktop platform you are using but a periodic EXB backup makes sense as well.

Again, my opinion. 

[Metrodon 2,184]

Your backup strategy depends on the platform you use. 

 

What I wouldn't do is depend on Evernote's servers, my data is my responsibility so how I back it up and restore is my responsibility to understand. 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

22 hours ago, dantinap said:

After reading several threads on making Evernote Back Ups, I 'm not sure if I quit got the best way to do it. I think that the safest and most practical is this one (without using any 3rd party software):

1.-Make separate exports from notebooks (including tags), naming them as the Notebook to make the later Import easier.

It depends on the purpose of your backup.  But the short answer is yes, exporting to ENEX files is probably the best way to backup your Evernote Notes.  Just realize that you can't do a true restore.  Read on for details.

Putting aside Local Notebooks for the moment, the important thing to keep in mind is that we can't do a true restore in the usual sense of restore.  As an example of true restore, take a look at the backup of files/folders on your PC or Mac.  If you restore any file from this backup, then the OS accepts the file restored as the latest version of that file.  If you had previously created a file alias, or URL, to that file, it will still work.  Not so with Evernote.

Evernote only recognizes one source as the master, authoritative source for a Note:  The Evernote Cloud Service.

When you "restore" (actually an ENEX import) a Note from your personal backup, you are not technically performing a restore.  You are creating a new Note (with a new GUID).  So if the original Note still exists on the EN Cloud Service, then it is NOT changed by your "restore".  You will actually have two "versions" of your Note in Evernote, even though they have the same Note Title.

Many of us, including me, have often said it is important to do you own backups of the Evernote database on your PC or Mac, using backup tools like Time Machine (Mac) or Windows Backup.  While this does preserve the Note content, a simple restore of the Evernote database using your backup software will not actually result in restoring Notes that were deleted or changed since the backup.  After the EN database restore, as soon as you open the Evernote app, and sync to the EN Cloud, all of the Notes you just restored will be overwritten by the version from the EN Cloud, or deleted if the Note no longer exists in the EN Cloud.  So, you have just lost the purpose of doing the restore from backup.

While I'm talking about restore using your backup software, let me make the point that you can't just restore selected Notes from this backup.  You have to restore the complete EN database (while disconnected from the Internet), then start the Evernote app and export the Notes of interest to ENEX files.

Finally, while you can recover the Note content from your personal backup, there is no way to recover/restore other data in the Evernote database, like Notebooks, Tag trees, Saved Searches, Shortcuts, etc.

The most important thing about doing a backup is to preserve the content of the Note.  So doing an ENEX export (or HTML export) achieves that purpose.  The ENEX export provides the best source for easily getting the Note content back into Evernote, but as a new Note, not as a replacement for the current Note in Evernote.

If you lose the Evernote database on your PC or Mac (for any reason), the easiest, and only true restore of Evernote to your PC/Mac is to reinstall Evernote app, and sync (downloading in this case) all of your Notes from the EN Cloud.  However, this obviously does NOT restore notes in your Local Notebooks.  To recover those, you will need ENEX exports.

One issue with ENEX export/import that everyone should be aware of is that you will lose information in this process:

1. All Note Links to any of the Notes in the ENEX are broken, lost, and will have to be recreated.
2. The ENEX files do not contain any Notebook data.
3. When you Import the ENEX file, the Note Created Date is lost, and set to the current date/time.
4. To preserve Tags in the ENEX files, you must check the checkbox to include Tags during both the export and import process
5. Tag hierarchy is not preserved.  If you had one, it will need to be recreated after the import process
6. If the ENEX files came from Sync'd Notebooks, 
   1. the Sync'd NB will have to be recreated, and the import of the ENEX Notes moved into the appropriate NB.
   2. Moving these Notes into Sync'd NBs will go against your monthly upload allowance

 

REF:  How to back up (export) and restore (import) notes and notebooks

 

I hope this helps.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to post.

[dantinap 11]

Wow, thanks for the reply, it was very helpful. Im goingto save it into Evernote for later reference . I read somewhere here in the Forum that the .html export is better for retriev ing and visualizing note content in an outside software, in case that Evernote stops existing ().

I was wondering if this is true, and if the .enex is actually useless outside its import in Evernote, and if I can be confident that in the future with a .html export I can save and visualize Note content both in Evernote or in another software, if EV is no longer functioning.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

27 minutes ago, dantinap said:

Wow, thanks for the reply, it was very helpful.

Glad to help.

 

27 minutes ago, dantinap said:

I read somewhere here in the Forum that the .html export is better for retriev ing and visualizing note content in an outside software, in case that Evernote stops existing ().

I was wondering if this is true, and if the .enex is actually useless outside its import in Evernote,

There is no doubt that HTML files can be read/viewed by many, many more apps that ENEX files.  HTML is near universal today.

Having said that, I plan to just do backups to ENEX files until such time that either I want to move my notes elsewhere, or there is a real possibility that Evernote might go out of business.  IMO, we will have ample notice of the latter.  No danger of that in the near future.

Even if Evernote did go out of business, you would still have the last released version of their app on your PC/Mac, along with all of your data.  You could at that time do the export to HTML if need be.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, dantinap said:

 I read somewhere here in the Forum that the .html export is better for retriev ing and visualizing note content in an outside software, in case that Evernote stops existing ().

My biggest danger is myself deleting notes.  Thats why I use the periodic HTML export folder just so I can look up lost notes.

I'm not too worried about EN stopping existing. However, I know if that happens I will have time to address it and retrieve my data.  I don't believe an ENEX export will be of any use if that happens.

The ENEX export does have some uses.  Just make sure you're aware of the limitations.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

6 minutes ago, DTLow said:

The ENEX export does have some uses.  Just make sure you're aware of the limitations.

As far as backup goes, I don't know of anything better, even with it's limitations.  Do you have something better?

BTW, you do know that you can recover your deleted Notes in the EN Trash, right?  Also, they just changed EN Mac so that it requires a CMD+BACKSPACE to delete a note.  This really cuts down on accidental deletions.  I don't know, but I'd think this would be coming to EN Win as well.

[DTLow 5,736]

16 minutes ago, JMichaelTX said:

As far as backup goes, I don't know of anything better, even with it's limitations.  Do you have something better?

I have my time machine backups, but the reality is that if I have to retrieve a backup, I'd do an EN reinstall and dowlnload the data from their servers.

Note: ***This does not include local notebooks.  If I used them, I would be using an enex export.

And yes I knew about looking in the Trash for lost notes.  That's the first place I'd look.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

7 minutes ago, DTLow said:

I have my time machine backups

As I have noted elsewhere, Time Machine has severe limitations:

1. You can't restore selected notes.
2. You can't backup only the EN folder on an ad hoc basis
3. So, if you need to recover selected notes, or all notes, from TM, you will have to:
   1. Move/rename your existing EN data folder
   2. Disconnect from the Internet
   3. Do the TM restore of your entire EN database
   4. Extract the notes of interest to ENEX
   5. Delete the EN database you just restored from backup
   6. Return the EN folder you moved in step #1
   7. Import the ENEX files you exported in Step #4

So, what is the benefit of TM over just doing a regular export to ENEX for backup?
Since we will need ENEX in all cases to recover prior versions of a note, why not just backup using ENEX to begin with?

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

20 minutes ago, DTLow said:

the reality is that if I have to retrieve a backup, I'd do an EN reinstall and dowlnload the data from their servers.

That won't help you recover prior versions, or recover deleted notes where the trash has been emptied, and sync'd with the EN Cloud.

[DTLow 5,736]

14 minutes ago, JMichaelTX said:

So, what is the benefit of TM over just doing a regular export to ENEX for backup?
 

14 minutes ago, JMichaelTX said:

 

I'm thinking your summary of the TM procedure would be the same procedure for restoring from an ENEX backup.

The benefit is the TM backup is automatic; it's just part of the backup process.

>>Since we will need ENEX in all cases to recover prior versions of a note, why not just backup using ENEX to begin with?

>>That won't help you recover prior versions, or recover deleted notes where the trash has been emptied, and sync'd with the EN Cloud.

As I said, I use my html export for recovering lost notes.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

2 hours ago, DTLow said:

'm thinking your summary of the TM procedure would be the same procedure for restoring from an ENEX backup.

Nope, much simpler.  Just import the ENEX of the proper Notebook into a new Local NB in the running EN Mac app.  From there, copy the Notes of interest to a sync'd NB.  This is something that any user can do, whereas renaming/moving, moving back of the Evernote database is much tricker, and easy to make a mistake.  Many users won't be comfortable with that process.

What I do is export to ENEX by notebook, and let TM backup the ENEX files.  It is very easy to restore the specific ENEX of interest using TM.