My procedure for exporting my Evernotes. Of all the options I’ve explored, Bear seems the most promising as it keeps the formatting and the attachments of the original note as well as the tags.

I’m all the more eager to migrate now that I find that Evernote, not content with p***ing me off with its latest version which no longer supports local (unsynced) notes and a whole host of other neat functions that disappeared in the latest “update” (I had to revert to the legacy version simply to be able to get my notes ready for export), now won’t let me even trash my notes if they have larger attachments than 24MB because I’m now back to the Free Evernote plan, having canceled my annual Premium membership. Can you believe it?

Anyhoo, here’s (for my benefit because I can’t remember anything from one day to the next) how to export your enex Evernote file and import into Bear for iOS (I don’t have a Mac). Once in Bear, you can export into Markdown for importing into other notetaking apps if desired. I’m about tuckered out already and I’ve only imported 3 notebooks into Bear (another 50 or so to go; might be finished by Christmas 2021). Here we go:

  1. Choose one Evernote notebook.
  2. Select all the notes in that notebook.
  3. Tag all the notes in that notebook with a new tag that is the name of that notebook. Update: the tag should not have spaces in it.

The .enex format does not include informations about your notebooks. If you want to keep the notebook name as a reference in Bear we suggest to add a tag to your notes in Evernote before exporting them.

Migrate from Evernote
  1. #4 (how do you change the numbering in a numbered list in Gutenberg?) Export the notebook as an .enex file. I save mine to the desktop.
  2. #5. My desktop pc is a Windoze, but Bear only works on Macs or iOS, so I need to get the .enex file into Bear on my iOS device. I’m on the free version of Bear so I cannot sync. I then copy it to a folder in Dropbox (I use a folder I created called “Inbox” but you can use any folder. Note to self: best to choose a folder that is near the top of your Dropbox pile so you don’t waste time looking for your enex file. You’re welcome. )
  3. #6 Access the .enex file from within my Files folder on my iOS device and download it (make sure your Dropbox or whatever cloud storage you are using to transfer your Evernote enex files appear in your “locations” in “Files”; if not – and at first, Dropbox did not appear in mine – you’ll need to add it: here are 2 links showing how to do that
    1. https://youtu.be/Pf5vNHigq0k
    2. How to add Dropbox to the Files app on your iPhone or iPad (2017, but the principles should be the same)
  4. #7 Open Bear, hit the “bead curtain” icon (settings, I guess) at the bottom and choose “Import & Export”.
  5. #8 Under “Select Format” choose “Evernote” then “Start Import”. It’ll open your Files folder. Navigate to the folder and file you want to import (I already downloaded it to Files so it’s all ready to go, otherwise it’ll have a little cloud icon in the top right-hand corner).
  6. #9 Tap the enex file you want to import and go make some coffee or pour yourself a glass of wine. It might take a while, depending on the size of the file. Or the size of your glass! Update: I tried and failed several times to import a large file (1GB+), until I read the helpful manual and made sure the enex file was already downloaded to my iPad from Dropbox BEFORE starting to import, and also leaving Bear open (not in background) until the importation was complete. (I left my iPad on overnight, plugged into power: next morning, “Import Succesful!”).