Backup only 1kb?

[Ricky 11]

So I ran into the dreaded 250 note limit but fortunately it is working fine now.  I guess I can take pride in the fact that I use Evernote so much but a warning would be nice.   I'm trying to back up my entire Evernote database via the desktop client, but when I go to explorer it shows that the enex file is only 1kb.  That doesn't make sense.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong.   

[Ricky 11]

   So I discovered what I was doing wrong.  Looks like I have to select all of my notes and then I can export that way.   I thought that Evernote would know just to back up everything without me having to select.  Goofy extra step really.  Does it back up my stacks and notebooks?  It backup tags but doesn't have anything under options for notebooks.  Another good reason to use the tag system.    

[DTLow 5,736]

On 2016-11-04 at 11:09 PM, Ricky said:

 I'm trying to back up my entire Evernote database via the desktop client, but when I go to explorer it shows that the enex file is only 1kb.  That doesn't make sense.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong.   

There are two steps to an export

1. Select the notes
2. Export the notes

If you only selected one note, you could have ended up with a small export file
You could import the file and see what's in it

>>Does it back up my stacks and notebooks?

Stack/notebook information is not included in the export
Most people do a separate export for each notebook

Note: The enex export is not an entire database backup. It's more of a tool to recover lost note  data

[C6REW 416]

Hi Ricky,

The other way of backing up is to export you complete Evernote folder.

In Windows go Tools, Options, select the General tab and click on Open Database folder.

From the address bar at the top, select the name of the folder before Evernote. You will now see a list of folders, among which will be Evernote. Copy this to an external device. It will then be your complete database including Notebooks, tags etc.

Best regards

 

Chris

[EdH 1,670]

8 hours ago, Ricky said:

So I ran into the dreaded 250 note limit but fortunately it is working fine now.     

What 250 note limit?

[DTLow 5,736]

7 hours ago, C6REW said:

The other way of backing up is to export you complete Evernote folder.

In Windows go Tools, Options, select the General tab and click on Open Database folder.

From the address bar at the top, select the name of the folder before Evernote. You will now see a list of folders, among which will be Evernote. Copy this to an external device. It will then be your complete database including Notebooks, tags etc.

This is a complete backup, but give some thought as to how you would use this.
Evernote is a cloud application with the master version of your data on the Evernote servers.
You can't simply restore your local copy of the database.

[gazumped 11,664]

2 hours ago, EdH said:

What 250 note limit?

I was assuming this meant 250 Notebook limit?

[C6REW 416]

15 hours ago, DTLow said:

This is a complete backup, but give some thought as to how you would use this.
Evernote is a cloud application with the master version of your data on the Evernote servers.
You can't simply restore your local copy of the database.

Hi,

Have done this many times, so not sure what you mean?

It is a very easy way of getting all your data back in the correct order and exactly how you want it on your computer. 

Regards

Chris

[EdH 1,670]

5 hours ago, C6REW said:

Hi,

Have done this many times, so not sure what you mean?

It is a very easy way of getting all your data back in the correct order and exactly how you want it on your computer. 

Regards

Chris

Except the tag hierarchy. A restore  leaves you with a flat list.

Not sure if shortcuts are restored either.  

[DTLow 5,736]

8 hours ago, C6REW said:

Have done this many times, so not sure what you mean?

It is a very easy way of getting all your data back in the correct order and exactly how you want it on your computer. 

For me, the easiest way to rebuild my database is to recreate it from the Evernote servers.
This also ensures I'm in sync with the other copies of my database

I do maintain backups in case I lose some note data; for example if I delete part of an important note.
I  would go to my backups, locate the specific note/version and restore from there; just the note, not the entire database

[jefito 5,589]

14 hours ago, EdH said:

Not sure if shortcuts are restored either.  

Shortcuts are not stored in a .enex file.

Actually, now that I'm thinking of it, I'm guessing that unused tags are not stored either. So if you're going to the trouble of keeping unused tags, you'll probably lose them...

I should probably do a test on this, but it's too late on a Sunday, and I'm lazy at the moment...

[CalS 5,280]

On 11/4/2016 at 11:34 PM, C6REW said:

The other way of backing up is to export you complete Evernote folder.

 

On 11/5/2016 at 7:29 AM, DTLow said:

You can't simply restore your local copy of the database.

 

21 hours ago, C6REW said:

Have done this many times, so not sure what you mean?

It is a very easy way of getting all your data back in the correct order and exactly how you want it on your computer

 

15 hours ago, EdH said:

Not sure if shortcuts are restored either.

 

10 minutes ago, jefito said:

Shortcuts are not stored in a .enex file.

It got a bit convoluted.  I think the restore reference was for an EXB restore, in which case the shortcuts should be there.  Had to clip the posts to follow it.  

 

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, csihilling said:

It got a bit convoluted.  I think the restore reference was for an EXB restore, in which case the shortcuts should be there.  Had to clip the posts to follow it.  

My concern was the restore would put the local database out of sync with the Evernote servers.  
At the very least, a sync process may be required and local notebooks may need updating.

[CalS 5,280]

1 hour ago, DTLow said:

My concern was the restore would put the local database out of sync with the Evernote servers.  
At the very least, a sync process may be required and local notebooks may need updating.

Yup.  IMO you only want to do an EXB restore when you haven't made any changes to your data since the EXB backup was taken.  As long as that is the case, there shouldn't be any issues.

[C6REW 416]

18 hours ago, EdH said:

Except the tag hierarchy. A restore  leaves you with a flat list.

Not sure if shortcuts are restored either.  

Hi,

Everything is restored the way I do it.

Regards

Chris

[C6REW 416]

15 hours ago, DTLow said:

For me, the easiest way to rebuild my database is to recreate it from the Evernote servers.
This also ensures I'm in sync with the other copies of my database

I do maintain backups in case I lose some note data; for example if I delete part of an important note.
I  would go to my backups, locate the specific note/version and restore from there; just the note, not the entire database

Hi again,

The problem is when you have 'lost' data. This will be lost in the Evernote servers as well.

The way I back up using the whole database, allows you to restore any Note or Notebook.

You restore onto a computer that is not online and retrieve your data. You can then import back into an online computer. Simples!

Got to say, it is rare and normally I would rely on the Evernote servers. But if you don't keep on top of your data, you only have yourself to blame.

Regards

 

Chris

[DTLow 5,736]

On 2016-11-04 at 11:09 PM, Ricky said:

I'm trying to back up my entire Evernote database via the desktop client, but when I go to explorer it shows that the enex file is only 1kb. 

 

6 hours ago, C6REW said:

The problem is when you have 'lost' data. This will be lost in the Evernote servers as well.

The way I back up using the whole database, allows you to restore any Note or Notebook.

You restore onto a computer that is not online and retrieve your data. You can then import back into an online computer. Simples!

Got to say, it is rare and normally I would rely on the Evernote servers. But if you don't keep on top of your data, you only have yourself to blame.

I agree that backups are a smart approach because of the need for recovery of lost data.

I prefer @Ricky's process of exporting note data, instead of the entire database.

I actually do incremental backups (daily changed notes) and my backup files are small.

[gazumped 11,664]

Us Windows users do have one interesting trick - haven't tried this,  but an Employee says it's true..

(Don't know if there's a similar option for Mac )