I was a happy Evernote user for ten years. (Click on the Evernote tag below or search for the word Evernote above to read the articles I wrote about that.) It took me a little while to embrace Evernote. I think part of my problem was that I didn’t like the way it looked. But I got used to it and created a lot of notebooks for both my genealogy and my organizing business (and my life!). I kept my genealogy research log in Evernote.
I started with a free version, then moved to a $50 Premium version that allowed me access to my Evernote notebooks even when I was offline. The price was raised to $70 and I paid that for seven years. But then, after Evernote was sold, they raised the price to $130 a year. And they made the Free version all but useless.
I found that price hike egregious, so I decided to jump ship. I did a little research and opted to use Apple Notes, which came with my Mac and iPhone and is available at no additional cost. (I’m already paying extra to Apple for 2TB of iCloud storage space.)
It turns out that the process of transferring my data to Apple Notes isn’t difficult, but it has to be done a notebook at a time. I have 200 notebooks. So I’m working on it a few notebooks at a time. The process is easy. Here’s what I do on my laptop, using the Evernote app (not the website):
- Select a notebook to transfer
- Highlight all the notes in that notebook
- Click File, Export
- Select ENEX format and click Export
- Create a filename that matches the notebook name and click Save.
- Go to Apple Notes
- Click File, Import to Notes
- Select the file you just created, then click Import
- Rename the notebook from the default name Imported Notes
Then go to the next notebook.
I created a little screen share video for those who prefer to see these instructions in action.
It’s worth noting that I’m not transferring everything…there are notebooks that I really don’t need again. I’m making that evaluation as I go along. Little by little the transfer will get done. In the interim, I’m making sure to add all new notes in Apple Notes, not Evernote. Once the Evernote transition is complete, Apple Notes will be my comprehensive go-to repository of notes.
My understanding is that I can use my existing notebooks without paying. The free version limits me to one new notebook with 50 notes but I wouldn’t lose my current notes and I can export, delete and merge existing notes. However, I haven’t tested that because when I went to cancel I was repeatedly offered a lower price to stay on. So I accepted an offer of $65 (less than the $70 I was prepared to pay) for one last year. I figure it will give me some time to make this transfer without feeling any pressure or feeling like I’m shackled. The key, of course, is to keep chipping away at it and not wait until the end of the year to work on it.
It feels great not to have to budget money for what turned out to be a redundant app for me.
I made the swap from Evernote to Apple Notes at the end of last year and it’s worked well for me. I find Apple Notes easier to use and they have just the right level of features.
That’s great to hear, David. Thanks for commenting!
This is very timely since my subscription is due for renewal end of Apri. I have what they call a personal account costing £45 per year for 10GB though I very rarely use anything like that so I’m wondering whether I need it now.
Interesting to hear that you think Notes will do the same job as Evernote. I use Notes for basic things like quick research notes and found it works well generally – I’m not keen on their tables function though.
One question is whether you can use Notes to clip from a website like you can with evernote?
I don’t think that Notes has the webclipper feature that Evernote has. I’m hoping to do a deeper dive into Apple Notes this week and if I find out otherwise, I’ll comment here again!
Hello, I also am switching from Evernote to Apple Notes. Apple Notes does not have a Webclipper (you only can catch a website link). What I am planning to do is to keep the free Evernote version and its Webclipper. When I want to clip anything from the web I use the EN Webclipper, then open EN and export the note as an .enex file and then import that file into Apple Notes.
A bit of a lengthy workaround, but it is the best possible alternative to keeping everything in EN.
That’s a good workaround, Eric. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Eric for sharing this tip. It’s annoying we have to do multiple steps but at least there is a mechanism available.
Thanks for the post! I need to go back and retrieve my notes from Evernote. I had totally forgotten about it as I began using Apple Notes several years ago.
Glad to know you’re ahead of the curve in the Apple Notes transition, Roberta. Have you found Apple Notes to be a sufficient substitute for Evernote?
I’ve made the same decision to leave Evernote for the same reasons. To reassure you, I cancelled my paid account from two months ago. In the free version, I still have access to all my many Evernote notebooks for reference. I am limited to access on two devices, using my phone and PC. Note that this does mot include Web access.
I am now using Notion (free for personal use) for general notes and organisation, and currently using for Gnealogy notes too, though mainly work within my Family Historian program.
Thank you for that reassurance, Helen! Thanks for mentioning Notion. I haven’t explored it, mostly because I’m trying to resist the bright shiny object syndrome, but I should check it out one of these days.
I made the same decision to leave my paid Evernote plan and downgrade to a free plan, for just the same reasons. I switched to a free account 2 months ago. To reassure you, I still have access to all my notebooks for reference. I can only use 2 devices, I use phone and PC. No Web access. I switched to Notion (personal account is free) for general, organisation and Genealogy. Other options are Joplin and Microsoft notes if you microsoft plan, and don’t have Apple.
I switched to Apple Notes a few months ago for the same reason – a huge price increase! I’ve kept the free version of Evernote mostly for the web clipper which I really love.
Using your free version for the webclipper sounds like a great idea, Marg. I’m curious: after you’ve clipped something with the webclipper in Evernote, are you moving the note to Apple Notes? I think my concern would be the 50-note limit in the free version of Evernote.
Yes. I transfer the clipped notes to Apple Notes. I never let the clipped notes add up so the 50 note limit isn’t an issue for me.
In what way do you find that the NOTES applications help your genealogy file. It seems I have so many different applications to maintain.
For genealogy, I used Evernote primarily as my research log and for follow up notebooks. I can use Apple Notes for the same thing. But, of course, there’s no one right way to do this, so you should use the apps that work for you! (Here’s a blog post from 2016 about how I used Evernote. I’m using Apple Notes in the same way now, except that I’m not researching as much these days. https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/im-using-evernote-genealogy/. And here’s a more recent blog post about how I used it for follow-up notebooks. https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/follow-up-notebooks-to-the-rescue/
Perfect time, Janine, and thanks. I had a to-do on my calendar last Friday to compress my Evernote notebooks into one for the same reason…and haven’t done it yet. So far I haven’t been paying for icloud storage, but maybe it’s time. Apple Notes has come a long way in its features. Or I’ve come a long way in learning about them? I haven’t watched your video yet, but that’s where I’ll start.
I feel like Apple Notes has come a long way. Or maybe it’s just a shift in how I’ve been thinking about Apple Notes! It certainly looks better than it used to. (But so does Evernote!)
I have had Evernote for a long time and am wondering about changing to Apple Notes. I don’t have an apple computer, but have an iphone. Can I use Apple Notes on a Microsoft Computer?
If you store your the notes in the Notes app on your phone on iCloud, you can access them from your PC by going to iCloud.com in your web browser. My understanding is that One Note, which is a Microsoft app, is very comparable to Evernote. There’s a One Note iPhone app. So I think you’d get similar functionality to Evernote without the cost. But I’m not an expert on that so you’ll want to verify.
Thank you for this! I’ve been meaning to transfer my Evernote notes somewhere else. (I have a free account and so many notes that I can’t do anything without paying.) I was exploring Microsoft OneNote, but the program doesn’t import the exported enex files from Evernote without use of another program and I’m not sure it works on a Mac.
I’m so glad you found it helpful, Elizabeth!
Janine,
Thanks for the “heads up”. I haven’t realized the price increase for Evernote. I’m a PC user, is there a “notes” program recommendation for PCs?
Happy spring
Gwen
There’s One Note, though I don’t think it’s free. But I understand that it’s similar to Evernote. And there’s Google Keep, which is free. My husband says that Google Keep isn’t very robust.
Thank you for this article. I too abandoned the Evernote ship in January. I had been an Evernote user for everything since 2011 both paid and unpaid levels during that time. Then in January I was only allowed 50 notes as a free user, but had 2100 in countless notebooks. I signed up for 1 month of pro so I could get my notebooks off as PDF’s and haven’t looked back. What it made me acutely aware of is how at any time any apps or program, paid or unpaid, can change their user terms and potentially hold me hostage again. I’ve also become ware of how data-mined we are. Now, for my personal journaling, etc, I use Pages or an Google doc and when I’m finished writing I export as a PDF to my server and delete the content. It’s helped keep all my stuff in one spot too.
I’ve now cancelled my subscription and started moving the notebooks to Evernote. I was going around in circles trying to work out how to do this because, having selected the relevant notes, I couldn’t find the “export” function anywhere. Eventually I found out that you can only do the expert if you are using the App version of Evernote on your computer – I was using the browser version. All sorted now and I’ve been able to export several folders.
One thing I’ve only just discovered – any images I had dragged/dropped into a note, are not showing up in Evernote. There is just a paperclip icon but it won’t allow me to open that file or download it.
Thanks for sharing your discovery that you need to use the desktop app for Evernote, not the web version, to export the notes. I’ll edit the post accordingly.
The images aren’t showing up in Notes (not Evernote), is that correct? I have found the images that I exported from Evernote to Notes are showing up. I’m not sure how to troubleshoot that, though.
moving from Evernote to Notes is what I meant to say!
Thanks for the guidance Janine, I would like to give a small tip to the readers.
– You have to use Desktop App to be able to Export.
– If File > Export is not active, then right click then Export.
Afternoon. I’ve stuck with Evernote and prefer it over Apple Notes. Each to their own etc. Main reasons for me staying are:
1. Search. There is nothing that can search like Evernote. Handwriting in image files for example. Or text in photographs. The words are highlighted when found and you’re not just directed to a page containing a PDF
2. Web clipper. We all know this
3. Email addresses to receive and create notes
4. Price. I work in software dev and at some point people have to pay for the Devs work and time. I don’t think £80 a year or so is too much.
Thanks
Stuart
Easy. Thanks!