Import your Evernote notes

Nothing leaves your computer until you start the import. Eden reads the export where it is, shows you a summary, and only then uploads the notes you are about to import.

Export from Evernote first

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   Pick a notebook

   In Evernote, right-click a notebook in the sidebar and choose Export notebook. To export everything, do this for each notebook, or use Export all on the Mac app, which writes one file per notebook into a folder.

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   Choose the ENEX format

   Pick ENEX (not HTML or PDF) and keep tags and attachments turned on. Save the file somewhere you can find it.

What you get

• One Eden note per Evernote note. Headings, lists, checklists, tables, code blocks, quotes, and links all come across. Notes land in your Library only. No boards are created.
• Notebooks become tags. Every note gets its notebook's name as a tag, so a whole notebook is one click away in the Library. Stacks are not part of Evernote's export, so they cannot be used.
• Tags become Eden tags. Every tag on a note becomes a workspace tag. A tag you already have in Eden is reused with its colour; new ones start out gray.
• Attachments ride along. Images are uploaded and shown in place. PDFs, audio, and other files are uploaded and linked from the note. An attachment the note never showed inline is listed at the end so nothing is lost.
• Links between notes are kept. A link to another note in the same export becomes a link to that note in Eden. Links to notes that are not in the export turn into plain text rather than broken links.
• Web clips keep their source. A clipped page gets a Source line at the bottom pointing back to the original address.
• Dates are kept. Each note keeps the date it was created in Evernote, so old notes land in the right place in your Library timeline.

Run the import

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   Go to Settings → Import

   Click Import from Evernote on the Evernote card.
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   Choose your export

   Click Choose .enex files and pick one or more exports. You can also choose the folder Evernote wrote them into, drag the files onto the window, or choose a zip of them.

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   Check the summary

   Eden shows how many notes, notebooks, tags, and attachments it found, and which tags it will create or reuse. On a repeat import it also says how many notes are new, changed, or already up to date.

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   Import

   Click Import. Keep the window open while it runs; exports with many images take a few minutes. When it finishes you see every tag with a count, and you can jump straight to the Library.

Running it again

Importing is safe to repeat. Evernote exports carry no hidden note id, so Eden remembers every note by its notebook, the date it was created, and its title. Running the import again:

• adds notes that are new in the export,
• updates notes you changed in Evernote, as long as you have not edited them in Eden since the last import,
• skips notes that have not changed, and
• keeps any note you edited in Eden exactly as it is. Your edits always win.

If you delete an imported note in Eden, the next import brings it back. To keep a note out for good, leave it out of the export.

Finding imported notes

In the Library, open the Filter menu and choose Evernote under Imports to see only imported notes, or pick one of the imported tags. Every imported note also carries Evernote as its source.

Removing everything

Changed your mind? On the Evernote card in Settings → Import, click Remove imported notes. Every imported note moves to Trash, where you can restore it for 30 days. The tags stay, since you may have used them on other items by then.

Good to know

• Spacing looks different. Evernote keeps empty lines as spacing; Eden's editor spaces paragraphs itself, so those blank lines are dropped on import. Blank lines inside code blocks are kept.
• Renamed notes import again. Because notes are remembered by title and creation date, a note you renamed in Evernote is treated as new on the next import. The old copy stays in Eden; delete it if you do not want both.
• Renamed notebooks import again. The same goes for a notebook you renamed, since the export file name is part of the memory.
• Very large notes are trimmed. A single note over roughly 180,000 characters is cut at that point with a marker.
• Very large exports. The import handles up to 5,000 notes at a time, files up to 800 MB each, and attachments up to 15 MB each. Export a huge notebook in pieces and import each one.
• Free plan item cap. Imported notes count toward the Free plan's item limit. The summary warns you when the export will not fit, and the import stops when the limit is reached; upgrade to continue.