Evernote bug DELETES user's images

[soundsgoodtome 155]

I have hundreds of notes containing images that are larger than they're initially displayed in Evernote.

For years now, users (including myself) have requested the option to disable "presentation mode" (or whatever it's called), so that we can use the standard conventions of simply (a) double-clicking an image to view it at full size and/or (b) hitting the space bar to do the same (which has been standard on Macs for many years, in a feature known as "QuickLook").

You could even keep presentation mode as it is and still just give us "QuickLook" via the space bar. That would be a reasonable compromise. But for years now, all pleas have been ignored.

Well, I've now lost important data as a result.

QuickLook is now so ubiquitous in the Mac world that hitting the space bar is now second nature for most of us. But what do you think happens if you select an image in Evernote, and then hit the space bar? Any guesses? Well, Evernote doesn't simply ignore the command. No... Evernote goes where no man has ever gone before and actually interprets the space bar as a command to DELETE the image. Don't believe me? Try it.

1. Open a note containing an image.

2. Select the image by clicking on it.

3. Hit the space bar. 

Poof! Image deleted.

So, not only has Evernote ignored our reasonable requests to implement the "correct" behavior, Evernote holds the dubious distinction of being the only known app that actually deletes users' data via the space bar. And since I'm so accustomed to hitting the space bar in so many other apps, I tend to hit it in Evernote, as well. A lot. And so my images are deleted. A lot.

Fortunately ⌘Z is there to save the day with Undo—except when it's not:

Today I did a search in Evernote for notes matching a certain term, and in the search results, I viewed a note containing an image. After clicking on the image, I hit the space bar, as is my well-ingrained habit, expecting to enlarge it. But of course, the image was deleted.

But here's the rub: The word for which I'd searched was contained within the image itself.

So, once I hit the space bar, inadvertently causing the image to be deleted, that note no longer met the search criteria. As such, it (correctly) disappeared from the search results. However, after clearing the search and relocating that note, the undo command was no longer available! And so, that image—a computer screenshot taken, months ago, when certain objects were present on my screen—is gone FOREVER.

I considered using Time Machine, but I'd have to replace my ENTIRE Evernote database. That would take many, many hours, and was simply not practical. (If I could identify the precise location of that note, Time Machine would be a great solution. But since the notes in Evernote's database are stored in a cryptic manner, I was unable to identify the location of that particular note, ever after sorting by date modified. I simply couldn't figure out where that image had "lived.")

I even went to my other computers, hoping that Evernote was NOT running, thinking I would disable wi-fi, then open Evernote and retrieve the image before Evernote synced. Unfortunately Evernote was already running on those machines, and they had already synced. I even tried putting my iPhone and iPad into airplane mode, then opening the note there. But (understandably) the iOS apps don't download the content of every note until it's requested. So, that note was not viewable without enabling sync — which of course then removed the image.

So, my image is gone forever.

 

Dear Evernote,

I wish I knew what's going on over there at Evernote HQ. The forums are chock full with dozens (probably hundreds) of reasonable requests—many of which are bona fide bug reports—that have gone unaddressed for years. And whether or not you choose to let us disable "presentation mode," the fact that the space bar literally deletes our images is a BUG. Period. In any universe.

How is it that a destructive bug like this can go unaddressed for YEARS? Even if not one user had ever reported this issue, it's mind-boggling to think that someone at Evernote wouldn't have noticed, reported, and seen to it that this issue was fixed. YEARS AGO. Now, I've lost an important image forever—due to that bug. That you've refused to fix. For YEARS.

Will you ever, ever take note of our reasonable requests? Will you ever fix these long-standing bugs?

History says, "no." 

For Pete's sake, folks… For once: PROVE HISTORY WRONG.

[CalS 5,284]

My guess would be it acts like a delete but actually the image is being replaced by a space, same as highlighting text and then typing.  If you are a premium user you should be able to get the note back with the image from History.

[soundsgoodtome 155]

6 minutes ago, csihilling said:

My guess would be it acts like a delete but actually the image is actually being replaced by a space, same as highlighting text and then typing.  If you are a premium user you should be able to get the note back with the image from History.

Wow. Yes, I'm a premium user, and I was unaware of the History feature! Many thanks!!

(NOTE: The image behavior still should be fixed. I've resorted to dragging images OUT of Evernote onto the desktop—just so I can use QuickLook to view them normally without invoking the awful "presentation mode." These ridiculous workarounds should NOT be necessary, just to VIEW images in our notes!)  ←  (That was for Evernote, not you, csihilling.)  :-)

Thanks again!!

[CalS 5,284]

You are welcome.

[DTLow 5,737]

2 hours ago, csihilling said:

My guess would be it acts like a delete but actually the image is being replaced by a space, same as highlighting text and then typing.

@soundsgoodtome

Not familiar with  the Mac Quicklock feature, but I think its pretty standard if you select text or a picture, and then click on space or any key, you will in effect be doing a delete and type.  I don't think its specific to Evernote. 

I've been burned by it, and recovered by using the undo key (command z on the Mac)

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

15 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Not familiar with  the Mac Quicklock feature

Then you must be new to the Mac (assuming you meant "Quick Look"). Quick Look has been part of the Mac OS for nearly 8 years now.  It is really one of the really cool and powerful features of the Mac.

For more info see:
OS X Yosemite: Quick Look files and folders 

[DTLow 5,737]

On 2016-01-17 at 7:28 PM, JMichaelTX said:

Then you must be new to the Mac (assuming you meant "Quick Look"). Quick Look has been part of the Mac OS for nearly 8 years now.  It is really one of the really cool and powerful features of the Mac.

Yes, I should have written Quick Look as per the original message.  Thanks for the link.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

2 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

For years now, users (including myself) have requested the option to disable "presentation mode" (or whatever it's called), so that we can use the standard conventions of simply (a) double-clicking an image to view it at full size

IMO, this is the best solution.  Evernote has taken a global, commonly used method (double-clicking on an attachment or image to open it in its default app), and perverted it into causing an action that, IMO, is not used that often (going into Presentation mode).  It is bad enough that Evernote also uses another common shortcut, CMD+RETURN (which in most apps opens the item in its own window), to also trigger the Presentation mode.

So I would vote for returning double-click to opening images in the default app for that image type.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

4 minutes ago, DTLow said:

I am familiar with it; I just knew it as Preview

Actually, "Preview" is something completely different from Quick Look:  Mac Basics: Preview app 

[soundsgoodtome 155]

4 hours ago, DTLow said:

@soundsgoodtome

Not familiar with  the Mac Quicklock feature, but I think its pretty standard if you select text or a picture, and then click on space or any key, you will in effect be doing a delete and type.  I don't think its specific to Evernote. 

I've been burned by it, and recovered by using the undo key (command z on the Mac)

Thanks for the reply.

1. No. "Delete and type" is not standard on Macs, when document icons or images are selected. And in this case, we're talking about images being selected. (I realize we're talking about a document, so this is a bit of a special case. But since Evernote reduces larger images in our notes, it's perfectly reasonable to expect that we could select them and hit space bar for a "QuickLook"-type experience in Evernote. Since QuickLook is so ubiquitous on Macs, this behavior would a perfectly logical "exception" to the behavior you're describing (i.e., typical word-processor behavior).

2. I realize my post was lengthy, and it's fine if you didn't choose to read all of it.  :-)  But I specifically addressed why Undo (⌘Z) doesn't always work. (Look for the paragraph that begins with the word "Fortunately.")

[DTLow 5,737]

5 hours ago, soundsgoodtome said:

I specifically addressed why Undo (⌘Z) doesn't always work.

Yes, I did read it, and I have had that experience too, mostly with inadvertently deleting tags that were part of my search criteria

...So, once I hit the space bar, inadvertently causing the image to be deleted, that note no longer met the search criteria.