Can I convert Evernote to Markdown for free?

Yes. Export your notebooks from the Evernote desktop app as .enex files, then run them through a free, open-source converter such as yarle (a desktop app and a command-line tool) or evernote2md (a command-line tool). For one or a few notebooks they are often all you need.

Can Evernote export Markdown by itself?

No. The Evernote desktop app exports ENEX, its own format, or HTML. To get Markdown you export ENEX and convert it with another tool.

Are my images and attachments kept?

They are inside the .enex file, so a converter can write them out as files. With this2that, each notebook folder has an attachments folder with the files under their own names, and each note links to its own with a relative path, so images show in editors that display them.

Which apps can open the Markdown files?

Any app that reads Markdown: Logseq, VS Code, Typora, Bear and many more. If you are moving to Obsidian, a converter made for it will also name notes by title and turn links between notes into [[links]].

Does converting delete anything from Evernote?

No. Exporting makes a copy. Your notes stay in Evernote until you delete them yourself, so keep your account until you have checked the files.

How to convert Evernote to Markdown

Evernote does not export Markdown, but its .enex export converts well. Here are two free converters, step by step, and a way to convert every notebook at once with attachments linked and the details of each note kept.

Rather not use the command line? this2that converts your Evernote export to plain Markdown with nothing to install. The first 50 notes are free.

Evernote to Markdown →

Evernote notebooks exported as .enex files become Markdown: a folder per notebook, one .md file per note, and an attachments folder

Before you start

You need the Evernote desktop app. Evernote only exports from its app for Mac and Windows, as ENEX or HTML, not Markdown, and not from the web or your phone. Install it, sign in, and let it finish syncing.
On Evernote Free? The free plan is now 50 notes and one notebook, but over the limit you can still view, edit and export your notes.
Know where the files are going. Plain Markdown suits Logseq, VS Code, Typora, a Git repository or an archive. Moving to Obsidian? Our Evernote to Obsidian guide covers a vault with [[links]].
Decide what you want in each file. Tags, dates, the notebook and the address of clipped pages can go in a block of frontmatter at the top. Check that your converter keeps the ones you need.

Step 1: Export your notebooks from Evernote

Open the Evernote desktop app and go to Notebooks.
Right-click a notebook (or open its More actions menu) and choose Export Notebook.
Choose ENEX as the format and save the file into one folder you keep for the export.
Repeat for every notebook.

Evernote exports whole notebooks, or up to 100 notes you pick by hand, and lets you set how large an .enex file may get, from 300 MB to 2 GB. Keep the file names Evernote gives: each one is the notebook's name. Our guide to exporting all your Evernote notes covers the 100-note limit, phone and web accounts, and a free tool that exports a whole account at once.

Method 1: A free converter

Two free, open-source converters are widely used. Neither is made by Evernote or by us, and both are worth trying on one notebook first.

yarle

yarle has a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux, and also runs from the command line. Its README says it converts links between notes, images, attachments and web clips, puts attachments in a _resources folder, and keeps each file's dates as the note's. The details of each note (title, dates, tags, notebook, source address) go where you put them in a template you can edit, and it has settings for Obsidian and Logseq.

Download yarle for your system from its GitHub page and open it.
Point it at your .enex files, choose where the Markdown should go and which template to use, then convert.
Open a few notes with images and links and check them before you convert the rest.

evernote2md

evernote2md is a small command-line tool with no dependencies. It writes one Markdown file per note, images into an image folder and other files into a file folder with the links kept, tags as text in the note, optional frontmatter, and file dates that match the note's.

Install it: brew install evernote2md on a Mac with Homebrew, or download the release for your system from its GitHub page.
Run evernote2md Notebook.enex notes. The input can also be a folder of .enex files.
Run evernote2md --help for the options, such as frontmatter and how tags are written.

When it is enough: one or a few notebooks, and you are comfortable picking options or using a terminal. Check notes with attachments and web clips before you trust the rest.

Try it now

Every notebook at once, no terminal

this2that turns all your .enex files into plain .md files: a folder per notebook, attachments alongside and linked, the details of each note in its header. Your first 50 notes are free.

Convert to Markdown→See what you get

Method 2: this2that, every notebook at once

This is the tool we make, so weigh this section accordingly. There is nothing to install: you use it in your browser. It does not connect to Evernote: it works from the .enex files you exported in Step 1.

Open Evernote to Markdown, sign in, and add all your .enex files at once.
Browse your notebooks and notes like folders and preview how any note will look. Tick whole notebooks or single notes, then press Convert.
Download the zip and unzip it.
Open the folder in your editor. Move a notebook folder as a whole so its images keep showing.

What you get:

A folder per notebook, named after the file you exported, with one .md file per note named after its title.
An attachments folder inside each notebook folder, with images and files under their own names. Each note links to its own with a relative path.
Links between notes turned into links to the other note's file, when you convert that note too.
Frontmatter at the top of each file with the title, created and updated dates, notebook, tags and, for web clips, the address of the page.
Web clips saved as whole pages trimmed to the article, without the menus and ads around it.
A report of what was converted and anything to check, such as links to notes you did not include.

The conversion runs in the cloud, so you can close the tab while it works, and your export is deleted after 7 days. Your first 50 notes are free. After that you buy a one-time pack by number of notes: up to 1,000 notes $29, up to 10,000 notes $49 and up to 50,000 notes $99. Packs stack, and a note counts once, so converting the same notes again for another app, such as Obsidian, costs nothing.

Which method should you use?

A notebook or two, and you like to tweak: yarle or evernote2md. They are free, and yarle's templates give you a lot of control.
Many notebooks, attachments you want linked, no terminal: this2that, which converts every notebook in one go and tells you what it could not.
Not sure yet? Convert one notebook each way and compare. this2that's first 50 notes are free, and you can preview any note before converting.

After the conversion

Compare the number of files in a few folders with what Evernote shows for those notebooks.
Open notes with images, PDFs, checklists and tables and check they read right.
Search the files for a few tags and dates you know, to check the frontmatter came across.
Keep your Evernote account, and your .enex files, until you are sure nothing is missing.