Import, Export, Backups and Sync

Now we'll move to getting notes in and out, and to what protects them. Cocoa imports from other note apps, exports a note in seven formats or a folder as one PDF book, zips the whole notes folder every day, keeps versions of every note for thirty days, and syncs through iCloud Drive without any account of its own. This chapter covers each, and the three screens you may meet when a file arrives from elsewhere.

Importing notes

File › Import… opens the Import Notes sheet. It is available once a notes folder is open.

• From ①: Folder of Markdown, Obsidian, Bear, Notion Export, Evernote, Apple Notes, Word Documents. A note under the picker explains the source: Notion — "Unzip the export first. Notion's 32-character id suffixes are stripped from titles."; Apple Notes — "Reads your notes through AppleScript. macOS will ask permission the first time."; Word — "Formatting becomes markdown: headings, bold, italic and lists survive."
• ② reads Choose Folder… for sources that are folders and Choose File… for a single export file; until you pick one it says Nothing chosen.
• Into folder ③ names the folder the notes land in.
• Import ④ (Return) runs it. The sheet then reads Imported 42 notes., or Imported 40, and 2 could not be read. in orange. Done (Escape) closes it.

Exporting

One note

With a note open, File › Export offers Markdown…, Plain Text…, Rich Text…, HTML…, PDF…, TextBundle… and Word Document…. Each opens a save dialog. The PDF is the page as you see it — paper, rules and highlights included.

Print… (⌘P) prints the pages. The Share button in the editor header opens the macOS share sheet for the note's file.

A folder as a book

In the Library, right-click a folder and choose Export as One PDF…. Every note in the folder becomes one PDF, in order. If the notes render to no pages: There is nothing in that folder to make a book from.

Everything

File › Export Everything… zips the whole notes folder to a place you choose; the header reads Exported when it finishes. The same button lives in Settings › Backups as Export Everything Now….

Backups

Once a day, the first time you open the app, Cocoa zips your whole notes folder and keeps the last seven. Settings › Backups (Command-comma, fourth tab) lists them: one row per archive with its date, size and Show in Finder. Before the first one exists it reads None yet. One is made the first time you open the app each day.

Backups are kept on this Mac, outside the notes folder, so they are never synced into iCloud twice. To restore from one, unzip it in Finder and open the notes you need, or point File › Change Notes Folder… at the unzipped folder.

Version History

Every few minutes while you write, a version of the open note is kept, for thirty days. Help › Version History… (⇧⌘H) opens it as a sheet.

Click a version ① to see the difference ② against the note as it is now: removed lines on the left, current on the right, with a count of added and removed lines, or No changes. Restore This Version ③ asks Restore this version? and reassures: What is in the notebook now is saved as a version first, so this is reversible. The header then reads Saved. With no snapshots yet: No Versions Yet — A version is kept every few minutes while you write, for thirty days.

Sync through iCloud Drive

Cocoa has no account and no server. If you chose Use iCloud Drive at first launch (chapter 1), your notes folder lives in iCloud Drive and Apple syncs it to your other Macs. On each Mac, Cocoa keeps its own search index, versions and backups outside that folder, so only the notes travel.

Three screens belong to syncing:

• Downloading from iCloud — iCloud offloaded a note's contents to save space on this Mac. "iCloud is bringing it back, and it opens on its own." After about a minute without it: Still Waiting for iCloud — Check that this Mac is online and signed in to iCloud, with Try Again.
• This note changed on disk — the orange bar above the page (chapter 4) when the file changed while you had unsaved edits. Show Difference, Use Theirs, Keep Mine.
• Conflicts — if iCloud made a conflict copy of a note ("conflict from" in its name), a Conflicts section appears in the sidebar in orange. Right-click a row for Open the Original, Reveal in Finder, or Move to Trash once you have merged what you need.

Changing or forgetting the notes folder

• File › Change Notes Folder… picks a different folder to open. Choosing your home folder, Desktop, Downloads or another system folder brings a warning: That looks like a system folder — with Use It Anyway and Create a Notes Folder Instead.
• File › Forget This Folder… asks Forget this notes folder? — "Cocoa will close it and forget where it is. Your files are not deleted — you can open the folder again any time." It returns you to the welcome screen.
• File › Reveal in Finder (⌥⌘R) shows the open note's file; every note is a file you can copy, back up or open in any Markdown editor.

Maya moves from Notion

Maya exports her Notion workspace, unzips it, and chooses File › Import…, From: Notion Export, Choose Folder…, Into folder: Notion Archive, Import. The sheet reads Imported 38 notes. A week later she wants last Tuesday's version of Chapter 10: ⇧⌘H, click the version, read the difference, Restore This Version, Restore. At the end of term she right-clicks Accounting II and chooses Export as One PDF… — the whole course, one book.

Summary

• Import… brings notes from Markdown folders, Obsidian, Bear, Notion, Evernote, Apple Notes and Word.
• Export a note in seven formats, a folder as one PDF, or everything as a zip.
• Daily zips, the last seven, in Settings › Backups; versions of every note for thirty days in Version History (⇧⌘H).
• Sync is iCloud Drive; index, versions and backups stay on each Mac.

Common mistakes

• Importing a Notion export without unzipping it first.
• Expecting the backups inside the notes folder — they are kept outside it, and Show in Finder finds them.
• Editing one note on two Macs at once, then meeting a conflict copy.

Best practices

• Export a folder as one PDF at the end of each course.
• Restore from Version History rather than undoing a hundred times.
• Keep the notes folder in iCloud Drive if you use two Macs; on one Mac, This Mac is simpler.

Keyboard shortcuts used

Related features to learn next

• Chapter 1, Welcome and Setup — iCloud Drive or this Mac.
• Chapter 14, Settings and Customization — the Backups tab.
• Chapter 16, Troubleshooting and FAQ.