Evernote on Windows 10 won't start

[G-Pa Ernie 1]

I think my Evernote on my Windows 10 desktop just updated itself.

Evernote now won't start at all. Doubleclicking its icon has no effect. Selecting it in "all programs" has no effect.

Even doubleclicking on the evernote.exe file has no effect.

This is not good...

[EdH 1,670]

It has probably hung. Launch Task Manager and make sure all Evernote*.* apps are killed, then try. If that fails, reboot your PC and try. That should fix 99% of the Evernote failing to start issues.

If that fails, download the latest version, install that, and try again.

If that fails, then your database is probably corrupt and Evernote crashes when reading it. That is a whole different process so post back if it is still not working.

[G-Pa Ernie 1]

Did an uninstall/reinstall, and that seems to have fixed it. Thank you.

[twbrowne 0]

Having the same problem as member above:

Member stated: Evernote now won't start at all. Doubleclicking its icon has no effect. Selecting it in "all programs" has no effect. Even doubleclicking on the evernote.exe file has no effect.

Followed all of your suggestions and will still not open. (It has probably hung. Launch Task Manager and make sure all Evernote*.* apps are killed, then try. If that fails, reboot your PC and try. That should fix 99% of the Evernote failing to start issues. If that fails, download the latest version, install that, and try again. If that fails, then your database is probably corrupt and Evernote crashes when reading it. That is a whole different process so post back if it is still not working.) So, if a corrupt database is the problem, what can be done next?

(My web account appears to be fine)

[Challenger 1]

I have used Evernote for several years now. It has been interesting to see it grow and change for the better over that time. It is a great program but it does have one chronic problem. Every two or three months it quits opening. I can click on the icon in the task bar and 'POOF" - nothing. I can right click on it and choose "Run as Administrator" and 'POOF"  - nothing happens but at least it is at admin level. I can go the apps start menu and try to start from there but I guess you know by now what happens next. NOTHING HAPPENS. My computer laughs at me!

Why must I have to reinstall EN time after lonely time and then time and time again until the end of time?

Please, fix this. I already know what the meaning of life is all about but starting EN shouldn't be so damn hard. 

Thank you,

42

[jefito 5,589]

41 minutes ago, Challenger said:

Why must I have to reinstall EN time after lonely time and then time and time again until the end of time?

You didn't say whether you tried a reboot before re-installing. A pain, yes, but might work. Another thing, if you can't restart Evernote, you should Use Task Manager to make sure that all Evernote processes are shut down. Then retry to launch as usual.

[dcon 166]

As @jefito mentioned - use Task Manager. Every time I've seen EN not start when I try to, it's because of a hung process. Killing the existing EN processes allows things to return to normal. (The monitoring process gets very confused when EN crashes - the lock (global mutex) doesn't get cleaned up so when another instance tries to start, it goes "Oh, I'm already running - bye!")

[Challenger 1]

Hello @jefito and dcon!

Thank you both.

 

To respond to you both:

I made a mistake. I meant to say "reboot" and not '"reinstall" . Please excuse me.

I tried the Task Manager proceedure this morning. I was forced to because when I moved a notebook from one folder to another EN crashed and would not restart from the Taskbar. I went into Task Manager, killed everything EN, and tried to start again from the Taskbar. The program attempted to start and then evaporated in another POOF. Went back to the Taskbar, right clicked on the icon, selected open, and this time it was successful. 

From now on I will use the Task Manager first and then restart.

 

Thanks again,

 

Mike

[Paul Banks 1]

Evernote over time has worked less and less well. It has become a bloated app that frequently crashes and hangs on Windows and iPhone. It's a classic example of an elegant, simple application becoming a Frankenstein that doesn't work. I have paid for it for many years but am cancelling. This is the last straw. I can't even start it on Windows 10. Reinstall works for a few starts but then stops working.

[PinkElephant 8,068]

Sorry for that - I am running EN on all clients except Android, and all are working fine for me.

Today I had to wait a little bit (45min) for a sync to go through after merging more than 160 notes containing a screenshot each into a single one. Maybe it would have caused some trouble if I had killed EN instead of waiting for it to run. But even then there are things to do to straighten it out again.

For the desktop clients, hold down ctrl/Strg (Windows) or alt/opt (Mac) before clicking on the HELP menu. There will be new items added to the bottom of the menu. These are related to database and search index problems. I would use them one by one, in between closing and restarting the EN app and working a little to see if things have improved. Depending on the size of the database, it may take a while to run through.

It may be that after running a repair there will be „lost“ items in a new notebook, that have been found but could not be restored to a regular notebook. You can review them an put them back where they belong. When I am done I would probably restart the computer to set everything back as well.

With the mobile clients, often it already restores things to normal if the device is switched off (completely) and rebooted. If not, the app should be synced, then deleted, then the iPhone switched off and on again, and the app reinstalled. Switching off clears all residue from the iPhones memory. The mobiles keep only a rudimentary database, which will be synced after logging in again.

[bryan_gruesbeck 0]

I can't start evernote on windows. When I click the icon an image flashes briefly in the middle of my screen and disappears. I have restarted my computer multiple times. I have uninstalled/reinstalled. Restarted again. Nothing is working. 

[JasonBourne 1]

Bryan - any luck?  I'm having exactly the same problem.  Windows 10.  It opened once for me , but now it runs (per Task Manager there are threads running) but never pops up a window.  I've tried both reboots and uninstall / reinstall.  No luck.  

Looks like there are multiple threads on the Evernote 10 section of the forum addressing the issues, suggest you just revert back to version 6 like I did: 

 

[lsbarra 2]

I am so sick of this. I delete all the threads in the task manager. Reboot etc. Desktop app still does not launch. Hangs and will not open. Works on all my ios devices. Constant problems with the desktop version. In the past, if opened a new note, could get into the program by doing that. Doesn't work this time. Just hangs.  Running Windows. Was working until the last update one day ago. I am not reverting to older versions. Why don't they just fix this instead of launching updates that don't work?

[davidhood123 1]

I agree - Evernote is getting REALLY clunky; I have the above problem re wont start either directly, or as an admin now.

Ive noted that in recent months, the clunkiness is getting too frustrating and I am now no longer recommending EN to anyone.

Its a pity, as there were so many good upgrades in the past, but the latest one is more than disappointing. I had to get a password rapidly, to prevent a problem with another piece of software, and by the time I had to go to the web version of EN it was too late. Angry as well as disappointed now ;-(

The 'home' page thingy is nice, but its all too slow to navigate now, and simple things like copy and paste give you a 'ransom note appearance' of a note that you then have to take time to sort. Ill-fitting tables and viewing them is an added burden, I could go on, but its appalling to share notes with others and Clients.

David

[cesalik390 0]

i tried running executable from cmd and here's what I get. Windows 10 2004 and 20H2. It runs in W10 1903 tho

[PinkElephant 8,068]

If you had a subscription, you could ask support.

Maybe buy yourself a month of Premium, and give it a try.

[lsbarra 2]

I have had a Premium subscription for several years.

I  also have had several extensive discussions with support, especially when the major update first came out. Most of these discussions were less than fruitful. What did help was when EN finally seemed to straighten itself out, as it seemed to do with issue of the endless threads most recently. I know for sure that I didn't fix it. 

At this point, most of my problems with EN seem to have sorted themselves out but several have lingered and NEW ones continue to arise. I hold my breath that they don't do anything major again that makes the program totally dysfunctional as they have in the past. I don't even bother to report the minor new ones as they arise.

And NEVER MIND that the firmware update to my Scan Snap, which I finally applied, has made it cosmically difficult to operate. When I finally got it to work with EN after untold hours on the phone, it now sends files to all sorts of places and I just use my phone to scan things into EN. I'm waiting for the braniacs at EN to restore the path that will make my little brick work again. I think that's on their todo list.

Sorry. I know you were just trying to help. L

 

 

[PinkElephant 8,068]

OK this thread is about the Windows client not starting. I assume your client does start.

For the ScanSnap there may be some ideas. But not in this thread - maybe you open a new topic about it.

[lsbarra 2]

Yes finally it did start. I tried to work it out myself for many weeks but then Evernote must have finally fixed it. 
Thanks for the advice.

[Jey Ce 0]

On 1/5/2019 at 12:46 PM, EdH said:

It has probably hung. Launch Task Manager and make sure all Evernote*.* apps are killed, then try. If that fails, reboot your PC and try. That should fix 99% of the Evernote failing to start issues.

If that fails, download the latest version, install that, and try again.

If that fails, then your database is probably corrupt and Evernote crashes when reading it. That is a whole different process so post back if it is still not working.

it worked for me. Thank you very much!