How to export Evernote to Markdown (ENEX to .md)

To export Evernote to Markdown, export each notebook from the Evernote desktop app as an ENEX file, then convert the ENEX files with a free converter such as Yarle. Loam has no Evernote importer, so the conversion happens before you open the folder. Loam is our app, a free and open source Markdown notebook for Mac, and it opens any folder of Markdown files as a vault.

How do you export Evernote notes as ENEX?

ENEX is Evernote's export format. Export from the Evernote desktop app on Mac or Windows, because Evernote's pages say that exporting from the mobile app is limited. Evernote renames menu items between versions, so follow the labels your version shows.

• Select. Pick a notebook, or select notes. Hold Cmd on a Mac, or Ctrl on Windows, to select several.
• Export. Right-click the selection and choose Export. Some versions put the same command in the File menu.
• Choose ENEX. Pick ENEX as the format. The other formats are HTML.
• Choose what to keep. Evernote lets you pick which attributes go into the file, such as tags. Keep them.
• Save. Click Export and save the file.

Evernote's help center says one export covers up to 100 selected notes, or whole notebooks, and that a large ENEX file can be split by size, from 300 MB to 2 GB. Export one notebook per ENEX file and put all the files in one folder, because Yarle converts a single ENEX file or a folder of them. Evernote says ENEX keeps the structure of your notes, their tags, their metadata and their attachments.

How do you convert ENEX to Markdown with Yarle?

Yarle is a free converter from Evernote to Markdown, under the MIT license. Its README says it converts text, metadata such as creation and modification times, tags, location, notebook name and source URL, external and internal links, code blocks, inline images, attachments and web clips.

The README offers a download for Macs with Apple silicon, and builds for Windows and Linux. The first time on a Mac, right-click the app and open it from the menu, because Apple blocks apps downloaded from the internet. The README also links a fix for the case where macOS says the app is damaged. The app has a configuration panel for the main options.

To script the conversion, write a config file and run Yarle with npx. This config reads a folder of ENEX files and writes Markdown to another folder:

{
  "enexSources": ["/Users/you/Evernote-export"],
  "outputDir": "/Users/you/Notes-from-Evernote",
  "outputFormat": "StandardMD",
  "skipWebClips": false,
  "useHashTags": true,
  "addExtensionToInternalLinks": true
}

npx -p yarle-evernote-to-md@latest yarle --configFile ./config.json

Keep the output format on StandardMD. The ObsidianMD format writes links in Obsidian's style, such as ![[file-name]], and wikilinks are styled in Loam's editor but do not count for backlinks or renames. With addExtensionToInternalLinks on, links between notes end in .md, which is the form Loam tracks.

Three settings are worth knowing. Yarle's sample config sets skipWebClips to true, so set it to false if you want your web clips. With StandardMD, Evernote tasks become plain checkboxes and lose their reminders and due dates, the README says. And the default template writes each title as a # heading, the tags below it between two --- lines, and the creation and update times at the end of the note. A custom template changes that, and it can add the notebook name.

For tasks, the taskOutputFormat setting accepts ObsidianMD, which writes tasks for the Obsidian Tasks plugin and keeps more of them. Try it on a few notes and see whether the due dates come out as 📅 2026-11-20, the form Loam reads.

Sources: Yarle README: features, command line and configuration ↗ · Yarle: how to use templates ↗ · Evernote: how to export your notes ↗

How do you open the converted folder in Loam?

Loam has importers for Obsidian, Notion, Bear and Apple Notes, and none for Evernote. The last step is the one that works for any app that exports plain Markdown: a folder of .md files becomes a vault.

• Install Loam. One command does it, as shown in Install Loam.
• Copy the folder. Copy what Yarle wrote, so the converted files stay untouched.
• Open it. Choose Open Vault… from the File menu (Shift+Cmd+O), pick the folder and click Open.

cp -R ~/Notes-from-Evernote ~/Documents/Evernote-vault
open -a Loam --args --vault ~/Documents/Evernote-vault

The second command opens that folder when Loam starts, so quit Loam first. Loam keeps its own files in a hidden .loam/ folder at the root of the vault, and your notes stay as plain files where they are. See Your first vault.

Keep the ENEX files, and the folder Yarle wrote, until you have finished checking. They are your backup of the notes. If a setting turns out wrong, change it and convert again into an empty folder, then copy that folder in place of the first one.

What should you check after converting?

Links need the most care. If two notebooks hold notes with the same title, a link can end up pointing at the wrong note. Yarle's README suggests a fix: in each notebook, select all notes and create a note titled Table of Contents that links to them, export the notebook together with that note, then convert. In Evernote 10 and later, right-click the selected notes, choose Copy internal links, then Copy app links, and paste the result into that note.

Then test a few notes in Loam. Open one that links to another and list its backlinks with loam --vault ~/Documents/Evernote-vault notes.backlinks path=<note>. Loam uses standard Markdown links, such as [Plan](Projects/Plan.md), for backlinks and renames. A link that still points at Evernote stays an Evernote link, and the keepEvernoteLinkIfNoNoteFound setting keeps it on purpose.

Can Joplin convert ENEX to Markdown instead?

Yes. Joplin is a free, open source notes app with an ENEX importer. Choose File, then Import, then ENEX, and select one file or a folder of ENEX files. The notes land in a new notebook. Then export your notes in a Markdown format with File, then Export all, and open the exported folder in Loam the same way.

Pick Yarle for the shortest path from ENEX to Markdown files. Pick Joplin if you already use it, or if you want to look through your notes in an app before you export them. Both routes end in a folder of Markdown files, and our Loam vs Joplin page covers moving from Joplin to Loam.

Sources: Joplin docs: importing and exporting ↗

When is Evernote still the better choice?

Evernote is built for capture. If you rely on its web clipper or on email-in, or if you need Windows, Android or the web, Evernote is the better tool. Loam has no web clipper, runs on macOS 26 or later on Apple silicon, and has no mobile app. It suits notes you write and organize yourself, as files you own.

To weigh the two, read Loam vs Evernote and Best Evernote alternatives. If you are also leaving Notion, see How to export Notion to Markdown, and the Markdown cheat sheet explains the syntax in your converted notes.

Try Loam

Loam is free and open source, and one command installs it: see Install Loam. Convert one notebook first and open it as a vault to see how your notes look. For a side-by-side view of both apps, open the Evernote comparison or browse all comparisons.