Often super slow, freezing upon searching

[ThatAdamGuy 15]

I have a pretty beefy Windows 10 box... 12gb memory, reasonably fast processor, etc.  Pretty much everything runs smoothly... except Evernote :(.

It loads quickly and I have no problem editing notes.  However, searching is very problematic!  When I start typing in the search box, Evernote can freeze up for 10+ seconds.  And even more often, there are multi-second delays after typing each letter.

I'm running this version: 6.5.4.4720 (3045720) Public.  And I've tried a ton of ways to fix this, including these options under Help:

• Fix all notes
• Fix notebookless notes
• Fix lost resources
• Recreate full text search engine
• Recreate type-ahead search index
• Recreate attributes index
   

I don't experience this issue with the same notebook on my Macbook Pro.

Any suggestions?

Regards,
Adam

P.S. -- This has been going on for at least 6 months, but just hadn't gotten around to posting :\

[CalS 5,280]

Hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the Help Menu.  Then click on Optimize Data Base.  When that is done follow the same process for Recreate Full Text Search Index and Recreate Type Ahead Search Index.  See if that helps.

 

[GiacomoLaw 134]

I'm having this problem too - I've tried everything, it's just not solved.

[gazumped 11,667]

I'm not too crazy about search as you type.  In WIndows Desktop,  Evernote > Tools > Options > Search has the SAYT option which I've set to zero to switch it off.  I hit enter when I'm done typing in the search box - and then have to wait a little while to find what I need.

[s2sailor 2,204]

On 5/6/2017 at 10:49 PM, ThatAdamGuy said:

However, searching is very problematic!  When I start typing in the search box, Evernote can freeze up for 10+ seconds.  And even more often, there are multi-second delays after typing each letter.

Another option is to disable search as you type.  Changing this value to 0 will disable it.  Search will then only begin after you have typed in everything and hit enter.

Update - just noticed Gaz's response.  I second that :-)

 

[ThatAdamGuy 15]

Hi csihilling, and thanks for the suggestion.  Alas, I forgot to mention, but that was actually the first thing I tried :\.

To the others suggesting I turn off the type-ahead... I'll give that a shot, later tonight, but that shouldn't be necessary, right?

[jbenson2 2,147]

I'd like to see an engineering analysis type of response from Evernote on the real cause of the sluggishness. I did not run into this issue with other database type programs in the past.

• How often does Evernote recommend the user run the optimize feature?
• Does Evernote recommend replacing standard hard drives with a SSD? 
• Will disabling search as you type solve the problem?

The 10-45+ second "not responding" issue has been discussed for several years, with tons of anecdotal user solutions, but I don't recall Evernote offering a detailed discussion, root cause, and solution.  I understand the corporation does not like to share this type of information, but I still wish they would.

[s2sailor 2,204]

50 minutes ago, ThatAdamGuy said:

I'll give that a shot, later tonight, but that shouldn't be necessary, right?

Probably not but I also found search so painful that I had it disabled for quite a while.  That was before I replaced my HDD with an SSD which fixed this problem and gave me overall greatly improved laptop performance.  You don't mention if you have an SSD or not but that was a solution for some of us.  Others have reported it didn't help so YMMV.  The Mac stores notes in individual files versus the one giant .exb file that Windows uses.  Some speculate that is the reason this is a Windows problem and not a Mac.  Sounds plausible but I don't think any of us users really know for sure.

[CalS 5,280]

On 5/8/2017 at 6:45 AM, gazumped said:

I'm not too crazy about search as you type.  In WIndows Desktop,  Evernote > Tools > Options > Search has the SAYT option which I've set to zero to switch it off.  I hit enter when I'm done typing in the search box - and then have to wait a little while to find what I need.

I type fast enough I have it set for 50ms, then results, no enter required.  

[CalS 5,280]

23 hours ago, ThatAdamGuy said:

Hi csihilling, and thanks for the suggestion.  Alas, I forgot to mention, but that was actually the first thing I tried :\.

To the others suggesting I turn off the type-ahead... I'll give that a shot, later tonight, but that shouldn't be necessary, right?

You are welcome, sorry that wasn't of much use.

Another thing to try is to turn off context, if you have it on.  Tools - Options - Note (at the bottom of the page when Show advanced options is checked)

And, per @s2sailor a SSD resolved the issue for me some time ago.

[ThatAdamGuy 15]

Thanks!

One thing I found that really helps is rebooting my computer every few days instead of, say, once or twice a month.

Again, that shouldn't really be required (other programs seem to do fine in general, or at least after simply being closed and re-opened).  But it is a workaround.

[CoooolRaoul 5]

On 5/8/2017 at 6:30 PM, jbenson2 said:

Does Evernote recommend replacing standard hard drives with a SSD? 

I don't think I/O is the issue here: when My Evernote is freezing during a search, I can see, using process explorer; that it consume 100% of a CPU core and makes absolutely no I/O:

[ThatAdamGuy 15]

What frustrates me is that Evernote continues to be the only problematic app on my computer.  Lightroom, OneNote, other resource-intense programs chug along seamlessly.  Heck, even Chrome -- which until recently would sometimes freeze up when I had a huge number of tabs open -- has become well-behaved and reliable.

So, Evernote, you're the last hold-out.  And it's the reverse of the "it's not you, it's me" saying that applies here.  Evernote, it's not my system, it's you.  I've been a paying Premium member for ages, but this is really trying my patience.  I should not have to reboot every few days just for Evernote.

[CoooolRaoul 5]

Just finished applying all optimization recommended by @csihilling and @s2sailor

Then I've performed a simple search for testing.

Same issue, Evernote froze in a CPU loop for 2m30s (no I/O, nearly 25% CPU usage, I've a quad core CPU):

this is simply not usable.

**EDIT**

Note: all this has suddenly started few weeks ago for me, everything used to perform smoothly  before.

And my note databases hasn't grew very much meanwhile

 

[ThatAdamGuy 15]

Thanks for posting your findings, CoooolRaoul!

As an aside, I've found that Evernote is now the most sluggish app on my (equally beefy) Macbook Pro. :\

[CoooolRaoul 5]

I'm making progress

After taking time to investigate, I discovered that a specific note was the culprit

I've moved it to a new notebook, exported it in .enex format and deleted from evernote

Apparently everything seem to work fine again

I kept the .enex file, I'm ok to send ut for investigation to Evernote staff if it can help, but I dont' know how to do it.

[gazumped 11,667]

1 hour ago, CoooolRaoul said:

I kept the .enex file, I'm ok to send ut for investigation to Evernote staff if it can help, but I dont' know how to do it.

Raise a ticket via https://twitter.com/evernotehelps - send the file when you receive an acknowledgement.

[CalS 5,280]

On 5/27/2017 at 3:24 PM, ThatAdamGuy said:

Thanks!

One thing I found that really helps is rebooting my computer every few days instead of, say, once or twice a month.

Again, that shouldn't really be required (other programs seem to do fine in general, or at least after simply being closed and re-opened).  But it is a workaround.

You are welcome.  Don't know what is available for Mac or if it would even make any difference - but there are some utilities for the PC which release leftover memory after an app closes.  Quick simulation of a reboot.  Though EN doesn't leave much on the PC as far as I can tell (chrome does).  Still a band aid at best.  

[Austin G 527]

On 7/22/2017 at 4:06 PM, CoooolRaoul said:

I'm making progress

After taking time to investigate, I discovered that a specific note was the culprit

I've moved it to a new notebook, exported it in .enex format and deleted from evernote

Apparently everything seem to work fine again

I kept the .enex file, I'm ok to send ut for investigation to Evernote staff if it can help, but I dont' know how to do it.

Thanks! Please DM me the .enex when you have a moment. 

[CoooolRaoul 5]

9 minutes ago, Austin G said:

Thanks! Please DM me the .enex when you have a moment. 

Done

[3k47 11]

ThatAdamGuy (and others),

You might want to try my workaround which has solved the problem of a slow Windows client for many of us.  

Instructions to implement the workaround that fixed the slow Windows client can be found here: http://www.evernote.com/l/ALrsBe2IrjdFfbGIOZYVpxRJAOUnjFZD2f4/

Discussion relating to this problem and the workaround can be found in this thread: 

Cheers.