Where apps hide your files
Evernote does not save your notes as files you can browse. The Mac app keeps a local database and attachments in one folder, and which folder depends on the build you installed. Here is how to find yours and how to get notes out.
Evernote's own help center lists two locations on a Mac, and you will have one or the other:
~/Library/Application Support/Evernote
~/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library/Application Support/EvernoteThe first is where the direct download from Evernote's site keeps its data. The second is a sandboxed app container, the kind a Mac App Store install uses. To see which exists on your Mac:
ls ~/Library/Application\ Support | grep -i evernote
ls ~/Library/Containers | grep -i evernoteTo open a folder, use Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), paste the path and press Return. Evernote was not installed on the Mac used for this guide, so the layout below is from Evernote's help pages and published write-ups, and the inner folder names may change between versions.
Evernote 10 keeps notes in a SQLite database under a folder named conduit-storage, according to the documentation of a third-party Raycast extension that reads it. Evernote itself does not document the layout.
Evernote switched off its legacy apps (every version before 10) on 26 March 2024, so they no longer sync. If an old install left local notebooks behind, open Evernote 10 and choose Tools > Check for Local Notebooks: Evernote's tool finds them and exports them as ENEX files you can import.
Either way, the data is internal to the app. You cannot open it in TextEdit or Numbers and read your notes, and Evernote does not document how attachments are stored in the folder.
Export from the app, which is far safer than copying database files. Evernote's help says export works only in the desktop app, not on the web:
Evernote is a cloud app. Your notes are on Evernote's servers, and the local folder is a working copy so notes open quickly and can be edited offline. Anything you wrote offline syncs when you reconnect, so never delete the folder while a sync is pending. When you sign out, Evernote asks whether to keep your data on the device, and that box is ticked by default, so the folder often survives a sign-out.
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/EvernoteUse the container path instead if that is the one you have. Evernote's storage article says the desktop app downloads note content in the background, and attachments such as images and PDFs are what make the folder large.
Evernote publishes steps for removing its data from a Mac. In short: quit Evernote, then delete the Evernote folder in the Application Support location you identified above (the sandboxed container path if that is yours). You then sign in again and the app resyncs. Before you do that, confirm that your notes appear on evernote.com, or export them first, because anything unsynced would go with the folder. Prefer the Trash to rm.
For a new Mac you do not need to copy this folder: install Evernote, sign in and let it sync, which rebuilds the folder. If you want a portable safety copy, export notebooks as ENEX files and keep them somewhere ordinary such as Documents.
If you are leaving Evernote, export first, then check a few notes opened from the .enex file in the app you are moving to.
The quickest check is the two ls commands above. If only the Containers one prints something, you have the sandboxed build. If both print something, you may have used both builds at different times, and only one is current: compare the modification dates with ls -la on each, and trust the newer. Evernote's removal steps apply to whichever is in use, and leaving the stale one costs only disk space.
Attachments sync with their notes, so the original file also exists in the note on Evernote's servers. To get an attachment back as a file, open the note and save the attachment from there. Do not try to rebuild it from the data folder, where names are internal. If you need every attachment from many notes, an ENEX export is the way, since it embeds them in the export file.
The folder is inside ~/Library, and Spotlight and Finder searches leave those results out. In the container build it is deeper still, under ~/Library/Containers. Even found, the files are database internals.
Everywhere indexes names inside ~/Library, so typing conduit-storage or Evernote lists the data folders. The App Store build's container and the ENEX exports Evernote drops on your Desktop are in places macOS protects, so they appear once Everywhere has Full Disk Access; then typing .enex lists every export. Press ⌘↵ to reveal one in Finder. It matches names only, so it cannot search inside a note.
In ~/Library/Application Support/Evernote, or for the sandboxed build in ~/Library/Containers/com.evernote.Evernote/Data/Library/Application Support/Evernote. Both are listed on Evernote's help center.
Not usefully. Evernote does not document its local storage, and the files are app internals rather than readable notes. Export notes as ENEX from the app instead.
In the desktop app, select a notebook or up to 100 notes, right-click, choose Export… and save as ENEX. Copying the Application Support folder is not a reliable backup.
Only after quitting Evernote and confirming your notes have synced to your account. Evernote publishes steps for removing local data, and you sign in again afterwards.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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