How to Turn Off Work Chat?

inconsequentia · November 7, 2014

How do I get rid of the new 'Work Chat' button in the Mac Client's toolbar?

I don't want it and I don't want to have to see it.

There should be a way to disable the feature and any of its mentions wholesale. If it takes a Premium subscription to be able to get rid of Work Chat, I will pay for Premium just to have that.

I know I can just 'not use it' – but that's not enough.

jefito · November 7, 2014

Can't do it on the Mac, at last report. https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/72556-introducing-work-chat/

inconsequentia · November 7, 2014

That’s a shame. I am certain that this 'Work Chat' is a great tool but there are two fundamental problems with it:

1. It's fairly aggressive to shove major features in people’s faces like that, especially when

2. Some of us use Evernote to do intimate, personal creative work. The Evernote window is a safe space and even the suggestion of outside interference is enough to threaten the perceived safety of the workspace that we inhabit for so many hours a day.

Here's hoping that an update rectifies this by giving us the ability to opt out. I'm sure this sounds batshit crazy to some of you but it would be enough to quit Evernote, and I've been a user since Evernote was in beta in 2008.

WillBellJr · November 7, 2014

While I use EN both personally and at work, I also doubt I'll ever use this feature (I believe I'm the only one using EN at work as it is...)

So while it's nice to see this new feature added (I would have preferred audio recordings time cued to the text I'm entering), I have to admit constantly having that button sittng there, especially on my Note 3, taking up valuable screen space does become annoying quickly.'

That button could easily go into the triple-dot menu or better for me, a setting "Enable Work Chat Features" which can be ticked on if you really need it.

-Will

Grant Z · November 11, 2014

I completely agree with the feelings expressed her. I don't use Evernote for collaboration work so the chat buttons taking up space for me. It makes more sense for the "work" environment. For personal use, not so much. There needs to be a way to turn this feature off for those who are interested in using it.

NightStalker · November 11, 2014

Once again, we bump up against the fact that for some strange reason, Evernote DOES NOT HAVE A CONFIGURABLE TOOLBAR..! Yeah, I know I keep banging on about this, but nobody seems to listen.

I have zero use for Workchat, BUT - that bloody button is right there in my face on my Mac client, right next to the "Add new page" button, but the "Email note" is now relegated two-deep in a menu, when I want it on the toolbar. Alongside the Print button, that I also can't put on there.

And to make it worse, they've now done it on the iOS client too - there is a big button for "Chat" that I cannot get rid of. AARGGGHHH - I WANT IT ALL SWITCHED OFF AND BUTTONS GONE!

And while we're on the subject of the iOS version, when oh when is Evernote going to do something about that stupidly tiny "two sloping arrow" button to make the note go full screen, that is too tiny for my big fingers, and is right below the Close button on my iPad, which I hit constantly while trying to make the note full-screen? I'm referring here to the iPad version (which also has the silly "Chat" button!)

Evernote - please listen - give us back our configurable toolbar on the desktop clients (especially the Mac one), and add an option to disable Workchat COMPLETELY on all clients, and if switched off, make that button disappear.

What is the point of having a button in our face if we're never going to use that function?

Streetmentioner · November 20, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.

These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.

ScottLougheed · November 21, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.

I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

CMLondon · December 2, 2014

Have been using Work Chat with colleagues. Hate it.

They have hidden the email option in the Notes toolbar;

impossible to tag a note unless the author has used the tags i want to;

hard to move shared note to non-shared folder

i have not worked out how to delete worksheets.

I love Evernote. Hate this latest iteration, unfortunately.

rltidd27 · December 2, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.
I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

It completely changed the way notes are shared is what it did. Has had a major impact on our business, so in fact it does matter.

ScottLougheed · December 2, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.
I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

It completely changed the way notes are shared is what it did. Has had a major impact on our business, so in fact it does matter.

All of the old ways of sharing notes still exist.

You can email notes to anyone (Note>more sharing>email note) (on iOS select the three dots>share>email, which is where it has always been)

You can make notes public (cmd-/)

you can make notebooks public (right click>publish notebook)

The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook. In this case, I don't see what harm is being done because the recipient must be an Evernote user by definition (and this has always been the case, even before work chat).

Perhaps I have missed something. Where are you finding you are unable to share things the way you used to?

rltidd27 · December 3, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.
I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

It completely changed the way notes are shared is what it did. Has had a major impact on our business, so in fact it does matter.

All of the old ways of sharing notes still exist.
You can email notes to anyone (Note>more sharing>email note) (on iOS select the three dots>share>email, which is where it has always been)
You can make notes public (cmd-/)
you can make notebooks public (right click>publish notebook)

The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook. In this case, I don't see what harm is being done because the recipient must be an Evernote user by definition (and this has always been the case, even before work chat).

Perhaps I have missed something. Where are you finding you are unable to share things the way you used to?

When I try to share a note via email from a shared note, the send via email is grayed out. This is how we shared an update in a note before. Work chat also does not work from these notes.

ScottLougheed · December 3, 2014

What kind of notes? I tried about 15 notes and couldn't find any where "Email Note" was greyed out.

flyklr · December 15, 2014

Another Premium user who wants the option to disable Work Chat from all devices.

jefito · December 15, 2014

Another Premium user who wants the option to disable Work Chat from all devices.

You cannot disable it. You *can* remove it from some of the UI on some devices (e.g. the left panel/sidebar and toolbars of the Windows client)

skkippy · December 18, 2014

Another premium user who is annoyed by workchat's prominent positioning. I use Evernote for personal notes, not in a workplace. The workchat button is grating.

rltidd27 · December 18, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.
I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

It completely changed the way notes are shared is what it did. Has had a major impact on our business, so in fact it does matter.

All of the old ways of sharing notes still exist.
You can email notes to anyone (Note>more sharing>email note) (on iOS select the three dots>share>email, which is where it has always been)
You can make notes public (cmd-/)
you can make notebooks public (right click>publish notebook)

The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook. In this case, I don't see what harm is being done because the recipient must be an Evernote user by definition (and this has always been the case, even before work chat).

Perhaps I have missed something. Where are you finding you are unable to share things the way you used to?

When I try to share a note via email from a shared note, the send via email is grayed out. This is how we shared an update in a note before. Work chat also does not work from these notes.

We had multiple premium accounts. A notebook is shared from account A. In the past account B could work on the note, then update our ordering person with an email share. Now the email is greyed out on Account B. This work chat really messed up our workflow, and made our lives miserable. We are now attempting business because it is easier to share a notebook. We do not need work chat to share anything.

ScottLougheed · December 19, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.
I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

It completely changed the way notes are shared is what it did. Has had a major impact on our business, so in fact it does matter.

All of the old ways of sharing notes still exist.
You can email notes to anyone (Note>more sharing>email note) (on iOS select the three dots>share>email, which is where it has always been)
You can make notes public (cmd-/)
you can make notebooks public (right click>publish notebook)

The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook. In this case, I don't see what harm is being done because the recipient must be an Evernote user by definition (and this has always been the case, even before work chat).

Perhaps I have missed something. Where are you finding you are unable to share things the way you used to?

When I try to share a note via email from a shared note, the send via email is grayed out. This is how we shared an update in a note before. Work chat also does not work from these notes.

We had multiple premium accounts. A notebook is shared from account A. In the past account B could work on the note, then update our ordering person with an email share. Now the email is greyed out on Account B. This work chat really messed up our workflow, and made our lives miserable. We are now attempting business because it is easier to share a notebook. We do not need work chat to share anything.

Actually if you put all of your employees and colleagues, such as your Ordering Person, into an Evernote Business account (which it sounds like you are based on the underlined text), then you will need Work Chat, because that is the primary means by which notes are shared between Evernote users. I suspect that on-boarding your other staff could make things like updating your orders person a bit easier actually, so long as they can wrapt heir heads around Evernote.

That being said, some things just don't work for all people. It would be regrettable if Work Chat totally ruined your workflow even after you give it an honest chance.

It might also be worth submitting a bug report via the support system about your greyed out email (I don't have two premium accounts so I can't test your situation for myself). It may be a bug, or another form of regression that Evernote may choose to address.

TIddly27 · December 19, 2014

Totally agree with you. I hate it when new ideas are forced on you rather than made optional. I will never use work chat. Hate the concept. Hate the name. Evernote is for me, for my private notes and information. I don't want to share anything. Get your own bloody notes. Maybe it is time they should split Personal and Business into two separate products.
These days I'm using OneNote more and Evernote less, especially since Microsoft got its act together and put out pretty decent OneNote apps for iOS and Android. Evernote needs to raise its game, especially with the tired editor. I've been waiting years for page colours, macros, templates - all of which are possible with ON. In short, I'm running out of reasons to stick with Evernote.
I have other far more pressing things that will ruin my day. I just ignore the button and the feature and move on.

After all, it doesn't occupy additional computer resources and it doesn't do anything unless you tell it to, so, no impact to the system or my workflow (except for a the pixels devoted to displaying the button in the vexingly non-configurable toolbar).

It completely changed the way notes are shared is what it did. Has had a major impact on our business, so in fact it does matter.

All of the old ways of sharing notes still exist.
You can email notes to anyone (Note>more sharing>email note) (on iOS select the three dots>share>email, which is where it has always been)
You can make notes public (cmd-/)
you can make notebooks public (right click>publish notebook)

The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook. In this case, I don't see what harm is being done because the recipient must be an Evernote user by definition (and this has always been the case, even before work chat).

Perhaps I have missed something. Where are you finding you are unable to share things the way you used to?

When I try to share a note via email from a shared note, the send via email is grayed out. This is how we shared an update in a note before. Work chat also does not work from these notes.

We had multiple premium accounts. A notebook is shared from account A. In the past account B could work on the note, then update our ordering person with an email share. Now the email is greyed out on Account B. This work chat really messed up our workflow, and made our lives miserable. We are now attempting business because it is easier to share a notebook. We do not need work chat to share anything.

Yes we have indeed spent almost three times as much on Business, so we could continue using it. Work chat would not even work correctly in the scenario I presented. Instead the receiver of the work chat would get an email with a link that would take you to the web only. Would not even show up in the desktop app. For us the latest version including work chat really sucks.

CBColem · December 29, 2014

Grateful to Scott for this tip - it is still possible to email without cutting and pasting. And I can try to answer Scott's last question

FROM SCOTT

"All of the old ways of sharing notes still exist.

You can email notes to anyone (Note>more sharing>email note) (on iOS select the three dots>share>email, which is where it has always been)

You can make notes public (cmd-/)

you can make notebooks public (right click>publish notebook)

The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook. In this case, I don't see what harm is being done because the recipient must be an Evernote user by definition (and this has always been the case, even before work chat).

Perhaps I have missed something. Where are you finding you are unable to share things the way you used to?"

It's less convenient. I used to use the share option on the right hand side of the page to email notes, now can only choose chat. The chat is unpleasant to me and confusing for the people I send to. But what irked me was losing the convenience of the right hand option - the flow is much better for me. I thought there was no more simple way to email without the tedious link generate, copy open email and paste. So, it is a change. And an unpleasant one for me and the people I share notes with. HTH explain some of the comments by users. I looked for this forum with that helpless rage that comes from these sorts of changes. I just want to get things done, so the tweaks are bumps in the road. Maybe they are "good for me" but . . .

marepinta · January 1, 2015

me too! I am a sole proprietor, premium user, use this for work and business, but do not have any need for Work Chat. I think it is probably a great addition, but want to be able to turn it off and turn off all annoying popup messages about it. please!

I have it removed from my left bar, but I still get all kinds of reminders.

Looking forward to this in future updates. thanks much!

ScottLougheed · January 8, 2015

Popups should only ever appear once per install (if you reinstall the app, you'll be subject to a barrage of popups again).

Aside from the icon in the toolbar, Work Chat shouldn't really even be in your way if you never need it. It doesn't consume additional resources and aside from the (usually) one-time popup, it shouldn't really be something you ever notice.

Are you seeing Work Chat use up resources or prevent you from doing what you normally do? Perhaps I've missed something in my day-to-day use.

Streetmentioner · January 8, 2015

Yes, you can hide it from Evernote desktop, but not so lucky with other platforms. On Android it takes up a prominent chunk of precious screen space above "All Notes" and "Notebooks". And with both iOS and Android it adopts an icon very similar to the familiar "Share" icon which you use to export notes or open in other apps and worse still relegates that feature onto the three-dots "more" menu so its very easy to tap that button to mail or print a note and find yourself confronted with the work chat dialogue. New features are all very well but they should let users opt in rather than have to opt out and at the very least give users the option of opting out. I know some of you think we are overreacting to this but when you like something you don't want to see it messed with. Remember the fiasco when they changed the Coke recipe? Or how about the free U2 album on iTunes? ASK people if they want something before just giving it to them.

marepinta · January 8, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it

marepinta · January 8, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it

ScottLougheed · January 8, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it

That sounds like a bug if the popup is persistent. Once that is cleared up, I don't imagine Work Chat will be in your way too much.

I haven't needed to share anything since Work Chat was released, so honestly, I don't even notice that it is there. I have yet to see it interfere with my workflow (popups aside).

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way (other than saying "because I just do"). I'd be very interested to hear if/how Work Chat interferes with your flow (aside from popups, which are definitely frustrating) once your popup situation is resolved.

I am definitely NOT dismissing your feelings! I am sincerely interested in understanding why people are so desperate to disable something that, to me, is barely noticeable.

mrgoerend · January 15, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it
That sounds like a bug if the popup is persistent. Once that is cleared up, I don't imagine Work Chat will be in your way too much.
I haven't needed to share anything since Work Chat was released, so honestly, I don't even notice that it is there. I have yet to see it interfere with my workflow (popups aside).

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way (other than saying "because I just do"). I'd be very interested to hear if/how Work Chat interferes with your flow (aside from popups, which are definitely frustrating) once your popup situation is resolved.

I am definitely NOT dismissing your feelings! I am sincerely interested in understanding why people are so desperate to disable something that, to me, is barely noticeable.

It's way too close to the new note icon on iOS. That's why I want it gone.

I tried it once and the message has never shown up on any of my colleagues Evernote's -- Mac, web, or iOS. Sharing was not broken. Allow us to turn off features we do not use.

Oliver W · January 16, 2015

I don't ever ... and I mean EVER post to Forums. I really should more!

Why this time... because since Work Chat life for me and my very non-tech friends has become so much harder.

Very very bad call on Evernote's part.

inconsequentia · January 16, 2015

I find it remarkable that Evernote pays zero attention to feedback… Is there even a mechanism by which they pretend to solicit user feedback?

As for myself, pretty much the second the Mac and iOS versions of OneNote get audio recordings I am out.

Oliver W · January 16, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it
That sounds like a bug if the popup is persistent. Once that is cleared up, I don't imagine Work Chat will be in your way too much.
I haven't needed to share anything since Work Chat was released, so honestly, I don't even notice that it is there. I have yet to see it interfere with my workflow (popups aside).

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way (other than saying "because I just do"). I'd be very interested to hear if/how Work Chat interferes with your flow (aside from popups, which are definitely frustrating) once your popup situation is resolved.

I am definitely NOT dismissing your feelings! I am sincerely interested in understanding why people are so desperate to disable something that, to me, is barely noticeable.

To articulate then....

MOST IMPORTANT: It's fundamentally become harder to share notes and notebooks rather than easier. My recipients have gone from being able to collaborate with me within seconds to calling me up and asking me what they are supposed to do with this chat thing.
Another chat is not needed. I use iMessage, Text, What's app, Skype etc.
It clutters Evernote. One of the strengths was that it was a clean, simple interface. Adding anything that take away from that reduces this experience
You've replaced something very good with a much poorer UX. I.e. removing the simple way of emailing a note - something that just worked well with something that just isn't clear how it's working
It forces people down a path which they neither need to go nor want to go. This approach simply alienates users.
It's intrusive.
It's neither fish nor fowl. Tech works best when a function is absolutely clear. In Work Chats bumpf it's described as 'kind of a chat way of sharing' (my translation of your words). Let sharing be sharing. Let chat be chat.

Hope that helps.

Please, please kill it and restore the ease of sharing that was there before for notes and notebooks. Email is old and not a great platform, but so universal, even my 80 year old technophobe friends can use it. They'll never ever be able to use Work Chat.

inconsequentia · January 16, 2015

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way

[ Emphasis mine. ]

People can't articulate it — so what? I don't think it's required that we be able to articulate it. As you mention yourself, a lot of people want it disabled. That should be enough.

A lot of 'articulations' of preferences are mostly things our logical brain makes up anyway, we don't really ever fully know why we like certain things and not others. This does not invalidate the preferences in question. Why do you love one person and not another? You can try 'articulating' it but you won't get to the heart of the matter.

Additionally, lots of people have articulated why, in this very thread.

It is invasive (cosmetically and psychologically)
It is too close to other functions
The inability to customize a toolbar is non-native behaviour, at least on a Mac
It feels like Evernote is shoving this feature down our throats when it is neither needed nor wanted

arrrrrrrgus · January 21, 2015

I competely agree with the vocial majority that the "new chat" button is taking up valuable space in the UI. I keep evernote open and size it about 1/4 of my screen. Now, the most valuable function ' search notes' is not being shown due to the 'new chat' function.

I don't use evernote to collaberate so please allow the indv. users the option to remove this annoying button. Otherwise, great product.

Streetmentioner · January 22, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it

That sounds like a bug if the popup is persistent. Once that is cleared up, I don't imagine Work Chat will be in your way too much.

I haven't needed to share anything since Work Chat was released, so honestly, I don't even notice that it is there. I have yet to see it interfere with my workflow (popups aside).

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way (other than saying "because I just do"). I'd be very interested to hear if/how Work Chat interferes with your flow (aside from popups, which are definitely frustrating) once your popup situation is resolved.

I am definitely NOT dismissing your feelings! I am sincerely interested in understanding why people are so desperate to disable something that, to me, is barely noticeable.

Barely noticeable? Yes, on a pc you can pretty much make it go away but a lot of us use Evernote on other devices. This is how it looks in landscape mode on an Android smartphone.

All we are asking for is an option to turn it off.

Streetmentioner · January 22, 2015

If you can't see the image in my last post try

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibe3xum8cj502g2/workchat.jpg?dl=0

Metrodon · January 22, 2015

You can make it even smaller in the latest version of the iOS app.

WillBellJr · January 22, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it

That sounds like a bug if the popup is persistent. Once that is cleared up, I don't imagine Work Chat will be in your way too much.
I haven't needed to share anything since Work Chat was released, so honestly, I don't even notice that it is there. I have yet to see it interfere with my workflow (popups aside).

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way (other than saying "because I just do"). I'd be very interested to hear if/how Work Chat interferes with your flow (aside from popups, which are definitely frustrating) once your popup situation is resolved...

Well let me (again) try and articulate why I'd simply like the option to hide / disable etc., the Work Chat feature.

I don't need it. I don't use it, and for now, and the foreseeable future, I don't need it...

I work at a company with over 500 people in this office alone, and as far as I know, I'm the only one that's using EN for taking my notes (on a Samsung Note 3) in meetings. Everyone else either uses their laptops w/a meeting agenda template, or they have a pen and paper.

If you'd like, think of me as a lone wolf. I'd imagine a lot of folks who install EverNote on their mobile devices are the same.

I can appreciate that the EN folks feel this Work Chat feature is the greatest invention since America Online, but frankly the ONLY person I'd potentially use WC with is my wife. But even then, when I want to send her something, typically a web clipping, I'll just log into her account with the EN clipper and send her what I'd like her to see that way. When I want to chat, we use Whats App...

That's it, at this point in time, I don't use Work Chat.

So as a user of this software, it's a constant annoyance to have a button in my face that I KNOW I'll never use. If I do ever need it, great, let me go into Options and turn it back on, it's that simple, really.

All everyone in this thread is asking to just please provide an option to let us, those who feel they will never have a use for this feature, turn it off, or simply remove the button.

I would frankly rather see the energy in expended in justifying a feature a lot of your users state they'll never use, into providing a way to record audio, time sync'd with any notes that are simutaneously taken.

I can't imagine anyone who takes notes during meetings who couldn't use a feature that lets them jump to points within their audio recordings by clicking on some form of bookmark that can be added when writing notes during the recording.

Now this could be implemented though a simple Bookmark button. BUT even here, I'm advocating that the BM button would only be visible during audio recordings.

See, even I can think of ways to avoid annoying the folks that may not ever use Audio Note Sync during their audio recordings...

If you were really interested in listening to your customers, you could use any of the available polling websites where you can ask all the questions you'd like about the Work Chat feature - yet your customers voice their opinions!

But unlike here, and now, when you get the final answer from your customers, PLEASE implement whatever they have voted for...

-Will

PS - Going back and catching up on posts, I see a lot of articulation in the messages the folks are writing here...

ZRBW · January 23, 2015

Someone above said this, and this is what I do as well:

"I competely agree with the vocial majority that the "new chat" button is taking up valuable space in the UI. I keep evernote open and size it about 1/4 of my screen. Now, the most valuable function ' search notes' is not being shown due to the 'new chat' function."

So with the "improvements" to the UI, the search window, which is the reason I use Evernote in the first place, is not available.

At the very least, Work Chat should be on the other side of the search box.

This is a real frustration to me on a daily basis.

fredhammersmith · January 28, 2015

Oh wow so I am not the only one who stared to the new Chat window, wondering how I can make it usable when all I want to do is share a notebook with a collaborator who is not very fond of Evernote and prefer emails.

I can undertand the use for the chat in certain businesses, but why can't i share notebooks by email, the old way? It was simple, efficient, easily understood on both sides.

dCole · January 29, 2015

So glad to see I'm not alone in my desire to disable chat. I do use EN for work and collaboration with my team. But, the last thing I need is another interruption in my work. When I'm working in EN, the last thing I want is to be interrupted. If I wanted that, I'd stare at my email all day.

All you managed was to take my quiet space away. If it doesn't get nixed soon, I'll go elsewhere.

ShamaMusing · February 4, 2015

I want to add my voice to the hew and cry. I detest chat. Detest it completely. Here is why:

From an earlier post: The only time you need to use work chat is to invite a fellow evernote user to collaborate on a notebook.

This is 95% of what my team does. We use Evernote to record client notes, track status, document knowledge base materials, pre-prep presentations - etc. We collaborate via the note itself. And how many times in the past month do you suppose I've had to provide user support for my team when no one can figure out how to share a dang note anymore!!! I'm paying for this service every month for my team and this feature absolutely does not work for us because we're being forced to do something entirely counter-intuitive. I want it gone or I'm going to have to leave Evernote. I'm not the only user who feels this way. This feature is a huge fail. By all means, have a chat function - lots of programs do - but why in the world did it have to be coupled with sharing?

wintrymix · February 5, 2015

it is unclear to me what problem work chat is trying to solve, but i do not have it.

please remove or allow removal by user.

TheGooch · February 7, 2015

My desktop did have the pop-up one time, but on my android it is a pop-up prompt every time I click share. Not even just in the list ... a push for work chat. I do not like it
That sounds like a bug if the popup is persistent. Once that is cleared up, I don't imagine Work Chat will be in your way too much.
I haven't needed to share anything since Work Chat was released, so honestly, I don't even notice that it is there. I have yet to see it interfere with my workflow (popups aside).

A lot of people are complaining about WC and want it disabled, but none seem to be able to clearly articulate why they feel that way (other than saying "because I just do"). I'd be very interested to hear if/how Work Chat interferes with your flow (aside from popups, which are definitely frustrating) once your popup situation is resolved.

I am definitely NOT dismissing your feelings! I am sincerely interested in understanding why people are so desperate to disable something that, to me, is barely noticeable.

To articulate then....
MOST IMPORTANT: It's fundamentally become harder to share notes and notebooks rather than easier. My recipients have gone from being able to collaborate with me within seconds to calling me up and asking me what they are supposed to do with this chat thing.
Another chat is not needed. I use iMessage, Text, What's app, Skype etc.
It clutters Evernote. One of the strengths was that it was a clean, simple interface. Adding anything that take away from that reduces this experience
You've replaced something very good with a much poorer UX. I.e. removing the simple way of emailing a note - something that just worked well with something that just isn't clear how it's working
It forces people down a path which they neither need to go nor want to go. This approach simply alienates users.
It's intrusive.
It's neither fish nor fowl. Tech works best when a function is absolutely clear. In Work Chats bumpf it's described as 'kind of a chat way of sharing' (my translation of your words). Let sharing be sharing. Let chat be chat.
Hope that helps.

Please, please kill it and restore the ease of sharing that was there before for notes and notebooks. Email is old and not a great platform, but so universal, even my 80 year old technophobe friends can use it. They'll never ever be able to use Work Chat.

This times 1000!

I keep very sensitive, private information in Evernote. Sensitive to the point that if I ever accidentally shared it, I could be financially ruined for life. I've taken great effort to encrypt and lock down access to my notes for this very reason. Just seeing a share button gives me the heebie jeebies , and seeing the chat button makes me jump out of my skin ( figuratively ).

I jumped on Evernote bandwagon whole hog last year and meticulously scanned and tagged all of my financial and medical documents into it. I trusted it, and I expect it to continue to be trustworthy by not making it easy to share things if that is not the user's intention.

Please give me the option to turn disable and remove any sharing options from the user interface so that I don't need to check each button press several times to make sure I don't accidentally compromise sensitive data.

Regards,

Loyal Evernote user who is now considering moving to a less "share-friendly" platform.

TIddly27 · February 7, 2015

One thing to understand, if you pay for business evernote, you can basically work like the old evernote. That is to say you can easily share notes via email.

This is what we had to do. We were also having lots of sync and other problems, which magically went away once we paid for the business version.

Just to say, we were premium members before we went with the business version.

royleen · February 8, 2015

Agree that Work Chat is a pain. Want to be able to email a note and not use Work Chat at all.

jefito · February 8, 2015

Emailing a note, at least in the Windows Evernote client, still works and is not that difficult to access, and you don't need Work Chat to do it.

With respect to "share-friendly", some users are saying that it's now too hard to share with Evernote, and now someone is saying it's too easy? Makes me think that that Evernote is somewhere near the sweet spot...

bojack · February 8, 2015

The screen on my phone is scarce real estate. I do not use Work Chat. Nor does anyone else I'd ever communicate with. I'd like the option to take it off my scren. Stop being smug and do what the customers are asking you to do.

mrgoerend · February 8, 2015

Emailing a note, at least in the Windows Evernote client, still works and is not that difficult to access, and you don't need Work Chat to do it.

With respect to "share-friendly", some users are saying that it's now too hard to share with Evernote, and now someone is saying it's too easy? Makes me think that that Evernote is somewhere near the sweet spot...

Emailing a note in the Mac client is no longer accessible through the "share" icon on the note itself. You have to go up to the toolbar, click Note, click More sharing, click Email (at the bottom of the list).

People without business accounts should not be subjected to Work Chat. It's not explicitly clear what my recipients will see when I share a note via Work chat. Will the note only be accessible on the web app? Will they get an email about my sharing the note? When sharing to someone like my wife who only uses Evernote when I share a note with her, will she have to log in to Evernote to get my Work chat -- in other words, will I have to send another message to her letting her know I've sent her a message via Evernote?

I have used Work chat three times to test it out. My recipients have not received a message (at least not one we can find) any of the times.

To reiterate, if it was clear what Work Chat actually does, I may be more apt to use it. As of now, it a) hasn't worked when I've tried it and b ) isn't clear what it actually does.

jefito · February 8, 2015

People without business accounts should not be subjected to Work Chat. It's not explicitly clear what my recipients will see when I share a note via Work chat. Will the note only be accessible on the web app? Will they get an email about my sharing the note? When sharing to someone like my wife who only uses Evernote when I share a note with her, will she have to log in to Evernote to get my Work chat -- in other words, will I have to send another message to her letting her know I've sent her a message via Evernote?

Surely there's a viable case for normal Evernote (free and/or premium) to share notebooks without requiring a more costly Business account. In my case, I share notebooks between my work and personal accounts. Now, I don't need to engage in Work Chat with myself when I use shared notebooks with myself (and presumably you could share a note with your wife using the share-by-email facility, as onerous as people seem to believe it is to use it). In fairness, I don't see Work Chat as being as well-explained as it ought to be, and I'm guessing it's not as fully baked as Evernote intends it to be. But I do see utility in being able to have the ability to have discussion about shared notes and notebooks among collaborators, and have it be captured by Evernote as a context for that shared collaboration.

mrgoerend · February 8, 2015

People without business accounts should not be subjected to Work Chat. It's not explicitly clear what my recipients will see when I share a note via Work chat. Will the note only be accessible on the web app? Will they get an email about my sharing the note? When sharing to someone like my wife who only uses Evernote when I share a note with her, will she have to log in to Evernote to get my Work chat -- in other words, will I have to send another message to her letting her know I've sent her a message via Evernote?
Surely there's a viable case for normal Evernote (free and/or premium) to share notebooks without requiring a more costly Business account. In my case, I share notebooks between my work and personal accounts. Now, I don't need to engage in Work Chat with myself when I use shared notebooks with myself (and presumably you could share a note with your wife using the share-by-email facility, as onerous as people seem to believe it is to use it). In fairness, I don't see Work Chat as being as well-explained as it ought to be, and I'm guessing it's not as fully baked as Evernote intends it to be. But I do see utility in being able to have the ability to have discussion about shared notes and notebooks among collaborators, and have it be captured by Evernote as a context for that shared collaboration.

I've shared notebooks in Evernote for years without Work Chat and it has worked just fine. Now, the only way to share notebooks is confusing and a bit like working in the dark with just a flashlight.

As I noted, "I have used Work chat three times to test it out. My recipients have not received a message (at least not one we can find) any of the times."

I could see some utility in Work Chat working as Evernote (seems to?) envision it. But, for me, it's literally a button in my UI that does not work. I would like to remove it -- especially on iOS where it sits much too close to the new note button.

Work Chat is not going to make me quit using Evernote -- though it has made it harder for me to do some things I'm used to doing in Evernote. This thread was started asking for a way to turn off Work Chat. I would like that very much.

inconsequentia · February 11, 2015

This thread was started 96 days ago. That Evernote has paid absolutely zero attention to this issue since is, I think, all you need to know about where there priorities lie, and it's not with their users.

Would explain why they go out of their way to be so opaque and unreachable.

Metrodon · February 11, 2015

This thread was started 96 days ago. That Evernote has paid absolutely zero attention to this issue since is, I think, all you need to know about where there priorities lie, and it's not with their users.

Would explain why they go out of their way to be so opaque and unreachable.

Simply not true - there is a whole thread pinned to the top of this forum about Work Chat that includes a number of contributions from Evernote on this subject - https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/72556-introducing-work-chat/

Whether you like what they are doing or not, you can't accuse them of not being engaged.

inconsequentia · February 11, 2015

This thread was started 96 days ago. That Evernote has paid absolutely zero attention to this issue since is, I think, all you need to know about where there priorities lie, and it's not with their users.

Would explain why they go out of their way to be so opaque and unreachable.

Simply not true - there is a whole thread pinned to the top of this forum about Work Chat that includes a number of contributions from Evernote on this subject - https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/72556-introducing-work-chat/

Whether you like what they are doing or not, you can't accuse them of not being engaged.

Fair enough, I’ll admit I haven’t noticed that.

However you'll notice that in their interactions, the idea of letting users disable Work Chat is off limits. It’s not even mentioned.

Metrodon · February 11, 2015

As I said, whether you like what they are doing or not...

They are also not stopping you from discussing disabling Work Chat - whether they ever go ahead and do so is another matter. In the end, how much pain is it really causing? You can still use a public link, you can still email a note and you can still share a notebook. The notebook sharing might (in some people's opinion) become horribly clunky but it's still there.

Bigger problems in the world of Evernote I reckon....

inconsequentia · February 11, 2015

They are also not stopping you from discussing disabling Work Chat

How charitable.

Bigger problems in the world of Evernote I reckon....

Must be. A broken implementation of a feature that has loyal users decamping to OneNote can’t be that bad at all.

Metrodon · February 11, 2015

They are also not stopping you from discussing disabling Work Chat

How charitable.

Bigger problems in the world of Evernote I reckon....

Must be. A broken implementation of a feature that has loyal users decamping to OneNote can’t be that bad at all.

I'm pretty sure they aren't a charity.

How many users decamping to OneNote?

How many have they added because people (for whatever reason) like the idea of Work Chat?

I'd avoid getting carried away by the conversation that about a dozen people are having on here and then assuming that it applies to 100m+ users.

For what it's worth and for me Work Chat is completely pointless and it seems pretty badly implemented too. But if I don't use it, it doesn't do me any harm. Things that do harm me are sync problems, scaling problems and data loss issues, these are all things that I consider more important than whether I like a button on a toolbar or not.

inconsequentia · February 11, 2015

They are also not stopping you from discussing disabling Work Chat

How charitable.

Bigger problems in the world of Evernote I reckon....

Must be. A broken implementation of a feature that has loyal users decamping to OneNote can’t be that bad at all.

I'm pretty sure they aren't a charity.

How many users decamping to OneNote?

I was referring to how gracious they are by allowing me to discuss something.

About 136.

Burnett · February 17, 2015

I echo most all the comments in here. Work Chat is not only a fail, it has caused great frustration trying to share notes with new users. What I used to easily be able to do has now become a complex multi-step process that is non-intuitive. I am really growing frustrated with the increasing difficulty doing the things that made me chose Evernote. I share notes - and it is now difficult to do that. I don't chat, don't want chat, don't use chat. I'm considering alternatives as Evernote is drifting away from the things I need it for.

thecakeisalie · February 20, 2015

I am a premium member who is starting to dislike how bloated evernote is becoming. The work chat is clutter that I don't appreciate and want to turn off. I have umpteen million ways to chat on a computer and having one more that is late also very to the party is more annoying than helpful. Bloat like that should be able to be turned off. You have already added so much mobile app that its core usability is getting dragged down, and then you decided to add an IM feature too.

It is your app... and you are free to kluge it up however you wish. I was a very happy user for a few years... but now it looks like it is time to find cleaner more effective tool for my notes.

trishg · February 20, 2015

I mostly use Evernote for my own work and personal use, but I occasionally want to share a note. It's beyond annoying that I can't share a note without the bleeping work chat window popping up. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let us disable this aggravating feature.

And I'm a Premium User.

AndyDent · February 23, 2015

Work Chat shouldn't really even be in your way if you never need it.

It's in my way because it's stopping me sharing a notebook. Sharing request delivery is via Work Chat and there is no way to send them any other way but it is not delivering them.

I'm a professional software developer with over 30 years experience including a large portion of that in products used by tens of thousands of users around the world. There have been a couple of times in my years of using Evernote where I've felt a loss of quality and focus - things have been allowed to escape into the wild well before they are ready and the consumer experience has really sucked as a result.

This is starting to feel like a dark time and that the people pushing business and chat are spoiling the product.

jefito · February 23, 2015

Work Chat shouldn't really even be in your way if you never need it.

It's in my way because it's stopping me sharing a notebook. Sharing request delivery is via Work Chat and there is no way to send them any other way but it is not delivering them.

So are you objecting to Work Chat, or to bugs in its current implementation? As a software dev, you'll know that there is a difference...

edit: Er, that seems a bit snarky, which I didn't intend. Just to be clearer, in a topic that seems to be mainly about displeasure with the design (which is entirely valid), you seem to be objecting instead to a problem with the implementation of the notification system used by Work Chat, which is a different matter, as you'd understand, being a developer of some experience (being one of similar experience, judging by your precis, I prefer clarity in my bug reports). Of course, you might be objecting to both (also valid), but while the design might not be optimal for you and others, but sharing otherwise works, a flaw in the notification system means that sharing doesn't work, which is more serious in my eyes.

richmondcharles · February 25, 2015

Another premium user who would like to turn off work chat - it actively makes my life worse.

It's like evernote has abandoned what it was good at, and decided to imitate Microfts decent into over featured under functional buggy kludge ware

And my problems used to be responded to in days. Now its weeks. So much for premium customer service. I wouldnt mind so much if the deluge of bugs didn't make it necessary.

And search, which I care the most about? Going downhill. Any worse and it's useless.

It's like evernote wants to be the myspace of it's field

cygnoir · March 3, 2015

I am a premium user who would like the ability to turn off Work Chat. Sharing worked great before Work Chat; now I have to go searching through menus just to find the "email note" button. Please, Evernote, listen to your users.

mdk1 · March 4, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable. I'd like the option to turn it off, but give me a break. You act like it's attempting to eat the food out of your refrigerator. That being said, the content in my Evernote is private and I have almost no use for sharing my notes. I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

I'm a premium Evernote user and absolutely love it, but the day they step beyond the Work Chat icon add Facebook/Twitter integration, I'm gone. I don't want that social media nonsense polluting my valuable notes.

inconsequentia · March 4, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable.

And you know this because you are the supreme arbiter of human emotions or because anyone who feels differently than you or outside of the bounds that you define as reasonable is wrong?

Point is, you're stating as fact something that you cannot possibly know.

mdk1 · March 5, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable.

And you know this because you are the supreme arbiter of human emotions or because anyone who feels differently than you or outside of the bounds that you define as reasonable is wrong?

Point is, you're stating as fact something that you cannot possibly know.

Correct. I, in fact, do know that if a tiny icon ruins your life, you've got a huge first world problem and are already a basket case.

jefito · March 5, 2015

OK, let's calm down the rhetoric a little bit. Please feel free to read the forum code of conduct before you take this much further. Thank you.

dbvirago · March 5, 2015

Another vote to turn off or disable workchat. It takes up valuable space, especially on my phone and tablet. Just went to email a picture I took and found out when I got a reply that I had accidentally sent it via workchat. On the 2nd attempt, I saw that when I went to email, half the screen on my phone was taken up with the workchat option and I must have hit that without realizing it. I don't collaborate. I don't chat. I don't want to use it or see it.

On the second attempt, I did my best to choose email and after I sent it, there is a little chat looking window that says Take a Look at this note, so I don't know if I emailed it or not.

Short term solution is I won't be using email in Evernote from my phone.

edit 3: I went back in to the picture I was trying to email from my phone. I clicked on the menu and selected Email a copy. The chat window opens up. I sent it myself to make sure. The note I got said, "Darryl Brooks is using chat to share work with you. Click below to read and reply to this chat."

Then I had the option to open the note in Evernote to view it and reply. Since that user didn't have an account they would have to open an account to view the note.

At this point I have no idea how to send an email via Evernote on my phone.

GrumpyMonkey · March 6, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable. I'd like the option to turn it off, but give me a break. You act like it's attempting to eat the food out of your refrigerator. That being said, the content in my Evernote is private and I have almost no use for sharing my notes. I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

I'm a premium Evernote user and absolutely love it, but the day they step beyond the Work Chat icon add Facebook/Twitter integration, I'm gone. I don't want that social media nonsense polluting my valuable notes.

Don't they already have social media integrations? You seem to have stuck around longer than you intended

Personally, I liked the original anti-social network approach to building an external brain. I don't collaborate with Evernote. I don't do the Facebook. I don't tweet my notes. Some of us have questioned the path Evernote embarked on when it started adding all of this sharing stuff. However, judging by the people I see around me every day, the sharing is probably helping them grow the user base, so we may need to just put up with it. The more revenue Evernote has, the more potential there is for it to meet the needs of private, external brain users as well.

CalS · March 6, 2015

To email a note from the iPhone,

When in the note, press the three dots on the bottom right of the screen
Press Share
Press Mail
Enter the address and whatever else.

No chat anywhere in the neighborhood with the above.

dbvirago · March 6, 2015

When in Android, (EN version 6.4.1) you press the three dots on the upper right.

There are two relevant options, Email a copy (and I stress the word email) and Share

Share brings up two options, Share Note and Share Public Link. The 2nd one obviously isn't it, so I try the first one, This brings up the aforementioned chat window, with suggested chats.

Email a copy brings up the same chat window as above.

In both cases, if I enter an email address in the To field and hit send, it creates a chat, not an email.

Next to the three dots there is new style share icon, which brings up the same chat window. Nowhere is there the sideways Y looking share icon that used to exist.

If I open up a photo I shot in EN, not the note, but the photo itself, I can find the old share button, but I can't find anywhere in any note the option to email the note.

The recipient gets a notification to log into Evernote to view the note. Outside of an environment where people are collaborating using Evernote, this is completely useless.

mdk1 · March 6, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable. I'd like the option to turn it off, but give me a break. You act like it's attempting to eat the food out of your refrigerator. That being said, the content in my Evernote is private and I have almost no use for sharing my notes. I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

I'm a premium Evernote user and absolutely love it, but the day they step beyond the Work Chat icon add Facebook/Twitter integration, I'm gone. I don't want that social media nonsense polluting my valuable notes.

Don't they already have social media integrations? You seem to have stuck around longer than you intended

Personally, I liked the original anti-social network approach to building an external brain. I don't collaborate with Evernote. I don't do the Facebook. I don't tweet my notes. Some of us have questioned the path Evernote embarked on when it started adding all of this sharing stuff. However, judging by the people I see around me every day, the sharing is probably helping them grow the user base, so we may need to just put up with it. The more revenue Evernote has, the more potential there is for it to meet the needs of private, external brain users as well.

If Facebook/Twitter nonsense is currently integrated, it's well hidden and buried - nothing like the silly Work Chat icon that nobody uses.

ScottLougheed · March 7, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable. I'd like the option to turn it off, but give me a break. You act like it's attempting to eat the food out of your refrigerator. That being said, the content in my Evernote is private and I have almost no use for sharing my notes. I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

I'm a premium Evernote user and absolutely love it, but the day they step beyond the Work Chat icon add Facebook/Twitter integration, I'm gone. I don't want that social media nonsense polluting my valuable notes.

Don't they already have social media integrations? You seem to have stuck around longer than you intended

Personally, I liked the original anti-social network approach to building an external brain. I don't collaborate with Evernote. I don't do the Facebook. I don't tweet my notes. Some of us have questioned the path Evernote embarked on when it started adding all of this sharing stuff. However, judging by the people I see around me every day, the sharing is probably helping them grow the user base, so we may need to just put up with it. The more revenue Evernote has, the more potential there is for it to meet the needs of private, external brain users as well.

If Facebook/Twitter nonsense is currently integrated, it's well hidden and buried - nothing like the silly Work Chat icon that nobody uses.

Share>Post Public Link To>Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn.

Never ever have I used that feature.

dbvirago · March 9, 2015

I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

But that's the problem, it does interfere with that. I have found no way to email a note from my Android. On the Windows interface it's pretty non-invasive, but on the phone and tablet, it interferes quite a bit. I don't personally know anyone who used EN, and now I can't share notes with them on the fly from my phone.

jefito · March 9, 2015

I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

But that's the problem, it does interfere with that. I have found no way to email a note from my Android. On the Windows interface it's pretty non-invasive, but on the phone and tablet, it interferes quite a bit. I don't personally know anyone who used EN, and now I can't share notes with them on the fly from my phone.

In Android -- at least in the 6.4.1 beta 2 version that I'm running -- I can open up a note, open the "..." menu, and select "Send a copy", which will prompt me for an email and a message. This will sens a rendered copy of the note to an email address, and you don't need Evernote to be able to read it.

dbvirago · March 9, 2015

I'm on 6.4.1 and there is no "Send a copy." I would think "Email a copy" would mean what it says, but it doesn't.

Check for updates is greyed out.

jefito · March 9, 2015

I'm on 6.4.1 and there is no "Send a copy." I would think "Email a copy" would mean what it says, but it doesn't.

Check for updates is greyed out.

I think that you needed to have joined the Android beta program for more recent releases than 6.4.1. And, per recent forum announcements, that's in some flux at the moment.

Theresa Pittappilly · March 9, 2015

Hi everyone - the above behavior is a bug. I'm sorry that you're hitting this. The next update has the fix in. The work around till then is to press and hold on the note list. In that menu you should see the option to send a copy of the note.

dbvirago · March 9, 2015

That worked. Thanks

WillBellJr · March 10, 2015

Hi everyone - the above behavior is a bug. I'm sorry that you're hitting this. The next update has the fix in. The work around till then is to press and hold on the note list. In that menu you should see the option to send a copy of the note.

Hi Theresa, while you folks are at it, can you add an option that hides the Work Chat button - really appreciate it?

Thanks! ...And take care, now!

-Will

TdeV · March 10, 2015

I've been trying to get my Dad to use Evernote and he's an old guy. And I have another elderly client who rarely uses her Evernote.

THE WORK CHAT IS TOTALLY ANNOYING.

I can't believe having to try and work around what keeps popping up in yer face!

dbvirago · March 11, 2015

OK, I have the new version and now I can email notes, if I dig for it. The default 'sharing' mode is still chat. I can email, if I click More sharing and choose Send a copy. How about poll your users and determine which method is used more often?

If EN is going to continue forcing collaboration, sharing, chat, etc., I will be looking for a new solution.

Since the Windows version still functions in a way that still works for me, I for one, will not accept any further upgrades until I have vetted them on these forums.

dbvirago · March 11, 2015

Grabbed my tablet, hoping it was still on an older version, but first note I tapped on, I get "Use Chat to Share this note". I DON'T WANT TO USE CHAT TO SHARE MY NOTES. Forcing these changes on us is unacceptable. All of your users don't use EN for collaboration, yet you are developing as if that is the case.

Moving back to IQTell for the Androids. Hopefully, I can prevent the Win version from upgrading. My fault for not disabling upgrades on my phone and tablet.

Theresa Pittappilly · March 11, 2015

Grabbed my tablet, hoping it was still on an older version, but first note I tapped on, I get "Use Chat to Share this note". I DON'T WANT TO USE CHAT TO SHARE MY NOTES. Forcing these changes on us is unacceptable. All of your users don't use EN for collaboration, yet you are developing as if that is the case.

Moving back to IQTell for the Androids. Hopefully, I can prevent the Win version from upgrading. My fault for not disabling upgrades on my phone and tablet.

The pop-up you saw was meant to be educational and only shown once. If you're seeing that pop-up more than once per device please let me know and we'll investigate why that is happening.

OK, I have the new version and now I can email notes, if I dig for it. The default 'sharing' mode is still chat. I can email, if I click More sharing and choose Send a copy. How about poll your users and determine which method is used more often?

If EN is going to continue forcing collaboration, sharing, chat, etc., I will be looking for a new solution.

Since the Windows version still functions in a way that still works for me, I for one, will not accept any further upgrades until I have vetted them on these forums.

- It is after looking at usage stats that we decided to simplify by combining all the sharing options into the sharing screen that you saw. We don't mean to be forcing collaboration - for people who want to share, we wanted to provide the best way to do that. For users who don't want to send the latest version of their note, they can continue to share a static version of their notes by e-mailing a copy.

dbvirago · March 11, 2015

Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't meant that the pop-up was re-occurring, just that it was too late to stop the updates.

IMO, it's not simplified or combined. On the main note screen, there is a share icon for those who want to share. Then you click on the three dot menu and there is second option to share. Then you click on more sharing and there is a third option to share, below which is the option to send a copy, which means email. Yes, you've made it very simple for users who collaborate with other users via sharing and chat. For those of us individual users such as myself, emailing a note is not so simple. If send to contact meant send to contact that would be one thing, but it sends them something they can't use unless they have an EN account which includes on one I work with.

3 options to chat and one buried, poorly names option to email doesn't appear to be simple to me. It was simple before. The Windows version is simple with the Email link on my toolbar.

WillBellJr · March 12, 2015

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable. I'd like the option to turn it off, but give me a break. You act like it's attempting to eat the food out of your refrigerator. That being said, the content in my Evernote is private and I have almost no use for sharing my notes. I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

I'm a premium Evernote user and absolutely love it, but the day they step beyond the Work Chat icon add Facebook/Twitter integration, I'm gone. I don't want that social media nonsense polluting my valuable notes.

Frankly, I wouldn't bother to even post here, if I didn't feel strongly about the simple ability to remove the damn button off the screen, so no, I'm not exaggerating, but thanks for telling us what we're doing.

Funny though that you pop in stating that WC doesn't bother you, but if you see Facebook, you're "gone" - well you must be exaggerating, because FB doesn't bother me at all since there isn't a FB button that I'll never use that I have to stare at every second I use the program.

I always find it funny to see someone step into a thread, totally put down what everyone else is saying, but then post what they want from a position of higher authority...

-Will

inconsequentia · March 12, 2015

As the thread starter and someone who’s been very vocal about the inconveniences caused by this feature, I want to take the time to acknowledge that Evernote 6.0.7 for Mac solves my problem. The toolbar can now be customized, meaning I can remove the Work Chat button and never see it again.

Thanks for listening, Evernote.

flyklr · March 12, 2015

inconsequentia beat me to it. I also, removed "Work Chat" from the menu on the new Mac version, and from the Home Screen on my iPhone. There's still a small icon at the top of the phone app, but overall I'm impressed that Evernote did listen and made these changes based on user feedback.

Thanks!

WillBellJr · March 12, 2015

As the thread starter and someone who’s been very vocal about the inconveniences caused by this feature, I want to take the time to acknowledge that Evernote 6.0.7 for Mac solves my problem. The toolbar can now be customized, meaning I can remove the Work Chat button and never see it again.

Thanks for listening, Evernote.

Based on your post, I checked my desktop version as well, yes, I was able to drag the WC icon off the toolbar (I also dragged up the Email icon...)

So yes, thanks EN for making the desktop app configurable.

Thing is I never hardly notice the WC icon on my desktop version since I use it rarely and my screen is so large. It's my Android app where all my vocal complaints are coming from - I use that daily at work (I see my Andriod app is still at v5.8x.)

Well hopefully EN is listening and maybe soon, we'll have an option for removing the WC icon off the mobile screen as well.

-Will

mdk1 · March 14, 2015

Hey all you first-world complainers. They sure did update the Mac client so that you can customize the toolbar, and even remove the Work Chat icon entirely. Now you'll have to move onto something else to complain about.

mdk1 · March 14, 2015

Hey, that's Robert Dunder! I would never close a door on him. On you, though, absolutely.

People here are greatly exaggerating how Work Chat is making their lives miserable. I'd like the option to turn it off, but give me a break. You act like it's attempting to eat the food out of your refrigerator. That being said, the content in my Evernote is private and I have almost no use for sharing my notes. I'll occasionally email a note, but Work Chat does not interfere with that in any way.

I'm a premium Evernote user and absolutely love it, but the day they step beyond the Work Chat icon add Facebook/Twitter integration, I'm gone. I don't want that social media nonsense polluting my valuable notes.

Frankly, I wouldn't bother to even post here, if I didn't feel strongly about the simple ability to remove the damn button off the screen, so no, I'm not exaggerating, but thanks for telling us what we're doing.

Funny though that you pop in stating that WC doesn't bother you, but if you see Facebook, you're "gone" - well you must be exaggerating, because FB doesn't bother me at all since there isn't a FB button that I'll never use that I have to stare at every second I use the program.

I always find it funny to see someone step into a thread, totally put down what everyone else is saying, but then post what they want from a position of higher authority...

-Will

Streetmentioner · March 14, 2015

Hey all you first-world complainers. They sure did update the Mac client so that you can customize the toolbar, and even remove the Work Chat icon entirely. Now you'll have to move onto something else to complain about.

Whoa, not so fast there soldier. We've been able to dump it off the toolbar in Windows for weeks. The issue with many of us is that on iOS and Android tablets, where screen space is so much more valuable, it cannot yet be removed. In iOS it's a minor irritation because it hijacks the share button but in Android it takes up a huge chunk of screen and is prominently placed above "All Notes". So the first world complaining goes on, deal with it - which is more than Evernote support are doing with this issue.

bojack · March 14, 2015

I was just able to take it off the Evernote home screen on my iPhone. Thank you, Evernote peeps, for makiing that possible.

TIddly27 · March 14, 2015

Hey all you first-world complainers. They sure did update the Mac client so that you can customize the toolbar, and even remove the Work Chat icon entirely. Now you'll have to move onto something else to complain about.

There is still plenty to complain about :>(

Frank.dg · March 14, 2015

I was just able to take it off the Evernote home screen on my iPhone. Thank you, Evernote peeps, for makiing that possible.

Actually, the only way to get rid of the Work Chat icon at the top of the home screen on iOS is to customize your home screen and include a Work Chat section of its own. It's one or the other.

TommyR · April 22, 2015

I just upgraded to premium, and suddenly I have work chat popping up everywhere. Reading this forum, it is apparent that this CANNOT be turned off on Mac client. That sucks. I work alone and have no use of chat. I may cancel my premium account and go back to the free one w/o Chat.

TommyR · April 22, 2015

I just upgraded to premium, and suddenly I have work chat popping up everywhere. Reading this forum, it is apparent that this CANNOT be turned off on Mac client. That sucks. I work alone and have no use of chat. I may cancel my premium account and go back to the free one w/o Chat.

c_t · April 22, 2015

Sadly, I'm another premium user who really dislikes the current sharing model. I use a workaround on the Mac client that helps a little: Keyboard shortcut to "Email a Copy..." returns the earlier behavior, and avoids inadvertently sharing or "chatting".

The current Mac EN version of the clear in-note window "Share" button only offers Work Chat, but with email addresses (hey, how about you only show work chat for people with EN accounts, and Email to otherwise, because it's really misleading as is). That means it's very easy to fail to send a note that you think you've sent, as others in this thread have mentioned.

So, I do not just want the ability to remove the chat icon from the top toolbar (which I did ASAP). I want

1) The option to disable Chat on all of my EN clients and get the screen space back

2) The ability to replace the in-note Share button/dropdown with an email button (or make it point directly to "Email a Copy...")

or

3) Failing item 2, a way to remove the "Share" button/dropdown from the in-note window icons (currently reminder, present, annotate, info, trash, giant share). As long as I'm dreaming, I'd love for that toolbar to be configurable, also.

This isn't petty design grousing. The change has caused problems in our workflow, whatever those who do not find it a problem may think. The people I am sharing my note with do not want to sign up for EN, nor do they want to click a separate link. Most of the purpose is so that they, too, have a record of our meeting, outcomes, tasks, etc. on their own system, so that when they search their own computers or email they find it. Yes, they *could* click a link, sign up for something, copy/download the note and file it. Or they could just leave it in their email as most of us do and find it when they search. I'm not going to ask colleagues and clients to spend yet more time on something that it doesn't, and shouldn't, need.

I'm sad to see that apparently I only ever post when I hate something - I still miss EN3. I really do, in general, love evernote, and I advocate for others to use it. But I'm doing less of that now, and much of that has to do with the bloat. I still use it, I still love it (and I love that I can now clip into EN on iOS).

Caroline

(edit - typos)

SilverSTreak · April 26, 2015

I am with the "I won't need/use chat feature", and I am even OK with the button being there. It is the annoying pop-ups wanting me to try it that are my problem. I am already close to not running evernote automatically on my desktop and will likely do so if there isn't a way to configure to at least stop the popups, or better yet, disable chat altogether...

Frank.dg · April 27, 2015

@SilverSTreak... like the name. Are we throwing way, way back to the Golden Age comics hero of the same name?

How to Turn Off Work Chat?

Recommended Posts

inconsequentia 35

Link to comment

jefito 5,589

Link to comment

inconsequentia 35

Link to comment

WillBellJr 4

Link to comment

Grant Z 7

Link to comment

NightStalker 407

Link to comment

Streetmentioner 9

Link to comment

ScottLougheed 1,316

Link to comment

CMLondon 0

Link to comment

rltidd27 4

Link to comment

ScottLougheed 1,316

Link to comment

rltidd27 4

Link to comment

ScottLougheed 1,316

Link to comment

flyklr 4

Link to comment

jefito 5,589

Link to comment

skkippy 12

Link to comment

rltidd27 4

Link to comment

ScottLougheed 1,316

Link to comment

TIddly27 39

Link to comment

CBColem 0

Link to comment

marepinta 17

Link to comment

ScottLougheed 1,316

Link to comment

Streetmentioner 9

Link to comment

marepinta 17

Link to comment

marepinta 17

Link to comment

ScottLougheed 1,316

Link to comment

mrgoerend 89

Link to comment

Oliver W 9

Link to comment

inconsequentia 35

Link to comment

Oliver W 9

Link to comment

inconsequentia 35

Link to comment

arrrrrrrgus 2

Link to comment

Streetmentioner 9

Link to comment

Streetmentioner 9

Link to comment

Metrodon 2,184

Link to comment

WillBellJr 4

Link to comment

ZRBW 1

Link to comment

fredhammersmith 53

Link to comment

dCole 2

Link to comment