Where apps hide your files

Bear's database location

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Bear does not store notes as separate files. Everything sits in one database inside a shared app container, and the safe way to get notes out is Bear's own export.

The location

~/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite

That is the path Bear's own FAQ gives for its notes database on macOS. The folder name starts with 9K33E3U3T4, a team identifier, so it looks odd but is the same on every Mac. If you want to confirm it on yours:

ls ~/Library/Group\ Containers | grep -i bear

Open the folder

In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste:

~/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data

Or in Terminal:

open ~/Library/Group\ Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application\ Data

Bear was not installed on the Mac used to check this guide, so the path comes from Bear's documentation rather than a local listing.

What the database is

database.sqlite is a SQLite database. Your notes, tags and their metadata are rows in it, so you cannot open a note in a text editor or find one by its title in Finder. Attachments are stored as files elsewhere in the same container; Bear does not document their folder names, so list the Application Data folder to see them.

Bear's FAQ says it is safe to access the database for reading only, and recommends that most users do not work with it at all. It advises making a copy first, and warns that changing data while Bear is running is highly likely to lose data. If you inspect it, quit Bear, work on a copy, and never write to the original. Do not paste its contents anywhere, because it holds your private notes.

The supported way out: export

Use Bear's export instead of the database. To export everything, select Notes in the sidebar, press ⌘A to select all notes, then choose File > Export Notes... (⇧⌘S). For one note, use the ... button at the top right of the note.

Formats depend on your plan:

Free	Bear Pro
Plain text (.txt)	HTML (.html)
Markdown (.md)	Word (.docx)
TextBundle (.textbundle)	PDF (.pdf)
Bear Note (.bearnote)	JPEG (.jpg)
Rich Text (.rtf)	ePub (.epub)

Exporting gives you real files in a folder you choose, which Finder and any other app can open.

Backups

Bear's own backup is manual. Choose File > Backup Notes... to write every note into a single .bear2bk file, and keep that file anywhere you like, ideally off the Mac too. To read a backup without restoring it, Bear's FAQ suggests renaming a copy from .bear2bk to .zip and unzipping it, which gives one .textbundle per note. Notes you encrypted with Bear Pro stay encrypted in the backup.

File > Restore Backup is destructive: Bear's FAQ warns that all notes currently in Bear, including trashed notes, are permanently deleted and replaced by the backup. Make a fresh backup before restoring an older one.

Time Machine also copies the container folder, but a database copied while Bear is writing to it can be inconsistent, so treat Bear's own backup file as the copy to rely on.

iCloud sync

With Bear Pro, notes sync between your devices through iCloud. Sync data goes through your Apple Account rather than through a folder you can copy, and the Mac database is the local copy. A sync service is not a backup: a mistake on one device syncs to the others.

Moving to a new Mac

The simplest path is to install Bear on the new Mac, sign in to the same Apple Account, turn on sync and wait for notes to arrive. Without sync, make a backup with File > Backup Notes... on the old Mac and restore it on the new one, before you write any notes there, since a restore replaces whatever is already in Bear.

Space and cleanup

The database is usually modest, and attachments cause most growth. Do not delete anything in the container to save space. Remove attachments or whole notes from inside Bear, then empty Bear's Trash. Never delete database.sqlite or the container: that deletes your notes on this Mac.

Why search misses it

Spotlight does not show results from ~/Library/Group Containers, and the notes are rows in a database, not files, so no file search finds a note by its title.

Looking without reading notes

You can confirm the file exists and see its size without reading any note:

ls -la ~/Library/Group\ Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application\ Data

This lists names, sizes and dates only. A recent modified time means Bear is writing to it. If the folder is missing, Bear has not been opened on this Mac or uses a different build; the grep command above will show any other Bear container.

If notes seem to be missing

Check Archive and Trash in Bear's sidebar first, since both are separate lists. Then check that sync is on and that you are signed in to the same Apple Account on each device.

Finding the files next time

Once Everywhere has Full Disk Access, which macOS requires before any app can see inside Group Containers, typing shinyfrog takes you to Bear's folder and typing bear2bk turns up every backup you have saved. ⌘↵ reveals the match in Finder. It cannot look inside the database or search note text; use Bear's own search for that.

Common questions

Where does Bear store its notes on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Group Containers/9K33E3U3T4.net.shinyfrog.bear/Application Data/database.sqlite, a single SQLite database, according to Bear's FAQ.

Can I open Bear notes as normal files?

Not directly. Use File > Export Notes in Bear to write them out. Markdown, plain text, TextBundle, Bear Note and RTF are free; HTML, Word, PDF, JPEG and ePub need Bear Pro.

Is it safe to read Bear's database?

Bear's FAQ says reading is safe but recommends most users leave it alone, and says to work on a copy and quit Bear before any change.

How do I back up Bear notes?

Choose File > Backup Notes to save every note in one .bear2bk file. File > Restore Backup replaces all current notes, including trashed ones, with the backup.