How to export and archive Apple Notes

Your notes feel permanent until they don’t. A lost device. A locked account. A sync glitch that lands like a bad knock at the door.

If you want to export Apple Notes for real, you’re chasing something plain: a folder you can store anywhere, that opens without Apple Notes, that still makes sense years from now. Paper-trail thinking for a paperless habit.

This is the practical part. The part where memory becomes files.

Decide what “archive” means before you touch Export

Apple Notes is friendly, but it’s not built like a filing cabinet. It’s built like a pocket. Quick. Close. Easy to lose.

So pick your “forever” formats first, because they decide what survives.

Markdown is your clean exit. It’s text you can read in almost any editor, now that Apple Notes supports exporting as Markdown on current systems (per Apple’s iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe documentation). It’s great for writing, checklists, meeting notes, and anything where the words matter more than the layout.

PDF is your snapshot. It’s what you choose when layout matters, when you want something that looks the same everywhere, when the note is a little museum display of images, tables, and scans.

Then there’s the messy truth: attachments.

A note can hide scans, PDFs, images, and other files inside it like contraband. When you export, those items don’t always come out in a neat, named bundle. Sometimes they appear as thumbnails inside the export. Sometimes they export as separate files. Sometimes the meaning stays, but the structure changes.

Also, expect losses:

• Tags, smart folders, and some metadata won’t travel well.
• Internal links between notes may not survive.
• “One export to rule them all” doesn’t exist. Bulk export is still clunky, and native tools are mostly one-note-at-a-time.

If you like thinking about your archive as a personal evidence locker, you’ll probably enjoy How the Memex Method Enhances Personal Archives. It’s the same itch, just scratched slower.

Export Apple Notes on Mac

Markdown, PDF, and the attachment problem

On a Mac, you can build a serious archive because Finder gives you room to lay things out. You’re not trapped in a share sheet maze.

If you want Apple’s official baseline, start with Apple’s guide to import, export, and print notes on Mac. Then do it like you mean it:

A Mac workflow that leaves you with readable files

1. Make an “Apple Notes Archive” folder in Finder.
   Inside it, create subfolders like Markdown, PDF, and Attachments. You’re building a small town, not a junk drawer.
2. Export text-heavy notes as Markdown.
   In Notes, open a note, then use the menu option to export as Markdown (macOS Tahoe adds this directly). Save it into your Markdown folder.
   Markdown is what you’ll still be able to read when everything else gets weird.
3. Export scan-heavy notes as PDF.
   If the note is mostly scanned pages, receipts, signatures, or a stitched-together life story, export as PDF and save into PDF.
   PDFs keep the visual truth intact.
4. Pull attachments out on purpose; this is the annoying part.
   Open the note and look for embedded files (PDFs, images, random documents). Drag attachments to your Attachments folder, one by one. Rename them like you’d label evidence bags: date, topic, short description.
   Don’t trust the export to name things for you. It won’t.

What happens to scans and PDFs?

Scans made inside Notes tend to behave like PDFs when exported to PDF. When exported to Markdown or opened elsewhere, they may appear as images or embedded objects, depending on the note and the destination app. The content is there, but it may lose its “scan” identity and become just another picture.

If you ever need a scan from Notes as a JPEG for another system, the workaround culture is alive and well. This Apple Support Community thread lays out one method using Mail and Preview: converting a scanned document/PDF in Notes.

The Mac is where you can be methodical. Slow hands. Clean folder names. A little patience. That’s the price of an archive that doesn’t rot.

Export Apple Notes on iPhone and iPad

And still end up with a real folder

On iPhone and iPad, exporting can feel like trying to file paperwork while moving. You can do it, but you need a plan.

Apple documents the native approach here: Apple’s guide to export or print notes on iPhone. The key is where you export to.

A mobile workflow that doesn’t trap you in Apple’s ecosystem

1. Create an archive folder in the Files app first.
   Use iCloud Drive, On My iPhone/iPad, or a third-party location you trust. Make it obvious: Apple Notes Archive. Add subfolders if you’ve got the stomach for it.
2. Export a note as Markdown (iOS 26 and iPadOS 26).
   Open the note, tap Share, then choose the option to export as Markdown. Save to Files.
   This is your best shot at “readable anywhere” on mobile.
3. Export as PDF when the note is visual.
   Use Share to export or print, then save as a PDF to Files. If you annotate with Markup, do it before you store it away.
4. Handle attachments like they’re separate objects, because they are.
   If the note includes a PDF, scan, or image, tap the attachment itself and share or save it to Files. Store it next to the exported note, with a name that tells the truth.

iPad bonus: your hands can do more

With iPad Split View, Notes on one side and Files on the other, you can move things faster. Drag attachments out. Drop them into the right folder. It’s still manual, but it feels less like fighting the interface.

A note on “new” export options

People are already talking about Markdown export in iOS 26 like it’s a jailbreak trick, even though it’s now built-in. If you want to see real-world reports and edge cases, this thread is a useful temperature check: iOS 26 Markdown export discussion.

Conclusion

You’re not backing up notes, you’re rescuing them

Exporting is a kind of confession. You admit the app won’t be there forever. You take your words and pictures out into the cold, and you give them a coat.

Tiny checklist: what to save, where to store, how to confirm it worked

• What to save: the note as Markdown or PDF, plus every embedded scan, PDF, and image as its own file.
• Where to store: a single “Apple Notes Archive” folder in Files or Finder, then copy it to an external drive or cloud you control.
• How to confirm: open a few exports without Notes, check that scans render, and make sure attachments open and aren’t zero-byte ghosts.