(Archived) HOWTO: Log out [OUTDATED AS OF 3.1.0 BETA 2]

[Rolldothome 5]

Just installed the Mac version of Evernote on my home and works Macs. Cannot see a way to log out? When I launch app there is a pop up window for me to log in but it appears I am already logged in. I can see all my notes I can just close pop up and am already logged in without password or anything. Problem is I can't log out. This seems to be a gapping security hole.

[chrisdq82 1]

i saw a post on this thread saying some steps i can take to delete files from my library to fix this issue, but how would i go about this with the way its now integrated into the mac app store?

another person's account is signed into my evernote and i would sincerely like to get it purged from my computer without having to do significant surgery on my computer. this is sooooo stupid. i can't accept these excuses like "well its how we designed it" and "well, no one wants that feature." BS! thats a lame excuse for garbage design, especially when it prevents people from doing their job, and double especially when someone tells them this problem and they just shrug it off like, "tough, not our problem." thats bad customer service.

evernote is an awesome concept, but i can't use it without having my personal account on my computer. and then there is the excuse, "well, use the web interface." and how exactly does that remove my anal bosses info from my computer? stuff that could be corporately sensitive information that now anyone who uses my computer can gain access to. not a solution, its a cop-out from a programmer doing his job. and thats why i can't stand evernote. not that the program isn't good or the concept a good one, but they can't be used for sensitive information in the way i described when some joker installs their account on my computer on accident and i'm forced to use the less featured web interface that sucks tremendously.

come on guys, there has to be SOMETHING i can do here.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i saw a post on this thread saying some steps i can take to delete files from my library to fix this issue, but how would i go about this with the way its now integrated into the mac app store?

another person's account is signed into my evernote and i would sincerely like to get it purged from my computer without having to do significant surgery on my computer. this is sooooo stupid. i can't accept these excuses like "well its how we designed it" and "well, no one wants that feature." BS! thats a lame excuse for garbage design, especially when it prevents people from doing their job, and double especially when someone tells them this problem and they just shrug it off like, "tough, not our problem." thats bad customer service.

evernote is an awesome concept, but i can't use it without having my personal account on my computer. and then there is the excuse, "well, use the web interface." and how exactly does that remove my anal bosses info from my computer? stuff that could be corporately sensitive information that now anyone who uses my computer can gain access to. not a solution, its a cop-out from a programmer doing his job. and thats why i can't stand evernote. not that the program isn't good or the concept a good one, but they can't be used for sensitive information in the way i described when some joker installs their account on my computer on accident and i'm forced to use the less featured web interface that sucks tremendously.

come on guys, there has to be SOMETHING i can do here.

i don't have any details about your situation, so i cannot offer much advice, except to say that this "garbage" design is pretty standard for installed programs on the mac. isn't mail, dropbox, etc. all like this? repeating jm's question, why not create another user profile? it's not major surgery. it only takes a minute, and switching between accounts only takes a few seconds. in the time it took you to write that post you could have implemented the solution

basically, i think that evernote is structured to work best on a computer you control. if you have "jokers" installing things and bosses nosing around, you are probably better off establishing some boundaries with your co-workers, password-locking your computer, or taking your laptop to work.

good customer service means listening to customers, not obeying them. there are things i want evernote (and lots of other apps) to do differently, and i empathize with you, but ultimately i think we have to recognize that evernote developers may not agree with the requests we make.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Seems like the concern that other people will have access to your personal/private info on your Mac is broader than Evernote.

They also have access to all your files, your Browser history, etc.

The obvious solution to this is for each person to have a separate Mac login.

Then each person could have their own Evernote account.

Is there some reason this won't work for you?

[EvernoteConnoisseur 18]

My grandpa called me today.

Grandpa: so I've finally installed and signed up for the amazing Evernote app that you said its the best thing since slice bread.

Me: good to hear!

Grandpa: but I don't want your grandma to accidentally see some of the naughty notes I left on there, so how do I sign out of this thing?

Me: sorry, you can't on the Mac

Grandpa: what?!

Me: (arrogantly) you are not using it correctly.

Grandpa: how?

Me: (in a very Steve Jobs tone) because the genius who designed this thinks you don't need to sign out!

Grandpa: good luck with your inheritance...

[AverageUser 2]

I would also like to add my voice regarding this. It seems like a very basic function for an application of this nature. Coming from Windows, I found this feature extremely useful since I have a wife and teenage son that also have EN accounts. I made the mistake of letting my son install and login to EN on our Mac at home. Finally found a thread that disassociated his account with EN, which IMO was very hacky. I think of myself as an experienced user on both Mac and Windows, but was perplexed on how something as simple as logging out was basically missing on the Mac version.

[deverill 54]

GM, ninjaroll is just saying that if we (Mac) don't have it and it's not necessary then no one else on other platforms should have it either. I don't agree, but that's what (s)he is saying.

The fact is that you have to log in/out of the web site since it's designed to be used on any computer with Internet access. Your computer, however, is yours and if you are going to put files on it then you better have some kind of access restrictions to it. They may be physical security (in my house), account restrictions (Mac accounts - you do have passwords on your computer and force lock on sleep, don't you?), or something else but the thought I'm sure Evernote people are basing this on is this is YOUR account on YOUR computer so why log out?

If others have access to your machine then logging out would do no good since they can just fire up Finder and see everything you have in your account anyway. Therefore, why log out? What would the log out button do that makes your information any safer? Security through obscurity (not giving others a nice interface to read your stuff) is the only thing I can think of.

I have never found the files on the hard drive and only accepted by faith what others had said. I decided to look while writing this and knowing a little about Mac organization I literally went straight to the files which reveal my information. It's not a secret so a logout won't protect much.

I use my account at work but my machine is completely under my control so I have no problem putting my Evernote on there. If I did I would not sync my notes there.

Honestly, I feel that this is a case of "majoring on the minors". If the absence of a Logout button is such a big deal, when you can open the notes via Finder anyway, then I hope they have a smooth and easy life because a *real* problem would likely destroy them.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

this doesn't seem terribly onerous to me.

I'm sorry, but it is for me, and the many others who have expressed it here in this thread and outside of this forum "in real life".

And as I said before, If the Evernote thinks this is a good idea, they should also remove the Logout from the web client and on the Windows client. If and when this happens, I will gladly stop paying for Premium and find another solution.

The web client is good, but it's no native client. I can't find a way to take audio notes like I can with the native EN client.

hi. this thread is about the mac client. the complaints are about logging into that application, not the website. i don't think anyone has complained about that, but if they did, i must have missed it.

perhaps there is a subtle point that i am also missing, but how could evernote remove the login/logout from the web client? then, there would be no way to restrict access. perhaps you are responding to the suggestions that you use the web client instead. as you said, it is good, but not as good as the native client. i agree.

it would be nice to have multiple user databases. why not? but, i gather that is something evernote cannot easily do. so, this is how the mac client is set up. i am sorry you feel it is onerous to switch users on the mac. it takes me less than three seconds to change users, though. click my name in the upper right hand corner and then select the other user. i don't see how logging in and out of one account would be an improvement on that.

i guess what i am saying is that we don't have everything we want (multiple databases), but the alternative (switching users) isn't so bad (in my real life experience--i do it on a daily basis).

[ninjaroll 1]

this doesn't seem terribly onerous to me.

I'm sorry, but it is for me, and the many others who have expressed it here in this thread and outside of this forum "in real life".

And as I said before, If the Evernote thinks this is a good idea, they should also remove the Logout from the web client and on the Windows client. If and when this happens, I will gladly stop paying for Premium and find another solution.

The web client is good, but it's no native client. I can't find a way to take audio notes like I can with the native EN client.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

If this is "by design" and is performing exactly how it should be, the Evernote Team should also remove the Log out option from the web interface as well. Every time I visit evernote.com, my notes should be visible and editable. The only option to log into another account on the web client is to create another user account on my computer.

Also, why should the Mac people have all these great features? The Windows native client has a Log out option, which should also be taken out. In my opinion and experience as a developer, an application should be consistant across all platforms.

i don't understand the issue. you can log onto as many accounts as you want on the website. in fact, i think you could have a different account open in every tab if you wanted that, right. the issue is in the mac client, where you have to create a separate user profile if you want to have multiple accounts on the same computer. this doesn't seem terribly onerous to me.

[ninjaroll 1]

If this is "by design" and is performing exactly how it should be, the Evernote Team should also remove the Log out option from the web interface as well. Every time I visit evernote.com, my notes should be visible and editable. The only option to log into another account on the web client is to create another user account on my computer.

Also, why should the Mac people have all these great features? The Windows native client has a Log out option, which should also be taken out. In my opinion and experience as a developer, an application should be consistant across all platforms.

[deverill 54]

Aww, BurgersNFries beat me to it... I was reading through this thread and thinking the same thing. Since the Evernote client brings all notes onto the file system, if you are using the program in a shared environment then the web client is the perfect solution. You don't want to sync each person's files to the local hard drive on a shared system most likely.

The other thing is that I would like to mention how we use Evernote at work among multiple people. At my company the team (6 people) each has their own Evernote loaded on their computer but we also have an account for the company which holds our company knowledge base. This account then shares the knowledge base notebook (we use only one notebook) to each of the team members. That way we can add to it and change notes without fouling up our personal accounts. One downside is that we don't have the ability to add tags to the shared notebook but a simple web site log in to that account fixes it right up. This is actually a good thing because with 6 people and typos and personal preferences our tags would get messy quickly!

I hope this can help someone trying to share resources.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

And you can always use the web client, if you don't want to install the app on a particular computer. Admittedly, it's not as full featured as the desktop client, but it's still very workable for creating, editing & retrieving notes.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i am happy to call a bug a bug, but it performs exactly as designed, so i would say this is a characteristic of the program we need to work with. create a user account for each individual and you will have no problems.

could this be better explained in the program? wouldn't it be better if we could logout, move our database around freely, etc.? yes. but, that is not how it is designed.

[EvernoteMacUser 1]

I found Evernote to be the solution I was looking for.

But this is a major bug:

After login out and erasing my info from the account info ( which is an unnecessary step ) a log in box appears, I can close it and go to the menu File > New Note and evernote open as if I were Logged in.

It won't synchronize but all the notes are there for anyone to see.

I have no time to go clean the computer every time after I used Evernote.

Therefore I can't use evernote on my office computer because anybody having access to it can read my note even when I logged out.

I will keep using it on my private computer.

Fix this and your product will be the best solution for keeping notes handy everywhere at anytime. For now the Logout issue is a Major Bug.

[ninjaroll 1]

I would like to add that not everyone that uses Evernote visits the forum and would know how to "log out". My fiancé who teaches at an elementary school, got all the teachers there using Evernote. Guess what happens next. The teachers are frustrated that they cannot log out and/or use multiple accounts... and who gets the IT calls? Me.

So Evernote team, you almost had 20+ users on Premium. Until this gets fixed, they won't be handing Evernote any money.

[dlu 628]

Wow. I just found out today that I cannot log out of Evernote. This seems like a fairly basic "feature" to implement, especially for people that are on a shared computer with somewhat sensitive information like myself. Why hasn't this been implemented???

When opening Evernote, I'm prompted with the login screen popup, but can click on the close button of the popup and browse notes. Seems a little sketchy.

Yes, I do agree. I think this is terrible. I can log off my account but I have to manually delete my notes in cache. Another problem is I can still see my account email under "Email notes to:" in "Account Info"!

I think a better way is adding a Logout button in "Account Info" window, and after logging out delete all my notes in cache and all my information.

I think deleting all of your notes on your local machine is excessive. For users with large accounts, it'll mean they will need to down-sync everytime which can take a long time. If users need to wait for their 2 gigs worth of data to download before doing anything, that seems unproductive.

I think if you just want to log out so someone doesn't just merely click into your account, that is understandable, but not really much security since your notes are still in the file system.

If you don't want someone to have access to your data and you share a computer, you'll want to create a new OS user for you Mac or PC. This would solve things across programs

[phaibin 0]

Wow. I just found out today that I cannot log out of Evernote. This seems like a fairly basic "feature" to implement, especially for people that are on a shared computer with somewhat sensitive information like myself. Why hasn't this been implemented???

When opening Evernote, I'm prompted with the login screen popup, but can click on the close button of the popup and browse notes. Seems a little sketchy.

Yes, I do agree. I think this is terrible. I can log off my account but I have to manually delete my notes in cache. Another problem is I can still see my account email under "Email notes to:" in "Account Info"!

I think a better way is adding a Logout button in "Account Info" window, and after logging out delete all my notes in cache and all my information.

[dlu 628]

If you use something like AppZapper to remove Evernote, you'll be able to reinstall and switch users. Currently there's an architectural setup that has us point to having you guys make separate OS users for separate accounts. That's why you see other programs with similar behavior. Taking a step back, it is much more efficient for the OS to handle that level of security since any individual program isn't going to be able to keep you out of the file system.

Therefore I can't use evernote on my office computer because anybody having access to it can read my note even when I logged out.

I will keep using it on my private computer.

Fix this and your product will be the best solution for keeping notes handy everywhere at anytime. For now the Logout issue is a Major Bug.

1. They already have access and can read your notes without even touching Evernote. If they can login, they can get to your file system and they can just start opening up content.

2. We already have the best solution for keeping notes handy everywhere at anytime. But doesn't mean we should stop improving. We'll do our best, but please do realize if we address the issue you still have privacy/security concerns that we can't fix.

I would like to add that not everyone that uses Evernote visits the forum and would know how to "log out". My fiancé who teaches at an elementary school, got all the teachers there using Evernote. Guess what happens next. The teachers are frustrated that they cannot log out and/or use multiple accounts... and who gets the IT calls? Me.

So Evernote team, you almost had 20+ users on Premium. Until this gets fixed, they won't be handing Evernote any money.

Can I ask how they were going to use it and what the multiple accounts were for? We're always looking to be more useful in the education space.

[AverageUser 2]

isn't mail, dropbox, etc. all like this? repeating jm's question, why not create another user profile? it's not major surgery.

With Mail and Dropbox, we have options to logout/unlink. Not with Evernote. If you download EN for the first time and create an account, that's it, you're stuck with it on that computer unless you visit the forum and specifically search for how to change users.

Not everyone has admin permissions to create new users, which does make a major surgery.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

isn't mail, dropbox, etc. all like this? repeating jm's question, why not create another user profile? it's not major surgery.

With Mail and Dropbox, we have options to logout/unlink. Not with Evernote. If you download EN for the first time and create an account, that's it, you're stuck with it on that computer unless you visit the forum and specifically search for how to change users.

Not everyone has admin permissions to create new users, which does make a major surgery.

really? i didn't know that. can you have the dropbox folders of multiple people in one user account?

as for lacking permission, i can see the problem. i've never been in a workplace where everyone shares a single account, so i guess it didn't occur to me. it seems to me like it would be better for many reasons to bring your own device instead. the lack of privacy, especially in your work environment, would drive me insane.

[peterfmartin 221]

@AverageUser and GrumpyMonkey:

AverageUser, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you say "With Mail and Dropbox, we have options to logout/unlink," you mean that you can remove a Mail/Dropbox account from a computer, delete all those files, and link a new account to that computer, right? Am I understanding you correctly?

Everyone else, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that possible with Evernote too? If you both delete the program out of Applications and delete all the program files out of Application Support, when you download Evernote again, can't you enter new account info and get a new account's files on your computer (even while using the same OSX user)?

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

@AverageUser and GrumpyMonkey:

AverageUser, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you say "With Mail and Dropbox, we have options to logout/unlink," you mean that you can remove a Mail/Dropbox account from a computer, delete all those files, and link a new account to that computer, right? Am I understanding you correctly?

Everyone else, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that possible with Evernote too? If you both delete the program out of Applications and delete all the program files out of Application Support, when you download Evernote again, can't you enter new account info and get a new account's files on your computer (even while using the same OSX user)?

that is how i understood it as well.

you can quit dropbox, and you can unlink it, but i am not aware of any ability to install another dropbox user on top. but, i am not an expert at this kind of thing. i just create another user for family members if they want access, and on my work computers i have my own user account, so it is a moot point. it's difficult for me to imagine a work environment with an IT department (apparently that is what the poster has) without any support for having his own account. that system seems like more of a problem than evernote's approach to accounts, which is influenced by the osx architecture.

[AverageUser 2]

1. They already have access and can read your notes without even touching Evernote. If they can login, they can get to your file system and they can just start opening up content.

2. We already have the best solution for keeping notes handy everywhere at anytime. But doesn't mean we should stop improving. We'll do our best, but please do realize if we address the issue you still have privacy/security concerns that we can't fix.

For me, personally, the issue isn't about security or privacy (although I can clearly see this being an issue for others and can relate to their concerns), but more about being able to log out, and allow someone else to log in (just like the Windows version).

@AverageUser and GrumpyMonkey:

AverageUser, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you say "With Mail and Dropbox, we have options to logout/unlink," you mean that you can remove a Mail/Dropbox account from a computer, delete all those files, and link a new account to that computer, right? Am I understanding you correctly?

Everyone else, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that possible with Evernote too? If you both delete the program out of Applications and delete all the program files out of Application Support, when you download Evernote again, can't you enter new account info and get a new account's files on your computer (even while using the same OSX user)?

Mail will allow you to delete your account, including all local files, messages, notes, etc that's associated with your account. Also like many other email clients, it will allow you to add as many IMAP/POP accounts as you wish. Dropbox will unlink your account, although I haven't tested adding a new account, because i don't have another one.

The question, for me, really comes down to why does the version for Windows have a logout feature, while the Mac version doesn't? If it's really "designed that way", and "works how it's suppose to" like people have said in this thread, why is there a logout for Windows?

[peterfmartin 221]

The question, for me, really comes down to why does the version for Windows have a logout feature, while the Mac version doesn't? If it's really "designed that way", and "works how it's suppose to" like people have said in this thread, why is there a logout for Windows?

There are lots of features that differ between the two clients. Evernote staff say the company tries to make the clients as similar as possible, but since different teams work on the different clients, features often appear on one client before the other (and not, as some users would have you believe, always on Windows first, or always on Mac first).

Since I rarely use my crappy Windows netbook, I don't know: How does the logout on Windows work? If you log out and someone does a finder search (or whatever the global search is called) on the computer, do your Evernote files show up? If so, what's the meaningful difference for you between the two clients' behaviors?

EDIT: To add one detail, in response to:

Mail will allow you to delete your account, including all local files, messages, notes, etc that's associated with your account.

As I said in my last post, you can also do this with Evernote, though you have to do so manually. Just go to Library-->Application Support-->Evernote. If you delete that folder, all your local files, notes, etc. associated with your account are deleted.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Why does Evernote have X and Windows doesn't? Why does Windows have Y and Mac doesn't? As stated above, some of this comes from how Evernote has developed the applications using different design teams who release products on different schedules. Unlike most other services, they have to cover more than a dozen different platforms (right?), so expecting everyone to work lockstep with one another is a little unrealistic.

That said, of course there are parity issues that users have requested for many, many months. And, there are things that disappear from one client (the search explanation bar) but remain on another (Windows). This kind of stuff could/should be addressed, in my opinion, by Evernote.

But, in this case, aren't we talking about design limitations built into the operating systems? At least, that is how I understand it. So, asking why you can logout on Windows but not on Mac seems to me like asking why Windows has the clock on the bottom right and Mac has it on the top right. They're just different

[sschertz 29]

I would suspect that a big part of the reason Windows has logout and Mac does not is because of the different way data is stored on the operation systems. I use both, and on my Windows computer, my Evernote data is stored in a single database file (I think there are a few extra files that support that somehow). These files could probably live anywhere on the hard drive, although EN did default them to a specific place. I recently set up a second EN account for work-only, and when I look at the location on the hard drive, I now have two DB files - one with my original account name and one with the new.

So the Windows logout simply disconnects from the database, and log in connects you back to it. So you can switch between users. Incidentally, I don't think doing a global search of a Windows computer can search EN notes (the way spotlight does on mac) since they are locked up in database.

On the Mac side, my EN data is NOT all in one db, but is a huge set of individual files within what I assume to be specially-named folders. These are all within the library folders for a specific user account. I assume (not being an EN employee, I'm just guessing) that this is how Mac apps are supposed to store their data. Which means the data is tied directly to the Mac OS logged in user. Hence the difficulty logging out of EN and switching to a different user.

So the differences are due to differences in the OS platforms.

I also suspect that some things like logout were on the Windows side before the Mac version existed (EN was a windows-only app, back before it had the sync service and all that). Which accounts for other differences. There are many things on the Windows side that I wish would make it to Mac (and I agree with GM that things like the search explanation bar should be addressed, as it has made life much harder on the Mac side since it went away). But the logout thing seems like a pretty clear OS platform difference to me.

[paf 0]

Hi, I'm testing evernote and I think the issue here is that Evernote for Mac and Evernote for Windows are very different applications.

Evernote for Mac is a standalone application that can be used for organize notes and documents entirely offline without any requirements to login on evernote "sync service", I've used it for some time now, so the "log out" don't make sense when you haven't "log in"

Evernote for Windows, instead, is entirely locked to the Evernote "account", so the necessity to "log out".

I prefer the application for Mac, because many people aren't entirely "comfortable" to the necessity of an online "account" for an offline application.

I've created the account only to reply to this topic

[jefito 5,589]

So the Windows logout simply disconnects from the database, and log in connects you back to it. So you can switch between users. Incidentally, I don't think doing a global search of a Windows computer can search EN notes (the way spotlight does on mac) since they are locked up in database.

Not sure why this is significant. Notice that if you log in as a different Windows user, your database files get stored in a directory that is appropriate for that user, and you can't get at the Evernote database for any other Windows user. I am guessing, without having tried it, that if you logged in as a different Windows user, then logged into Evernote under your usual account, that you'd wind up with a duplicate version of the database in your other Windows user's file tree. Incidentally, I think that Evernote could hook into the Windows Desktop Search service to allow Evernote notes to be included; it's certainly been requested before.

On the Mac side, my EN data is NOT all in one db, but is a huge set of individual files within what I assume to be specially-named folders. These are all within the library folders for a specific user account. I assume (not being an EN employee, I'm just guessing) that this is how Mac apps are supposed to store their data. Which means the data is tied directly to the Mac OS logged in user. Hence the difficulty logging out of EN and switching to a different user.

I'm guessing that there's nothing stopping Evernote from isolating the files associated with one particular account from those of another account (but I can't claim to know that, or much at all about Mac system policies, and I don't know the structure of Evernote's Mac note folder tree). If that were the case, then it should be no trouble at all to log in to a different Evernote account. There are just two different mechanisms for storing the note content, one is in a MySQL database, one uses separate folder/files structures.

So the differences are due to differences in the OS platforms.

I'm not so sure about that.

[jefito 5,589]

Evernote for Mac is a standalone application that can be used for organize notes and documents entirely offline without any requirements to login on evernote "sync service", I've used it for some time now, so the "log out" don't make sense when you haven't "log in"

If this means that your Evernote account is tied to your Mac account, then you're still logging in to Evernote; it's just hidden from you. And I can see why, then, it would be difficult to log in to a separate Evernote account in that case.

I prefer the application for Mac, because many people aren't entirely "comfortable" to the necessity of an online "account" for an offline application.

Are you saying that Evernote for Mac doesn't sync to the Evernote servers? I'd be very much surprised if that were the case. Evernote is an online service, and so is the Mac client. Can you even use Evernote for the Mac if you're not known to the Evernote online service?

I've created the account only to reply to this topic

I've never figured out why people thought that this is a significant point to make.

[paf 0]

Are you saying that Evernote for Mac doesn't sync to the Evernote servers?

In Evernote (even the windows version) you can create a Local Notebook that don't sync at all to the Evernote servers but reside entirely on your hard drive and is useful for organize "private" data or huge files.

Can you even use Evernote for the Mac if you're not known to the Evernote online service?

Yes, I've used it until today, when I've discovered that the windows version is different... installing it on a friend's computer to show him evernote.

I've created the account only to reply to this topic

I've never figured out why people thought that this is a significant point to make.

I mean that with the Mac application is not required to create the account...

[chrisdq 0]

i saw a post on this thread saying some steps i can take to delete files from my library to fix this issue, but how would i go about this with the way its now integrated into the mac app store?

another person's account is signed into my evernote and i would sincerely like to get it purged from my computer without having to do significant surgery on my computer. this is sooooo stupid. i can't accept these excuses like "well its how we designed it" and "well, no one wants that feature." BS! thats a lame excuse for garbage design, especially when it prevents people from doing their job, and double especially when someone tells them this problem and they just shrug it off like, "tough, not our problem." thats bad customer service.

evernote is an awesome concept, but i can't use it without having my personal account on my computer. and then there is the excuse, "well, use the web interface." and how exactly does that remove my anal bosses info from my computer? stuff that could be corporately sensitive information that now anyone who uses my computer can gain access to. not a solution, its a cop-out from a programmer doing his job. and thats why i can't stand evernote. not that the program isn't good or the concept a good one, but they can't be used for sensitive information in the way i described when some joker installs their account on my computer on accident and i'm forced to use the less featured web interface that sucks tremendously.

come on guys, there has to be SOMETHING i can do here.

i don't have any details about your situation, so i cannot offer much advice, except to say that this "garbage" design is pretty standard for installed programs on the mac. isn't mail, dropbox, etc. all like this? repeating jm's question, why not create another user profile? it's not major surgery. it only takes a minute, and switching between accounts only takes a few seconds. in the time it took you to write that post you could have implemented the solution

basically, i think that evernote is structured to work best on a computer you control. if you have "jokers" installing things and bosses nosing around, you are probably better off establishing some boundaries with your co-workers, password-locking your computer, or taking your laptop to work.

good customer service means listening to customers, not obeying them. there are things i want evernote (and lots of other apps) to do differently, and i empathize with you, but ultimately i think we have to recognize that evernote developers may not agree with the requests we make.

hi and no, those apps AREN'T like this. you can log out of them. you can log out of dropbox. you can log out of mail. you can log out of iCal. WITHOUT having to switch users. and no, i'm sorry, thats retarded, and it offers me no help when my personal account ends up becoming unaccessible. and no, i disagree. if the customer is always right, and the customers personal info can become compromised because a user account in a program is designed to not be unlinkable from someone else's computer, thats just silly design. fortunately, this has been fixed now though. the current iteration seems to allow user account switching. finally. to whomever it was that allows this functionality now i thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i saw a post on this thread saying some steps i can take to delete files from my library to fix this issue, but how would i go about this with the way its now integrated into the mac app store?

another person's account is signed into my evernote and i would sincerely like to get it purged from my computer without having to do significant surgery on my computer. this is sooooo stupid. i can't accept these excuses like "well its how we designed it" and "well, no one wants that feature." BS! thats a lame excuse for garbage design, especially when it prevents people from doing their job, and double especially when someone tells them this problem and they just shrug it off like, "tough, not our problem." thats bad customer service.

evernote is an awesome concept, but i can't use it without having my personal account on my computer. and then there is the excuse, "well, use the web interface." and how exactly does that remove my anal bosses info from my computer? stuff that could be corporately sensitive information that now anyone who uses my computer can gain access to. not a solution, its a cop-out from a programmer doing his job. and thats why i can't stand evernote. not that the program isn't good or the concept a good one, but they can't be used for sensitive information in the way i described when some joker installs their account on my computer on accident and i'm forced to use the less featured web interface that sucks tremendously.

come on guys, there has to be SOMETHING i can do here.

i don't have any details about your situation, so i cannot offer much advice, except to say that this "garbage" design is pretty standard for installed programs on the mac. isn't mail, dropbox, etc. all like this? repeating jm's question, why not create another user profile? it's not major surgery. it only takes a minute, and switching between accounts only takes a few seconds. in the time it took you to write that post you could have implemented the solution

basically, i think that evernote is structured to work best on a computer you control. if you have "jokers" installing things and bosses nosing around, you are probably better off establishing some boundaries with your co-workers, password-locking your computer, or taking your laptop to work.

good customer service means listening to customers, not obeying them. there are things i want evernote (and lots of other apps) to do differently, and i empathize with you, but ultimately i think we have to recognize that evernote developers may not agree with the requests we make.

hi and no, those apps AREN'T like this. you can log out of them. you can log out of dropbox. you can log out of mail. you can log out of iCal. WITHOUT having to switch users. and no, i'm sorry, thats retarded, and it offers me no help when my personal account ends up becoming unaccessible. and no, i disagree. if the customer is always right, and the customers personal info can become compromised because a user account in a program is designed to not be unlinkable from someone else's computer, thats just silly design. fortunately, this has been fixed now though. the current iteration seems to allow user account switching. finally. to whomever it was that allows this functionality now i thank you from the bottom of my heart.

i didn't follow your argument there, but it is pretty clear that i was wrong about the potential for evernote to create the feature and make it possible to login/logout without switching users. i'll have to concede that point. evernote did a great job listening to users about this, and i am glad to see you are pleased with the changes. overall, i think it is a positive thing.

but, as far as i can tell, i was right about what this means for privacy; you can still pull up all of the information in every evernote database through a search of the hard drive (i use houdahspot) without needing to login. in other words, if you want to keep your data private from other users like those nosy jokers, you are still going to need to switch users. at least, that is what my tests show. if someone has had different results, i'd like to hear about them!

personally, i like how the databases are structured, and it is hugely helpful to have them indexed by my mac. this is one of the few benefits i see in using a mac over windows at this moment, and i find things like this on a daily basis in my searches. so, i am quite happy with how things are now, even though i think the login/logout could potentially cause problems when people who think they are safe from prying eyes, because they logged out, find out that they are not.

again, maybe i am wrong about this. i've been wrong before

[Metrodon 2,184]

It's obviously been considered and for the time being Evernote have decided not to implement this feature.

Remember, Evernote have many many requirements to fulfil across multiple platforms that have to be prioritised. Just because this is a 'real' issue for you does not necessarily mean that it is a high priority for Evernote.

Doesn't mean to say that they never will implement it - but for the moment, it's just the way it is.

[jbenson2 2,147]

In Windows, it is >Tools >Sign Out

To get back in, you have to enter your user name and password.

I checked the Knowledgebase for Mac shortcuts and did not see an equivalent action, just Close (⌘ W).

http://www.evernote.com/about/kb/article/mac-osx-keyboard-shortcuts?lang=en

Any comments from a Mac user?

[Rolldothome 5]

Found an earlier post that seems to imply that there is no way to log out on the Mac. This seems totally ludicrous!

[Rolldothome 5]

Just noticed on the opening pop up that there is a check book to 'stay signed in'. Surely this implies you can sign out?

[engberg 89]

If you don't check the box for "remember my password", then our client will ask you for your password each time you launch the app so that we can synchronize to the server. We sync the full contents of your account to your Mac, and you can access that even when you don't have network access, so "sign out" doesn't make as much sense.

[johnfcarymd 0]

I work from various computers including my mac at home; there I share a user (Mac) account with several family members so that we don't have to toggle users every time we sit down. Instead, various individual documents and programs are passworded as needed.

As far as I can tell, my evernote password is required ONLY to sync and NOT to open the program and view everything as of the most recent prior sync. So without a password, anyone can view my evernote stuff upon opening Evernote. Is this correct? Or is there a way to close it down so that opening it even locally requires a password?

Should I just give in and generate a new Mac account for myself and each and every family member, and log off the Mac account every time I leave the computer?

There IS such an Evernote function in the windows version, BTW, Tools -> sign out, so someone HAS apparently thought of this to be reasonably important...

Thanks for any help, John

[Metrodon 2,184]

You are correct, there is no feature to 'lock' access to the Evernote app.

Create an account for each family member and enable fast user switching and it's a pretty seamless experience - not really surprising given that it's a Mac.

[yugenro 0]

Found an earlier post that seems to imply that there is no way to log out on the Mac. This seems totally ludicrous!

I *TOTALLY* agree! I have an account, and my wife has an account-- When I need to log out of my account and look at my wife's notes, ... what, not possible at all on the Mac client???

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Found an earlier post that seems to imply that there is no way to log out on the Mac. This seems totally ludicrous!

I *TOTALLY* agree! I have an account, and my wife has an account-- When I need to log out of my account and look at my wife's notes, ... what, not possible at all on the Mac client???

Did you bother to read the post above yours in this thread...???

[stevix 0]

My wife asked if she could use Evernote on her Mac. I said that it probably only works on Windows. She was determined to prove me wrong. It took 3 weeks to install Evernote, because she had to upgrade the MacBook in order to install Snow Leopard (aka 10.5) in order to install Evernote. Today we Installed Evernote; Hooray! Immediately signed in as "Me" to test. Yes, it works, great! Now to set up her own account,... but wait, it is not possible to sign out of my account. So we're stuck, she can't use Evernote after all. Doh!

[Metrodon 2,184]

Create an account for each family member and enable fast user switching and it's a pretty seamless experience - not really surprising given that it's a Mac.

Why can't you do this?

[lampong 0]

If you don't check the box for "remember my password", then our client will ask you for your password each time you launch the app so that we can synchronize to the server. We sync the full contents of your account to your Mac, and you can access that even when you don't have network access, so "sign out" doesn't make as much sense.

if "sign out" reli doesn't make as much sense, why you make it on Windows(mentioned above, I don't know is it reli the case)?

it is the first time I get a official reply from a software developer saying its users request as "doesn't make as much sense". and it is simply a "logout" function.

I have my own personal evernote account used on my Mac at home, and another account on my office computer. I do this because the computer in office is public to the staff, I need to protect my private notes.

I need to work at home occasionally and I found that I can't access my important information on another account since i cant simply logout. Maybe I shouldnt put those important things in this software, it doesn't make as much sense.

[plogans 0]

I find it incredible evernote has not added a way to log out from the evernote iapp. I have a home login of evernote, for my wife and I, and I have a business evernote login, and I need to be able to switch. I need to switch for security and privacy reasons, so a logout is of course naturally needed. The "doesn't make much sense" response from the evernote employee is not helpful and is a basic security lapse. Fast switching between logins from the other respondent is also not applicable here.

[Metrodon 2,184]

You could always use the web for one account?

It's definitely a useful feature for some people, but at a guess I'd assume that it's not a high priority for the development team.

The Evernote employee is the Chief of Technicalfullness and so his opinion obviously carries some weight.

As has been discussed may times before on here, the Evernote position is that you are responsible for securing your computer and so this is not viewed as a lapse.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

and I need to be able to switch. I need to switch for security and privacy reasons, so a logout is of course naturally needed. The "doesn't make much sense" response from the evernote employee is not helpful and is a basic security lapse. Fast switching between logins from the other respondent is also not applicable here.

Seems you didn't really read or understand what Dave said...

If you don't check the box for "remember my password", then our client will ask you for your password each time you launch the app so that we can synchronize to the server. We sync the full contents of your account to your Mac, and you can access that even when you don't have network access, so "sign out" doesn't make as much sense.

Regarding security & privacy, Evernote has clearly stated several times that they will leave security/privacy on all clients to the user. That's a reasonable stance, IMO. If you're going to put sensitive data on your computer, learn how to lock it up. There is already plenty of discussion on this topic, if you search on security.

If you don't want to use the account switcher, then as metrodon pointed out, use the web client for one account. IMO, that would be much faster than having to regularly sign out & back in from multiple accounts.

[therealhg 0]

This is a real issue that needs to be considered in an update soon.

I am a user that has a personal Evernote account and a separate one for my work. I need to access both accounts on the same computer, and the app is much better than using the website. I shouldn't be required to access one of them only through the web. There should be a simple way to log out of my account in the app, and then log back in.

I understand your point about being personally accountable for security. Give users of your app the ability to do just that.

[dlu 628]

Will be discussing this with the team

What was the outcome of this if any?

EN does not normally publish their roadmap.

Yeah, nothing to announce at this time

[CaraJo 0]

This is insane. I had Evernote installed at work and on my ipad. I hadn't installed in at home yet (mac), but intended to. I made the mistake of telling my husband about it who installed the program and logged in. He decided not to use it but there is NOTHING we can do to set it up for my account. I have deactivated his online account, uninstalled Evernote from the mac, emptied the trash, rebooted, reinstalled Evernote ... and it still automatically logs into his account, only now it tells us that it can't sync. No kidding .. his account doesn't exist anymore!

Anyone have ANY suggestions???????

[Metrodon 2,184]

Did you delete the data?

user/library/application support/evernote

If you did and you are still having a problem then you should open a support case.

[CaraJo 0]

Finally! Thank you!

[gglcmedia 0]

This is Crazy.... I have two evernote accounts and I accidentally signed into the wrong one. Now I cant log out or delete this account and I cant find how to ad the account that all of my notes are on. There is a HUGE disconnect when any software does not allow you the ability to control your own accounts the way you like and log in and out if as you see fit not the developer. I love to use my evernote but this is a pain in the butt... so since im not ALLOWED to log myself out of my own account, can anyone help me ad my other account please so I can get back to work.

Thank you

[ep1curus 0]

It is utter nonsense that Evernote would say to "sign out" does not make sense. You can do it on the Windows client, on the web page, the iPhone app so why not on the Mac client. What the Evernote rep said makes no sense.

The Evernote rep is also incorrect about the "remember my password" option. I have the "remember my password" unchecked. I quit the app [Version 3.0.1 (172019], launched it again and it opened my account, no Login required.

==

If you don't check the box for "remember my password", then our client will ask you for your password each time you launch the app so that we can synchronize to the server. We sync the full contents of your account to your Mac, and you can access that even when you don't have network access, so "sign out" doesn't make as much sense. Dave Engberg (Evernote)

[Metrodon 2,184]

This is Crazy.... I have two evernote accounts and I accidentally signed into the wrong one. Now I cant log out or delete this account and I cant find how to ad the account that all of my notes are on. There is a HUGE disconnect when any software does not allow you the ability to control your own accounts the way you like and log in and out if as you see fit not the developer. I love to use my evernote but this is a pain in the butt... so since im not ALLOWED to log myself out of my own account, can anyone help me ad my other account please so I can get back to work.

Thank you

Delete the password in Evernote so the app can't sync.

Close the app

Delete the data from user/library/application support/evernote

Restart the app and add your other account details.

[stant 0]

Hey Guys,

I found a pretty simple way to log out of your account on Mac.

Evernote >> Account Info

Then un-click "Remember My Password"

Next time you start Evernote it will prompt you for your username and password, and even allow you to create another account.

Hope that helps.

[soopafly 1]

Wow. I just found out today that I cannot log out of Evernote. This seems like a fairly basic "feature" to implement, especially for people that are on a shared computer with somewhat sensitive information like myself. Why hasn't this been implemented???

When opening Evernote, I'm prompted with the login screen popup, but can click on the close button of the popup and browse notes. Seems a little sketchy.

[ninjaroll 1]

Um... any update to this?

[Metrodon 2,184]

No.

[TheZeppo 0]

This is Crazy.... I have two evernote accounts and I accidentally signed into the wrong one. Now I cant log out or delete this account and I cant find how to ad the account that all of my notes are on. There is a HUGE disconnect when any software does not allow you the ability to control your own accounts the way you like and log in and out if as you see fit not the developer. I love to use my evernote but this is a pain in the butt... so since im not ALLOWED to log myself out of my own account, can anyone help me ad my other account please so I can get back to work. Thank you

Delete the password in Evernote so the app can't sync. Close the app Delete the data from user/library/application support/evernote Restart the app and add your other account details.

This worked for me.

[dlu 628]

This is Crazy.... I have two evernote accounts and I accidentally signed into the wrong one. Now I cant log out or delete this account and I cant find how to ad the account that all of my notes are on. There is a HUGE disconnect when any software does not allow you the ability to control your own accounts the way you like and log in and out if as you see fit not the developer. I love to use my evernote but this is a pain in the butt... so since im not ALLOWED to log myself out of my own account, can anyone help me ad my other account please so I can get back to work. Thank you

Delete the password in Evernote so the app can't sync. Close the app Delete the data from user/library/application support/evernote Restart the app and add your other account details.

This worked for me.

I would first advise not switching accounts if avoidable. If neccesary, I'd advise removing the data as pointed out by BnF at user/library/application support/evernote

I agree there are some very valid reasons for switching between accounts, but there have been other priorities. Will be discussing this with the team

[ninjaroll 1]

Will be discussing this with the team

What was the outcome of this if any?

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Will be discussing this with the team

What was the outcome of this if any?

EN does not normally publish their roadmap.