How to export Evernote notes and move them to Barside

Evernote keeps your notes in its cloud, but its desktop app can export them as ENEX files, Evernote's own format. Barside reads ENEX files on your computer and turns each note into a Barside note, with its title, dates, formatting, pictures and tasks. This guide shows the export, the import, what changes, and how to move a large account calmly.

Before you start

Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac. Notes live in a library on your own computer, with no note limit and no device limit. It has notebooks-like workspaces, linked notes, checklists with due dates and reminders, a read-it-later inbox, web page saving, screen recording, and AI features that use your own AI account.

Plan two things:

• Export from the desktop app. Evernote Web cannot export, so install the Evernote desktop app and let it finish syncing.
• One ENEX file per notebook. Evernote exports up to 100 notes at a time or entire notebooks. Notebooks are the fastest route.

Step 1: Export from Evernote

These steps follow Evernote's help article, updated September 30, 2026. They are the same on Windows and Mac.

1. Open the Evernote desktop app.
2. Select a notebook, or the specific notes you want to export.
3. Right-click the selection and choose Export...
4. Choose ENEX as the format.
5. Check the attributes to include, such as tags and created date. Leave tags ticked to keep them.
6. Click Export. The file is saved to your desktop.
7. Repeat for each notebook.

Evernote lets you choose the maximum size of each ENEX file, between 300 MB and 2 GB. Barside reads ENEX files of up to 200 MB, so for notebooks with many attachments, export in smaller batches of notes.

Step 2: Import into Barside

1. Open Settings & backups → Notes from other apps → Import next to Import notes, or type import in the search bar.
2. Find Evernote and choose Choose .enex files. Select all your ENEX files at once.
3. Barside shows Ready to import: the number of notes and attachments, the first titles, and things to know, such as a file that is too large or attachments it cannot bring.
4. Under Import into, keep A new workspace (From Evernote) or choose an existing one.
5. Choose Import, then Open workspace when Your notes are here. appears.

If something fails partway, Barside removes what it added: an import is all or nothing.

What comes along, and what changes

Tasks from newer versions of Evernote, which are stored outside the note text, come back as checklists in the place they had. Every checklist item shows on Barside's task board, where you can add due dates and reminders.

A plan for a big Evernote account

1. Make a Barside backup with Export backup, so you can go back.
2. Export your three busiest notebooks and import them into one workspace each.
3. Work in Barside for a week. Learn the shortcuts on the Evernote keyboard shortcuts page.
4. Export the rest, notebook by notebook, and import them together.
5. Check the preview's list of attachments that were not imported, and add the important PDFs to their notes.
6. Keep Evernote read-only for a month, then downgrade or close it.

Barside imports up to 5,000 notes and 1 GB of files at a time. For more, import in rounds; importing the same file twice adds its notes twice, so keep track of what you have done.

If something looks wrong

• A file is skipped as too large. Barside reads ENEX files of up to 200 MB. Export that notebook again in batches of up to 100 notes, or lower the maximum file size in Evernote's export options.
• Some notes are missing. Check that the Evernote desktop app had finished syncing before you exported, and that you exported every notebook, including ones in stacks.
• A note looks different. Barside keeps formatting, lists, tables and pictures, but special Evernote blocks may arrive as plain text. Fix the few that matter by hand.
• An attachment is listed as not imported. Add the file to the note again; Barside shows PDF pages and keeps files in notes.

After the move

• Rebuild notebooks as workspaces. Barside's workspaces group notes by project, with a color each, and you can pin key notes to the top.
• Clip the web again. Barside saves web pages with their layout and images, and keeps articles in a Reading inbox with highlights.
• Search everything. The search bar finds notes by title and text, and Library AI search answers questions from your notes, citing them, with the AI you connect.
• Use templates. The template gallery has meeting notes, planners and trackers ready to open in Barside.

Evernote and Barside, side by side

Evernote syncs your notes to its cloud and to your phone, with a powerful web clipper, document scanning and AI features in its paid plans. Its free plan is limited to 50 notes and one notebook on one device; paid plans start with Evernote Starter. Barside keeps everything on your computer with no limits on notes, and it is free; the optional Barside Plus adds encrypted cloud backup and sync between computers. Barside has no phone app. The Evernote alternative guide compares the two in detail, and the best note-taking apps list shows other options.