So you’ve decided to say goodbye to Evernote. Maybe you’re swapping over to one of the alternatives like OneNote, Bear, or Notion. Maybe all of your files are already on Google so you’re going to give Google Keep a shot.
Whatever your reason, you need to know the difference between deactivation and deletion. And why deletion is so important. Lastly, we’ll help you figure out how to export the data you want to keep, and give you a step-by-step guide for how to permanently delete all of your Evernote data.
The difference between deactivation and true deletion
Evernote and Freshdesk Integration. Easily automate the management of your tickets, agents and users in Freshdesk. Stay on top of your task list by automatically creating, updating and organizing them in Evernote. Do much more by connecting Evernote and Freshdesk. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. With the Evernote-HappyFox Zap, you can have HappyFox tickets for the notes, notebooks and reminders you create on Evernote. Similarly, you can trigger notes, tags and reminders on Evernote with HappyFox tickets.
You can open a support ticket with Evernote and request that they delete your username and email. They will then purge you completely. The deactivation page should do this already but you can’t go wrong being careful. And if you’re already nervous about online privacy or data security, it can’t hurt. Introduce all of the power from Evernote into your Jira dashboards and tickets, tasks, bugs, and Epics; Collaborate with your team members by giving them access to edit the notes and you get a living document included in your dashboard.
Closing your Evernote account or stopping payment doesn’t delete your data. It doesn’t delete anything, not even your financial information.
All of your notes, recordings, and images will still be stored on Evernote’s cloud servers. It will also still be potentially accessible on any device you used to access Evernote. If your Evernote was mostly shopping lists, maybe this isn’t that big deal of a deal to you. However, your profile does contain information about you personally that you might want to take control of.
The dangers of not permanently deleting your Evernote account
There are two lanes of data that could be accessed and used if you don’t permanently delete your Evernote account.
The first lane of data is your account information: your name, password (which might be shared with other accounts you still use), credit card, and/or your PayPal information. Hackers could still get your address, phone number, and any other profile information you’ve added to your account.
The second lane of data is the content you’ve put into Evernote. Notes, research, confidential data, proprietary information, sensitive images, videos, and intellectual property you’d rather keep to yourself could all be grabbed.
For teachers, a breach of Evernote data could leave minors’ confidential medical or mental health information up for grabs. For medical professionals, even cursory mentions of patients could be a HIPAA violation. For lawyers or psychologists, a breach of their notes is a breach of legally protected privilege.
Or, perhaps you’re a writer, artist, or inventor who needs to keep their work secret and safe. Either way, permanently deleting your Evernote data is key.
How to migrate notes and data you want to keep
Before you permanently delete all of your work, think first if there’s anything worth saving. The answer is probably yes.
Migrating can be done in three easy steps:
Step 1: Download the Evernote desktop app and install it.
Step 2: Go to “File” and “Export.” A pop-up will offer you four choices.
Step 3: Choose a file format to export.
ENEX format is going to be your go-to option for most use cases. ENEX is compatible with many note-taking apps (like Microsoft OneNote) and will maintain your Notebook and Note organization. Exporting to an HTML Web Page creates one .html file with directories for images, text, and other files. The MHT (MIME HTML) file format is for creating a single web archive in a single file. The “Multiple Web Pages” option does what it sounds like, making a webpage for each Notebook.
That’s it. You’ve successfully exported all of your Evernote data.
Now it’s time to delete everything from the cloud and devices.
Step-by-step: Permanently deleting Evernote
Now you’ve decided to annihilate your Evernote information. The important notes are backed up, and you’re ready to leave nothing but scorched earth where your account used to be.
Step 1 – Leave any shared Notebooks
Are any Notebooks shared with you, from another account?
If so, go into the “Shared” section of your Notebooks. If using the desktop app, right-click on the shared Notebook and click “Leave Notebook.” On the browser version, click on the shared Notebook to open it, click on the ellipsis (the three dots graphic) “options” menu, and then click “Leave Notebook.”
Step 2 – Delete your Notebooks
Right-click on a Notebook and select “Delete Notebook.”
On the web app, like above, open the Notebook and find “Delete” in the ellipsis options menu. This will move the Notebook and all notes into the trash. Do this to all of your Notebooks until the list is empty.
Step 3 – Empty the trash
On the desktop app, navigate to the trash and right-click. Then, select “Empty Trash.” On the web app, open the trash and find “Empty Trash” in the options menu.
This will completely erase your notes and Notebooks. They will be irretrievable, even by Evernote staff. Once again, make sure you have backed any Notebooks up using the methods at the top of this article. Failure to do so may result in tears and we will not be responsible.
Step 4 – Empty the business trash
This step is only for admins of Evernote Business accounts who need to delete company notes permanently.
To empty the company trash, log into the admin console as usual. From there, click on “Trash” in the navigation area. All of the notes or Notebooks in the trash will have check boxes—click the ones you want to delete. Then, hit the “Delete” button and confirm the pop-up.
This will not only delete the notes permanently but remove them from user accounts who may have had access to them.
Deactivating Evernote permanently
Now that all of your notes are properly deleted, here’s how to deactivate your account.
It’s simple: go to the Evernote Account Deactivation Page. Make sure you are logged into the right account. Then you’ll be given a small checkbox and a “Deactivate Account” button. Do not take this action lightly—it’s irreversible.
Again, deactivating your account won’t delete your notes. So make sure you’ve done that first. Deactivating your account will permanently shut down the account—it cannot be reopened. You can’t even use the same email to open a new account in the future. You’ll have to use a different email if you ever come back. Deactivating your account will log you out on the browser and prevent you from logging back on mobile or on other platforms.
Once you’ve deactivated the account, you’re done.
If you’re the type who doesn’t trust your pants will stay up without a belt and suspenders, you have one more option. You can open a support ticket with Evernote and request that they delete your username and email. They will then purge you completely. The deactivation page should do this already but you can’t go wrong being careful. And if you’re already nervous about online privacy or data security, it can’t hurt.
Finished with Evernote?
Your Notebooks are deleted and your account is deactivated. From there, the only thing left to do is uninstall any apps on your devices. Your laptop, desktop, phone, etc.
Now you can import your notes to one of the many Evernote alternatives and get back to work.
Just last weekend my company, Maui Mastermind, hosted 120 of our top business coaching clients for a 3 day workshop on how to grow their businesses and gain more personal time freedom.
One of the sessions I taught there was on advanced tools and strategies to be more productive. In that session I shared how I've come to rely on Evernote to help me manage info load.
Evernote Ticket Office
Based on the feedback I got, it was clear that the ideas and 'hacks' were not common knowledge and made a difference. So here is a quick recap of the top 7 Evernote functions that I've come to rely on for you to start using yourself.
Evernote Ticker
1. Write my notes by hand - import into Evernote with a photo.
As obvious as it sounds, I've seen first hand how non-intuitive this is, especially for business owners who are over 40. I need to take my notes by hand, it helps keep me focused and is a key reference that helps me follow up with my staff, hold my vendors accountable, and meet all my client promises.
But I also don't want reams of papers filed away in manila folders, nor even to put them on my hard drive via a scan. Instead, after my meeting I simply take an immediate picture of my notes, name the file and tag it right then and there. I means all my key notes are accessible from anywhere, on any of my devices.
2. Drag and drop key documents into a new note.
When my staff creates a new business coaching checklist, I put it in Evernote. When my head of marketing sends me a score board of how our lead generation is doing, I drag and drop it into Evernote.
You can do this with PDFs, Word docs, excel spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations, audio files, photos, etc.
3. Add the Evernote 'clipper' plug-in to my email program.
Now when I get an email I want to add to Evernote, I do it by clicking on button and the email message, along with any attachments, are automatically imported into my account.
I think you can see the theme here. I'm using Evernote as a single place to keep most of my core business 'information' including notes, documents, charts, etc. While I don't put sensitive information here (for that it stays on my encrypted hard drive with robust passwords) but everything else I want for later reference does go here. It gives me one place to search to find what I need.
4. Leverage Evernote's amazing 'search' function.
You can search tags, titles, body text, and even the text in a pdf document. Somehow it can even search my handwritten notes with a high success rate (and my writing is admittedly awful.) This is one of my favorite Evernote abilities.
5. Take a picture, store the information forever.
I mentioned above taking a picture of your notes to import them into Evernote versus scanning in the document and dragging the PDF into a new note. I also use pictures to bring in things like the serial numbers of an electronic device I own; the level and parking space I parked in; the condition of a rental car I take; the menu of my favorite restaurant; the flip chart pages generated at a team meeting; the ticket stubs to a concert or movie I want to remember; a business receipt for my expense report; and the list goes on.
Now I can toss the original and trust that the photo will be easy to find because I've named and tagged it in Evernote.
6. Get the webclipper plug in for your internet browser.
This works like the email plug in, allowing you to pull in the webpage you're viewing in various formats with the single click of a button on your browser.
7. Make key notebooks accessible 'offline'.
You have control to make some of the notebooks (think of a notebook in Evernote as a file folder of notes in one section) available offline (i.e. to store a local version on your device(s).)
I love this. When I'm on a plane and need a document or to review my notes, it's there. When I don't want to connect (and be tempted to check my email) I can still access key reference material.
You'd be surprised by how well Evernote compresses your files so that they take up very little functional space when you keep them local on your phone or tablet. And the next time you're online, Evernote syncs up your latest changes.
There you have my 7 favorite Evernote functions. I hope they help you better manage your info load.