How to Convert ENEX to Markdown

Quick Answer

To convert ENEX to Markdown, open the .enex file in a converter, pick Markdown as the output and run it. Each note becomes an .md file with its images saved beside it. The Univik ENEX Converter does this in one batch, with no Evernote install needed.

Markdown is where most Evernote escapes end up. The notes turn into small text files that any app can read, and nothing about them belongs to a company any more.

Evernote cannot write Markdown itself. It exports ENEX, and ENEX needs one more step. That step is this guide.

Why Markdown Fits Evernote Notes

A Markdown file is plain text with a few small marks for structure. A # makes a heading, a - makes a list item, and stars make bold. Notes stored this way open in any text editor, on any system, twenty years from now. Obsidian, Notion, Logseq and Joplin all read Markdown as their home format, which is why almost every Evernote migration passes through it.

Convert ENEX to Markdown in Four Steps

Start with the .enex files on your disk. If they are still inside Evernote, the export guide shows how to get them out, one file per notebook.

Open the .enex filesLoad one or a whole folder into the converter.
Check the note listUntick anything you do not want.
Pick MarkdownChoose it from the output formats.
Choose a folder and runThe .md files and images appear there.

A few hundred notes take a minute or two. Bigger accounts mostly wait on the attachments, since those carry the size.

Markdown is the safest home for old notes. The files sit on your own disk and open in anything. Every app people switch to this year reads them without a converter, and the one they switch to next year will too. Convert once, and you never have to do a migration like this again.

NR

Nick Rogers

Founder, Univik

Building Windows tools since 2013

Turn a whole Evernote account into Markdown in one run

The Univik ENEX Converter reads .enex files straight from disk, writes one .md file per note and puts every image and attachment in a folder beside them.

Free Download See All Features

What Goes into the .md Files

Each note keeps its shape, written in Markdown marks instead of Evernote formatting.

HeadingsBecome lines that start with #, one per level.

Lists and checklistsTurn into - items, with - [ ] for unchecked boxes.

LinksKeep their text and address as [text](url).

ImagesPoint at real files, like ![photo](img/chai.png).

Tags and datesSit in a frontmatter block at the top, like tags: recipes and created: 2026-08-12.

Frontmatter is the part people miss. It is a short block between two --- lines at the top of the file, and it is where the note title, tags and both dates live on. Obsidian and Logseq read it and bring the tags back as real tags.

Where Attachments Go in Markdown

Inside an ENEX file, every image and PDF is stored as one long block of encoded text. That is why the file is so big and why nothing else opens it well. A converter decodes those blocks back into normal files.

Worth knowing

Attachments come out as real files in a folder next to the notes. Each .md file links to them with a short relative path, so move the whole folder together and every image keeps working.

Keep that folder with the notes. Copy the .md files alone and every image link points at nothing.

Free Tools for ENEX to Markdown

Three free tools do this job well, each with its own trade off.

YarleA small desktop app. Keeps tags, dates, notebook name and source URL through templates you can edit, and collects attachments in a _resources folder.

evernote2mdA command line tool. One .md per note with optional frontmatter, images and files sorted into their own folders.

Obsidian ImporterA plugin that runs Yarle inside Obsidian and drops the notes straight into a vault. Desktop only.

Yarle gives the most control and expects some patience with its config file. evernote2md is quick if a terminal does not scare you. The Importer makes sense when Obsidian is the goal, and the Evernote to Obsidian guide walks that whole path. The Univik converter covers the same ground with a preview of every note before you commit, which matters when the export holds years of mixed content.

The Parts Markdown Leaves Out

Markdown is a small language on purpose. Some Evernote details have no place in it.

Text, headings, lists, links, images and tags all make the trip.

Tables and web clipper pages keep their content and lose their look. Cell colors and merged cells drop.

Reminders and due dates on tasks drop away, the checkbox itself stays.

Links from one note to another break, since they pointed inside Evernote.

None of this blocks a migration. It sets what to expect when you open a heavy table for the first time in its new home.

Where the Markdown Files Work

Point Obsidian at the folder and it treats every note as part of a vault, tags included. Logseq and Joplin open the same files. Notion imports them. A plain text editor reads them with zero setup, which is the quiet win, because it means the notes stay readable even with no note app installed at all. If some notes need to become fixed pages for sharing or print, the ENEX to PDF guide handles that side.

Check the Files Before You Move On

Open five or six converted notes before deleting anything. Look at one heavy note with a table, one web clipping and one with images. Check that the frontmatter shows the right tags and dates. If a note came out strange, run it again on its own and compare. Keep the original .enex files either way. They are your source, and disk space is cheaper than a lost note. The free online ENEX viewer shows what a file held before conversion, which makes the comparison quick.

ENEX to Markdown Questions

Open the .enex file in a converter, pick Markdown as the output and choose a folder. Each note becomes its own .md file, and the images come out as real files next to them. You do not need Evernote installed for this.

No. Evernote only exports ENEX and HTML, so Markdown takes two steps. Export the notes as an .enex file first, then run that file through a converter to get .md files.

Yes. The tools in this guide write one Markdown file per note and name it after the note title. A notebook with 200 notes turns into a folder with 200 .md files plus the attachments.

They come out of the ENEX file as normal image files and go into a folder next to the notes. Each .md file then points at its images with a short relative path, so the pictures show up when the folder moves as one piece.

Yes, as frontmatter. That is a small block at the top of each .md file which lists the title, tags, created date and updated date. Apps like Obsidian read the block and turn the tags back into real tags.

Markdown tables only hold rows and columns. Cell colors, merged cells and fancy layouts from Evernote have no place to go, so the table keeps its data and loses its look. Notes saved with the web clipper can come out uneven for the same reason.

Leena Taylor Paul

Written and maintained by Leena Taylor Paul and the Univik team, developers of Windows data conversion and recovery software since 2013. Half the migration folders people send us are Evernote exports on the way to Obsidian, so this guide is built from watching which conversions came out clean and which needed a second run. Last verified August 2026. Stuck with an export that will not convert? Contact our support team.