Duplicate Evernote files in quickLook folders

[bzol 1]

Hello,

A friend is using Evernote on Mac OS 10.12.6.  It seems that Evernote files are taking a lot of space on her hard disc.

So I looked into it, and it seems that most files are duplicated, there is the file + a duplicate within a "quickLook folder" (within Library>Application Support).

I suspect that this is related to a former bug in TimeMachine, but I am not sure how to fix it. I tried to run some commands in the terminal (based on this discussion but it's like the OS does not see the backup files from TimeMachine, I get errors).

Any help much appreciated!

All best,

Bzol

[bzol 1]

One question would be: if I delete one of the two, shall I delete the quickLook folder or the other file next to it?

What is intriguing is that the first file has a coded name, e.g. 298B92A5..., but the file within the quickLook folder has a normal name, e.g. a date 2018-06-11 or "Document Scannable...".

I worry that if I delete the wrong one, it might mess things up, and Evernote will end up synchronizing all the bad new stuff.

[DTLow 5,736]

I'm a Mac user and quite familiar with the local file and database structure.

I'm not clear on what you mean by "QuickLook" folders.
The master version of data is stored on the Evernote servers
Mac's also have a full local copy;
- The database folder is stored in Application Support; a separate folder for each account
   You can see my two accounts in the screenshot (1156250 and 140273970)

[bzol 1]

Thank you, I attach a screenshot to show you what I see on the hard disc (I see this is two levels below the one you provided, within the database folder inside Application Support).

She is a special user: her hard disc is 250 Gb, and Evernote's folder (within Application Support) is 137 Gb... So when Evernote starts creating quickLook folder with duplicates (if my observations are correct, I'm not sure what is going on exactly), very quickly the disc is full.

[DTLow 5,736]

On 11/23/2018 at 1:30 AM, bzol said:

I attach a screenshot to show you what I see on the hard disc (I see this is two levels below the one you provided, within the database folder inside Application Support)

 You're looking at the note contents folder; there's a separate folder for each note
The note's text contents are stored in the content.enml file, and some support files (snippet, card, ...)

Note attachments are stored in their raw data format; for example your note has a .mov file attachment
You would also see other attachments; pdf files, image files, ...

These are not duplicates.  This is how Evernote stores your notes on a Mac computer
On a Windows computer, all the data is crammed into a single .exb file

>>Evernote's folder (within Application Support) is 137 Gb.

As I said, Evernote stores a full copy of the data on our Mac's.  This includes file attachments.
My database is 12GB for 11,000 notes. 

Solutions

#1   There may be a problem^*.  You can delete the database folder (1156250 for me).
            *** Make sure your data is fully sync'd ***
       The next time you login, Evernote will rebuild the database from the server.

#2.  Look at large attachments, for example a 183MB movie file
        Move these out of Evernote, and include a file link instead

#3.   Use Evernote web (www.evernote.com) instead of the Mac app. 
         This does not store of copy of the data on the Mac computer.

^* I'm opening a support ticket on this.  The Quick Lock folders should be temporary folders created when using Quicklook.  They should be cleaned up automatically.  
edit: Ticket# 2719767 - Mac - Quicklook folders not cleaned up

[bzol 1]

Thanks a lot for the comments. I actually compared with my own computer, and I don't have these quickLook folders (however, I have 10.13.6 OS, maybe it changes something). If you look at my screenshot above, the 183.8 Mb .mov file is twice in there. Once with a code name (631D493...), then again with a file name (2017-11-10...), I tried and opened them both: they are the same file.

So I tried and deleted some of her quickLook folders with duplicates of big files inside to free space on the hard disc. I didn't see any difference in terms of use, the documents could see be found within Evernote. Besides, it seems that the quickLook folder is sometimes re-created for each of these files later if I opened the .mov file for instance.

My feeling is that something is wrong in that a temporary folder needed by Evernote or the OS (quickLook?) becomes a permanent folder on the hard disc. I updated the OS 10.12 to the latest version, and I updated Evernote, but the problem is still there. I will try to monitor closely which files are created in extra and I'll write again.

[DTLow 5,736]

6 hours ago, bzol said:

So I tried and deleted some of her quickLook folders with duplicates of big files inside to free space on the hard disc. 

That's a workable solution until Evernote follows up on the ticket I summitted.

Also, don't use Quicklook to view the movie file; just right click and open. A temporary file is still created but Evernote seems better at cleaning these up

[bzol 1]

Ok, thanks a lot. And sorry, because I missed your note about the ticket. Maybe one more question: is it better to delete the database folder, and then re-open Evernote to do the synchronization, or to uninstall Evernote and re-install the application and re-login? I worry that it is going to take ages to download all the files, because she has over 26,000 notes.

[DTLow 5,736]

Actually, deleting/reinstalling the app has an impact on the data.

[bzol 1]

Ok, thanks.

[bzol 1]

I could reproduce the problem btw. I follow these steps:

- Open the database folder, identify a file with a duplicate inside a quickLook folder

- Delete the quickLook folder

- Open Evernote, find the file, click on the quickLook icon (the eye)

- Open the database, the duplicate is back, and it doesn't get deleted afterwards, it remains there.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 minute ago, bzol said:

it doesn't get deleted afterwards, it remains there.

I can confirm that; the Quick Look copy doesn't get deleted.

Even if you delete the file attachment in your note.