Encryption

[Evervet 0]

How do you change the hint phrase for encryption password

[gazumped 11,656]

Hi.  It's not possible to edit the phrase,  but you can always decrypt the content and then re-encrypt it,  which will start the 'enter a pass phrase' dialogue all over again

[eric99 980]

20 hours ago, gazumped said:

Hi.  It's not possible to edit the phrase,  but you can always decrypt the content and then re-encrypt it,  which will start the 'enter a pass phrase' dialogue all over again

Yeah, but then you have to do this fer each individual note 

[DTLow 5,736]

2 hours ago, eric99 said:

Yeah, but then you have to do this fer each individual note 

Correct, every encrypted text is a separate entity.  The password/hints are not maintained in a central place

[gazumped 11,656]

3 hours ago, eric99 said:

Yeah, but then you have to do this fer each individual note 

So can you explain a little more about what you want to do?  Why do you need to change the password for several notes?  If it's a question of using a different password in the future,  then just use that on your new notes.  (I think we established that you can use a different password for each note if you like... and can manage the admin problems...)

You might want to add a short standard password reminder to each note then so you can tell which one to use - tag them [pnew] or some such.

[eric99 980]

22 hours ago, gazumped said:

So can you explain a little more about what you want to do?  Why do you need to change the password for several notes?  If it's a question of using a different password in the future,  then just use that on your new notes.  (I think we established that you can use a different password for each note if you like... and can manage the admin problems...)

You might want to add a short standard password reminder to each note then so you can tell which one to use - tag them [pnew] or some such.

For instance if you suspect that the password or key has been compromised...

 

[DTLow 5,736]

15 hours ago, eric99 said:

For instance if you suspect that the password or key has been compromised...

That's a good use case

Sorry, I don't know any shortcut to changing the existing password/hints

I can share with you that encryption: is a search term and will return all the notes with encrypted text

[gazumped 11,656]

I've never tried this,  but Windows has various scripting apps that can emulate mouse and keyboard input,  and Mac has scripting to do something similar.  If (per @DTLow above) you can identify all the notes that require a change,  and can very carefully map out the steps required in each case, you might be able to use some third-party scripting to do the job.

Bear in mind though that this is an encryption feature..  if the automatic process goes wrong you might lose all access to the notes in question,  or leave them in plain sight.  I'd test any process very thoroughly on a few new encrypted trial notes and get a full backup of the account before trying it out for real!

[Wanderling Reborn 185]

The need to bulk change - or bulk set - passwords for multiple encrypted items is usually related to having dozens or even hundreds of similar / related items that need to be protected. E.g. financial data - you're not going to protect every statement or every paycheck with it's own password. Evernote is not set up for this, anyway.

2OP - I would suggest using something else. Since you can only pretty much encrypt text anyway. E.g. use an encrypted Keepass database, and store it in your Evernote for quick access. And if you're not using mobile access, you can also add file attachments and have them protected as well.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, Wanderling Reborn said:

E.g. use an encrypted Keepass database, and store it in your Evernote for quick access.

Can you provide more details on how you would use the Keepass database?

My password manager is LastPass, but  it’s more suited to web sites.  There’s a disconnect for Evernote notes, although I can use the note title (or link) and search for the password

>>And if you're not using mobile access, you can also add file attachments and have them protected as well.

I’m using encrypted iWork documents on my iPad.  Unlocked with my fingerprint

[Wanderling Reborn 185]

12 hours ago, DTLow said:

Can you provide more details on how you would use the Keepass database?

My password manager is LastPass, but  it’s more suited to web sites.  There’s a disconnect for Evernote notes, although I can use the note title (or link) and search for the password

>>And if you're not using mobile access, you can also add file attachments and have them protected as well.

I’m using encrypted iWork documents on my iPad.  Unlocked with my fingerprint

You can add file attachments to Keepass.

I just found out that there is actually a way to access them on the iPad via Kypass app.

And if all the OP wants is encrypted text notes, he can just use Keepass note field. No formatting, though. But search works.

Encrypted iWork is fine if you don't expect to share your files, or have to access them from outside device that may not have it installed.

Encrypted Word is fine too, if you trust MS encryption and are ok with a bit of overhead that using a rich text document requires.

But since the OP seems to want to store lots of encrypted notes in Evernote, a keepass file seems like the best solution as long as he's ok with plaintext.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, Wanderling Reborn said:

Encrypted iWork is fine if you don't expect to share your files, or have to access them from outside device that may not have it installed.

Encrypted pdfs are more ubilqious 

[Wanderling Reborn 185]

12 hours ago, DTLow said:

Encrypted pdfs are more ubilqious 

Sure. But the problem is, if you need to work with multiple encrypted PDFs using a strong password, it's a pain. Just imagine preparing the paperwork for your taxes. I scan tax related items as I get them through the year, and then I combine them into a single document to give to my tax guy. That's at least couple dozen documents, sometimes more. If using PDFs. every single one needs to be protected with at least a 10 character alphanumeric password, and it's a lot of repetitive typing - especially on mobile. Gets very old very fast. And that's just one use case. There's more uses.

Onenote solves this by having encrypted sections. For someone using a cloud based file system, there's a number of solutions. For Evernote, I'd say Keepass is the best route - it's a tested and proven product, it's available for all platforms (although I am not sure if there's attachment support for Android), it lets you encrypt multiple attachments in one file using one password (and it supports TouchID), so in that tax example I could create a new Keepass file called Tax 2017, attach all of my supporting PDFs and images as I get them, and insert it into Evernote for easy retrieval. 

[DTLow 5,736]

3 minutes ago, Wanderling Reborn said:

But the problem is, if you need to work with multiple encrypted PDFs using a strong password, it's a pain.

I use an Automator app on my Mac to encrypt pdfs.  It’s handsoff and uses my default password

[Wanderling Reborn 185]

7 hours ago, DTLow said:

I use an Automator app on my Mac to encrypt pdfs.  It’s handsoff and uses my default password

It's also necessary to enter the password every time the document is opened. Besides, many people use their tablets more than desktops or laptops. Mass encryption of a database is always easier.

Anyway, different preferences for different people...