Following on from the recent Evernote password reset and my subsequent blog post on how to back your notes up to an ENEX file, I received lots of feedback asking how attachments could be accessed. The exported ENEX file does contain the attachments and these could be accessed by reimporting them in to Evernote. However, I used Justnotes to test the integrity of the ENEX backup and Justnotes is text based only.
Hence, to access those attachments without using Evernote you need to take a slightly different approach as follows:
Navigate to the "All Notes" View
Navigate to the All Notes view by selecting View > Show All Notes from the menu or use the Shift & Command & A shortcut key.
The "All Notes" View
Ensuring you are in "All Notes" view (1) select all the notes:
- Via the Edit > Select All menu or
- The Command & A shortcut key (Control & A on Windows)
Selected notes have a blue border per (2)
A summary view is displayed of all the notes selected. This is shown in the notes pane too (3)
Export the Notes
Select File > Export Notes… from the menu
Export Selected Notes
Specify a file name and location in the Save As dialog box
In the Format: drop down (1) ensure you select HTML
Click Save
Export Complete
The Export process is very fast and once the export is complete a dialog box will be displayed to inform you the task is finished.
The Exported Data Folder
The exported notes are contained in a folder that gives you complete access to both your notes (in HTML format) and all the images and attachments contained within those notes.
Exploring the Exported Data Folder
Opening the Folder containing the exported notes reveals a series of HTML files and for those notes with images and/or attachments a series of associated Folders.
For example, the "Attendees for Training" (1) note has no images or attachments so there is no associated folder but "The MacBites Podcast – Layers and Masks 101" note (2) has both images within the note and a PDF so there is a folder with the same name as the note and a .resources extension (3).
Navigating the Exported Data Folder
Opening that "The MacBites Podcast – Layers and Masks 101.resources" reveals the original attachments.
In this case an image (1) and a PDF (2)
Preparing to Navigate Your Notes in a Browser
Also in the export folder you will find a file named index.html (1)
The index.html file will provide a way for you to navigate your entire notes archive using a browser without the need to use Evernote
Open the Index Page in a Browser
Opening the index.html file in a broswer loads in an index via which you are able to navigate your notes.
Navigating Your Notes in a Browser
Having opened the index page in a browser, clicking the note title opens the relevant note in the browser.
The title of the note is displayed at the top of the page (1)
Any images contained within the original note are displayed within the page (2)
Any attachments contained within the original note are displayed as clickable links within the body of the page (3)
