Written by Jennifer Walsh. Reviewed for technical accuracy by Shubham Dixit, Independent Expert in Email Forensics and Data File Conversion.
Shubham is an independent external reviewer and not an employee of PCDOTS.
Quick answer. Microsoft retired its Evernote to OneNote importer in 2022, so there is no one click bridge anymore. You export your notes from Evernote as ENEX, then get them into OneNote by copying small batches in or, for a whole notebook, converting the ENEX to a OneNote friendly format like Word or PDF and importing that.
On this page
The old free importer is gone
If you have followed an older guide, it probably told you to grab Microsoft’s free OneNote Importer and let it pull Evernote across. That tool no longer exists. Microsoft retired the Evernote to OneNote Importer in September 2022, and the download page now returns an error, so any guide still pointing you there is out of date. Microsoft’s own support now says there is no official tool for importing Evernote into OneNote. That sounds worse than it is. Evernote still exports cleanly, and OneNote still accepts your notes, you just bridge the gap yourself instead of leaning on the retired tool.
Export your notes from Evernote as ENEX
Either way you go, the first step is the same. Evernote saves notes in its own ENEX format, and that is what you export.
Step 1. Open Evernote on your computer and select one note, several, or a whole notebook.
Step 2. Go to File, then Export Notes, and choose the ENEX format.
Step 3. Save the ENEX file somewhere easy to find. That is your portable copy, ready to bring into OneNote.
One thing to know on a free Evernote plan, exports are capped at around 100 notes at a time, so a large library comes out in batches. With the ENEX in hand, pick the route that fits how much you are moving.
Evernote exports ENEX, and a converted Word or PDF becomes the bridge into OneNote.
Which way fits you?
It comes down to how many notes you have. For a small number, you can copy them into OneNote by hand and skip any tool. For a whole notebook, or several, a converter turns the ENEX into a OneNote friendly file in bulk and keeps the structure together. Here is how they compare.
Copy a handful of notes in by hand, or convert a whole notebook for OneNote in bulk.
Bring a few notes across by hand
If you only have a handful of notes, the simplest route needs no software at all. Open a note in Evernote, select its content, and copy it straight into a new page in OneNote. The text, links and inline images come across, and you drop it into whatever section you like. For a slightly larger set, open your exported ENEX notes and paste them page by page.
It is free and immediate, but it is one note at a time, so it stops being sensible once you are into dozens or hundreds. Formatting can also shift a little on a paste. For anything bigger, the converter below is the calmer path.
“With the official importer gone, ENEX is the part that saves you, because it is a clean, portable export you fully control. The trick is the stepping stone. OneNote will not read ENEX, but it will happily take a Word document or a PDF, so converting the ENEX to one of those first is what keeps the formatting and attachments intact. Keep the original ENEX as your backup either way.” Shubham Dixit, Email Data reviewer (draft, pending approval)
Move a whole notebook with a converter
For a full notebook, or years of notes, a converter is the reliable way now that the importer is retired. It reads your ENEX files and writes them into a OneNote friendly format like Word or PDF, in bulk, with the structure kept together. The PCDOTS ENEX converter loads one or many ENEX files, converts them to PDF, Word, RTF or plain text, and runs without Evernote installed. You then bring the results into OneNote, opening a Word file and pasting it in, or using OneNote’s Insert then File Printout for a PDF. It is a free download to try before you commit.
Converting ENEX files into a OneNote friendly format, then bringing them into OneNote.
In short, add your ENEX files, pick Word or PDF, save, then import the result into OneNote. If you would rather land your notes as plain text or Markdown instead, the same idea applies, and there is a separate guide to convert ENEX to Markdown or to export Evernote notes as text.
The two methods compared
When to copy by hand, and when a converter earns its place.
| Method | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Copy by hand | A few notes, free | One at a time, formatting can shift |
| ENEX converter | A whole notebook, bulk | ENEX to Word or PDF, structure kept |
| Old OneNote Importer | Nothing, it is retired | Gone since 2022, page now errors |
Frequently asked questions
Can OneNote import Evernote ENEX files directly?
No. OneNote cannot read ENEX, and Microsoft’s old Evernote importer was retired in 2022. You convert the ENEX to a OneNote friendly format like Word or PDF, or copy small notes in by hand.
Is there still a free way to move Evernote to OneNote?
Yes, for small sets. Export your notes as ENEX, then copy them into OneNote pages by hand. It costs nothing but is slow for large libraries.
How do I migrate a whole Evernote notebook to OneNote?
Export the notebook as ENEX, convert the ENEX to Word or PDF in bulk with a converter, then import those files into OneNote so the structure stays together.
Why was the Microsoft OneNote Importer removed?
Microsoft retired it in September 2022 and now points users elsewhere. Its download page returns an error, so any guide still linking it is out of date.
Do I need Evernote installed to convert ENEX files?
No. Once you have the ENEX files exported, a standalone converter reads them without Evernote installed on the machine.
Will my formatting and attachments survive?
Mostly, if you convert to Word or PDF rather than pasting raw. Those formats carry the layout and attachments into OneNote more faithfully than a plain copy and paste.
Your Evernote notebooks, moved to OneNote
The move is still very doable, it just no longer runs through Microsoft’s retired importer. Export your notes as ENEX first. For a few, paste them straight into OneNote for nothing. For a notebook or a whole account, convert the ENEX to Word or PDF in bulk and import that, which keeps the structure and attachments together. Hold on to the original ENEX as a backup, and your years of Evernote notes settle into OneNote intact.
