Migrate Notes From Evernote to Bear: Full Guide

Yes, you can migrate your notes from Evernote to Bear, and the process is straightforward if you use the official HTML import method. You export your Evernote data as HTML files, then drag those files into Bear, which converts them into native Bear notes. This guide covers the exact steps, what transfers correctly, what gets lost, and how to handle large libraries.

Why Switch From Evernote to Bear?

Evernote and Bear serve different note-taking philosophies. Evernote is a powerful, feature-heavy organizer with notebooks, tags, web clipping, OCR, and cross-platform support. Bear is a minimalist Markdown-based app for Apple devices (macOS, iOS, iPadOS) that focuses on clean writing, fast search, and a distraction-free interface. Users often switch because they want a lighter, faster app with better Markdown support and a more pleasant writing experience. Bear also uses a subscription model that is cheaper than Evernote’s premium tiers, and it stores notes in a local database that can be exported to plain text or Markdown at any time.

However, Bear does not have a built-in Evernote importer. You must go through an intermediate format. The official recommendation from the Bear team is to use Evernote’s HTML export, because Bear’s import feature reads HTML files and preserves the note structure, attachments, and most formatting.

What You Need Before You Start

• A current Evernote account (free or paid) with the desktop app installed (Windows or Mac). The web version does not support bulk export.
• The latest version of Bear (Bear 2.x or later) installed on your Mac or iOS device.
• Enough free disk space for the exported HTML files and any attachments.
• Time: for a few hundred notes, the process takes minutes; for thousands, it can take an hour or more.

Make sure you are signed into Evernote and that all your notes are synced to the local client before exporting. If you have unsynced changes, they might not appear in the export.

Step-by-Step: Export from Evernote

1. Open the Evernote desktop app and sign in.
2. Go to File > Export (on Mac, it’s under the File menu; on Windows, it’s under File > Export).
3. Choose HTML as the format. Evernote gives you two HTML options: “HTML” (a single file per note) and “Multiple HTML files” (one folder with an index). For Bear, choose the single HTML option if you want each note to become a separate Bear note. If you choose multiple files, Bear will import each note as a separate note as well, but the folder structure may create an extra level.
4. Select the notebooks you want to export. You can export all notes or a specific notebook. If you have a large library, export in batches (e.g., one notebook at a time) to avoid timeouts.
5. Click Export and choose a destination folder. Evernote will create an .html file for each note, plus a folder with attachments (images, PDFs, etc.) if you check the “Include attachments” option.
6. Wait for the export to finish. The progress bar shows the status. For large libraries, this can take a while.

After export, you’ll have a folder containing .html files and a subfolder named something like “resources” or “attachments” that holds the embedded files.

Importing into Bear

1. Open Bear on your Mac or iOS device.
2. Use the File > Import menu (on Mac) or the share sheet (on iOS) to select the HTML files you exported.
3. Navigate to the folder with the exported .html files. You can select multiple files at once.
4. Bear will read each HTML file and create a new note with the title from the HTML