How to Migrate Your Notes to a New Windows App (With OneNote for Windows 10 Now Read-Only)

Why Q2 2026 Is the Moment to Migrate Your Windows Notes

If you are still using OneNote for Windows 10, you are already locked out of editing. Microsoft ended support for the app on October 14, 2025, and it became read-only the same day. Your notebooks are still visible, but you cannot add new notes, edit existing ones, or sync changes. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to lose track of what has been migrated and what has not.

Evernote users face a different but equally pressing problem. The free plan now limits you to 50 notes and 1 device. If you have been using Evernote for years, that cap alone makes the free tier effectively unusable for anything beyond a scratchpad. The Personal plan starts at $14.99 per month, which is a steep ask for a note-taking app when viable free alternatives exist.

This guide walks you through three concrete migration paths. The first is for OneNote for Windows 10 users moving to the current OneNote on Windows app — the official Microsoft route. The second and third are for Evernote users moving to Joplin (free, open-source, native ENEX import) or Obsidian (local Markdown files, full data ownership). Each path includes export steps, import steps, and the gotchas that commonly trip people up.

If you are migrating from a less common app not covered here, the general migration guide covers export strategies that work across most platforms.

Pre-Migration Checklist: What to Do Before You Move a Single Note

Before you touch any export button, run through this checklist. Skipping any step increases the chance of losing data during the migration.

• Create a full backup in a universal format. Export your entire notebook collection as PDF or HTML in addition to any proprietary export format. Universal formats are readable by any app and serve as your safety net if the import goes wrong.
• Verify your account credentials. Make sure you can sign in to your source app (OneNote or Evernote) and that all notebooks are synced to the cloud before exporting. A local-only notebook that has not synced in months may contain notes you forgot about.
• Count your notes and notebooks. Write down the total number of notes, notebooks, and tags in your source app. You will use this count to verify the migration later.
• Check attachment types. If you have embedded files, audio recordings, or handwritten ink strokes, note which formats they are in. Some destination apps handle these better than others.
• Install the destination app and create a test notebook. Do not start the full migration until you have confirmed the destination app works on your Windows machine and you understand its basic interface.

Migration Path 1: OneNote for Windows 10 → OneNote on Windows (Official Microsoft Steps)

Microsoft provides an official step-by-step migration path from the deprecated OneNote for Windows 10 to the current OneNote on Windows app. The preferred method uses the in-app migration dialog, which guides you through the process and ensures no data loss.

Step-by-Step Migration

1. Sign in to all Microsoft accounts in OneNote for Windows 10. Open the app and confirm that every account with notebooks is signed in. If you have notebooks under a work or school account, add that account now.
2. Confirm sync to the cloud. Let OneNote for Windows 10 fully sync all notebooks. Look for the sync status indicator — it should show that all notebooks are up to date. Do not proceed until sync is complete.
3. Install OneNote on Windows from the Microsoft Store. The current app is free and replaces the deprecated version. It integrates with Windows, supports handwriting and stylus input, and includes the same core features.
4. Open and sync notebooks in the new app. When you launch OneNote on Windows for the first time, it should detect your existing notebooks and begin syncing them from the cloud. If the in-app migration dialog appears, follow its prompts — it handles the transfer automatically.
5. Confirm sync status shows 'Up to date'. Open each notebook in the new app and verify that all sections and pages are present. Check a few recent notes to confirm the content rendered correctly.
6. Uninstall OneNote for Windows 10. Once you have confirmed everything is working in the new app, remove the old version. This prevents confusion about which app to open in the future.

OneNote on Windows is free and includes 5 GB of OneDrive storage. It supports handwriting recognition and stylus input, making it a strong choice if you use a Surface device or a Windows tablet. The app is deeply integrated with Windows, so if you are already in the Microsoft ecosystem, this is the path of least resistance.

Migration Path 2: Evernote → Joplin (Free, Open-Source, Native ENEX Import)

Joplin is consistently described as the best free Evernote alternative. It is fully open-source (AGPL licensed), stores notes locally by default, and offers end-to-end encryption. PCMag named it an Editors' Choice for open-source note-taking, rating it 4.5 out of 5, and noted that it is "as close to a perfect note-taking app as you can get if you're looking for something relatively simple."

The key advantage for Evernote migrants is Joplin's native ENEX import. You do not need third-party tools or manual reformatting — Joplin reads Evernote's export format directly.

Step-by-Step Migration

1. Export your notes from Evernote. In the Evernote desktop app, select the notebooks you want to export. Use File → Export and choose the ENEX format. Export one notebook at a time — Evernote does not support bulk ENEX export of all notebooks simultaneously.
2. Install Joplin from its official website or the Microsoft Store. The app is free with no feature limitations. During installation, choose whether to store notes locally or sync via Joplin Cloud (sync starts at €2.99 per month).
3. Import the ENEX files into Joplin. Open Joplin, go to File → Import → ENEX (Evernote). Select the first ENEX file. Joplin will recreate your notebook structure, including tags and most formatting. Repeat for each ENEX file.
4. Verify the import. Check that each notebook appears in Joplin with the correct name and that tags were preserved. Open a few notes with complex formatting — tables, images, and bullet lists — to confirm they rendered correctly.
5. Enable end-to-end encryption (optional but recommended). Joplin supports E2E encryption for synced notebooks. If you plan to use Joplin Cloud or another sync target, enable encryption in the settings before syncing.

If Joplin does not fit your workflow, the Evernote alternatives guide covers other destinations with their own migration steps.

Migration Path 3: Evernote → Obsidian (via Markdown Export)

Obsidian takes a fundamentally different approach to note-taking. It stores all notes as local plain-text Markdown files. You own the files completely — there is no proprietary database, no vendor lock-in, and no subscription required for the core app. PCMag rates Obsidian 4.0 out of 5 and calls it the pick for power users, noting that "your notes are yours in the same way that notes you take in a paper notebook are."

The trade-off is that the migration requires an extra step. Evernote does not export to Markdown natively, so you need a conversion tool to translate ENEX files into Markdown before importing them into Obsidian.

Step-by-Step Migration

1. Export your notes from Evernote as ENEX files. Follow the same export process described in Path 2: export one notebook at a time using File → Export → ENEX format.
2. Convert ENEX files to Markdown. Use a tool like Yarle (Yet Another Rope Ladder from Evernote) or the Obsidian Importer plugin. Yarle is a free, open-source Node.js tool that converts ENEX files to Markdown while preserving tags, metadata, and most formatting. The Obsidian Importer plugin handles the conversion inside Obsidian itself.
3. Create a new Obsidian vault. Open Obsidian and create a new vault in a folder on your local drive. This folder will contain all your Markdown files.
4. Import the Markdown files into your vault. If you used Yarle, drag the output folder into your Obsidian vault. If you used the Obsidian Importer plugin, follow the plugin's import dialog to select your ENEX files — it will convert and import them in one step.
5. Verify the import. Check that each note appears as a separate Markdown file. Confirm that tags were converted to YAML frontmatter or tags within the note. Open notes with images — Obsidian stores images as separate files in an attachments folder, so verify the image links work.

# Example: Convert a single ENEX file to Markdown using Yarle
# Install Yarle globally first: npm install -g yarle
# Then run:
yarle --input "./My Notebook.enex" --output "./obsidian-vault/"

Post-Migration Verification: How to Confirm Everything Moved Correctly

Migration is not complete until you have verified that your data arrived intact. Run through this checklist after any of the three migration paths above.

• Compare note counts. Open your source app and count the total notes. Do the same in the destination app. If the numbers do not match, some notes did not transfer. Check for empty notebooks or sections that may have been skipped.
• Spot-check formatting. Open five to ten notes that contain tables, bullet lists, code blocks, or embedded images. Compare the rendered version in the destination app against the original. Formatting differences are common between apps — know what you are willing to accept and what needs manual fixing.
• Test search. Type a few keywords you know appear in your notes. If the destination app's search does not find them, the notes may not have been indexed properly. Some apps require a re-index after a large import.
• Check attachments and embedded files. If your source notes contained PDFs, images, or audio files, confirm they are accessible in the destination app. Some apps store attachments in a separate folder — verify the links are intact.
• Confirm sync is working (if applicable). If you are using a cloud-synced destination app (OneNote on Windows, Joplin Cloud, Obsidian Sync), open the app on a second device and confirm that all notebooks appear and are up to date.

Troubleshooting Common Sync and Import Issues

Even with careful preparation, migrations rarely go perfectly. Here are the most common problems and how to fix them.

• Incomplete sync after migration. If notebooks appear but some sections are missing, the source app may not have finished syncing before you exported. Go back to the source app, force a full sync, and re-export. For OneNote for Windows 10, check the sync status indicator in the bottom-left corner.
• Missing attachments. Attachments stored as embedded files in Evernote or OneNote may not survive the export-import pipeline. The safest fix is to manually extract attachments from the source app before migrating and re-attach them in the destination app. This is tedious but reliable.
• Formatting differences between apps. Tables may lose column widths, bullet lists may use different indentation, and font sizes may reset. This is normal when moving between different rendering engines. If consistent formatting is critical, consider a destination app that supports the same rich-text features as your source app.
• Large notebook timeouts. If you have a notebook with hundreds of notes, the export or import may time out. Break the notebook into smaller sections and export each section separately. For Evernote, export individual notebooks rather than trying to export everything at once.
• Duplicate notes after re-import. If you run the import twice, you may end up with duplicate notes. Check the destination app for a "deduplicate" feature, or manually delete duplicates by comparing note titles and creation dates.

If none of these fixes work, retry the migration from scratch using your universal backup (the PDF or HTML export you created in the pre-migration checklist). A clean re-import often resolves issues that incremental fixes cannot.

Which Windows Note-Taking App Should You Choose After Migration?

The three destination apps covered in this guide serve different user profiles. The table below summarizes which app fits which scenario.