How to Export Notes on Mac in 2026: One Note or All of Them

To export a note on a Mac, select it in the Notes app and choose File > Export as > PDF or Markdown in macOS Tahoe, or File > Export To in macOS 27, then click Save. Notes exports one note at a time. To export every note at once, you need a separate app such as Exporter or Obsidian's Importer, or Apple's data request.

Exporting usually happens at a turning point: a client wants the notes from a workshop, you're moving to a Markdown app, or you just want a copy of years of thinking that doesn't live only inside Apple's database. When I moved my working notes into a Markdown folder, the single-note export was fine for a few notes and painful after that. This guide covers both jobs: every built-in way to get one note out, and the honest options for getting all of them out.

How to export a single note on Mac

The Notes app exports the selected note from the File menu, and the menu wording depends on your macOS version. Check yours under Apple menu > About This Mac before you go looking.

macOS 27

In macOS 27, Apple's Notes guide puts both formats under one menu item:

1. Open the Notes app and click the note you want.
2. Choose File > Export To, then pick PDF or Markdown.
3. Type a new name if you want one, and add Finder tags if you like to search by tag.
4. Choose a folder and click Save.

macOS Tahoe 26

macOS Tahoe added Markdown next to PDF. Apple's Tahoe version of the guide lists the steps this way:

1. Open Notes and click the note.
2. Choose File > Export as, then PDF or Markdown.
3. Rename the file if you want, then click Save.

macOS Sequoia and earlier

Before Tahoe, PDF is the only export format. Apple's Sequoia guide says to click the note and choose File > Export as PDF, then name it and click Save. If you need editable text on an older Mac, use the Pages route below instead.

Which format to pick comes down to what happens next. A PDF is for a person: it opens the same way on any computer and nobody edits it by accident. Markdown is for another app: it's plain text with light formatting, which note apps, writing tools and websites can read. When I send workshop notes to a client, I export a PDF, because the client only needs to read them and I don't want a version floating around that someone else changed.

How to copy a note as Markdown

In Notes on macOS 27, you can copy part of a note as Markdown without saving a file. Apple's macOS 27 guide describes it:

1. Open the note in Notes.
2. Select the text you want.
3. Choose Edit > Copy as Markdown, then paste it wherever you need it.

This is the quickest way to move a checklist or a few headed sections into a document, a GitHub issue or a chat message that understands Markdown. It works the other way too: Apple says Markdown pasted into Notes shows up as formatted headings and lists.

How to export a note to Pages or Word

Notes can send a note straight into Pages, Apple's free word processor, and Pages can then save it as a Word file. Apple's Sequoia Notes guide gives the steps, and says to update Pages if the menu item is missing:

1. Click the note in Notes.
2. Choose File > Open in Pages.
3. In Pages, choose File > Save. The file name starts as the note's title.
4. For a Word file, choose File > Export To in Pages and pick Word. Apple's Pages export guide also lists PDF, EPUB, plain text and RTF.

One thing to know before you start editing: the Pages copy and the note are separate from that moment on. Apple says changes don't sync in either direction, so finish your edits in the note first, or decide that Pages is now the real version.

How to save a note as a PDF from the Print dialog

Any Mac app that prints can save a PDF, and Notes is one of them. This is the fallback when the Export menu doesn't do what you want, or you'd like a password on the file. The steps come from Apple's Mac guide to saving PDFs:

1. Open the note and choose File > Print (or press Command-P).
2. Click the PDF pop-up menu at the bottom and choose Save as PDF.
3. Name the file and choose where it goes.
4. Optionally, click Security Options to require a password to open, copy or print it, then click Save.

How to send a copy of a note to someone

If the goal is getting a note to another person rather than a file on your disk, Send a Copy is faster than exporting. Apple's guide to sending notes says to open the note, click the Share button, choose Send a Copy, and pick one of these:

• AirDrop: the formatted note lands in the other person's Notes app once they accept it.
• Mail or Messages: the formatted note goes into a new message for you to address. (If you live in Mail, my Apple Mail guide covers the rest of that app.)
• Freeform: the note is added to a board you choose.
• Reminders: a reminder with a link to the note goes into the list you pick.

A copy is a snapshot. The person can't edit it and won't see later changes unless you send it again. If you both need to keep working in it, share the note for collaboration instead.

How to export all notes from a Mac at once

The Notes app has no built-in way to export every note in one go. Each export option in Apple's guide works on one note. For a bulk export, you have three realistic choices, and the right one depends on where the notes are headed.

Exporter: a folder of Markdown or HTML files

Exporter is a free Mac app that writes your notes out as Markdown or HTML. According to its App Store listing, it puts each Notes folder into its own directory, keeps each note's creation and modification dates, renames duplicates so nothing overwrites, and handles attachments such as PDFs, scans and videos (non-image attachments become links after the note's text). It needs macOS 10.15 or later. Two extras cost money in the US store: a Notebook Filter for exporting chosen folders and Scheduled Backups, at $4.99 each.

Exporter is the one I'd reach for when I just want an archive: a folder of plain files that any app, now or in ten years, can open.

Obsidian Importer: straight into a Markdown note app

If you're moving to Obsidian, its official Importer plugin reads your Apple Notes directly. Obsidian's help page gives the steps:

1. In Obsidian, open Settings > Community plugins, install Importer and turn it on.
2. Open Importer from the command palette or the ribbon icon.
3. Under File format, choose Apple Notes, then click Import.
4. When asked to select the group.com.apple.notes folder, click Open. This lets Obsidian read your Notes data.
5. Review the template and previews, then click Import.

Obsidian says Importer keeps tables, images, drawings, PDFs and links, and works on macOS only. It skips locked notes, so unlock those first.

Apple's data request: a copy of your iCloud notes

Apple will send you a copy of the data in your Apple Account, and its data request page lists notes among the iCloud data included. Sign in at privacy.apple.com, choose Request a copy of your data, select what you want and click Continue. Apple lets you know when it's ready, and the download stays available for 14 days.

Two limits matter here. The request covers iCloud data, and Apple says on-device data is generally excluded, so don't count on notes in the On My Mac account being in it. And with Advanced Data Protection turned on, iCloud Notes get end-to-end encryption, per Apple's iCloud security overview, and Apple excludes data it can't decrypt. Treat this route as a safety net, not your main export.

Locked notes, attachments and other things that trip up exports

Most failed exports come from a handful of predictable cases. Run through these before you assume a tool is broken.

• Locked notes: Apple's guide doesn't say how File > Export treats a locked note, so open it with its password first. Obsidian's Importer skips locked notes entirely. If you send a copy while a locked note is open, Apple says the recipient can read it without the password, so be deliberate about that.
• Attachments: Apple's export steps don't describe what happens to photos, scans and files inside a note. Check the exported file, and if an attachment matters, keep its own copy too.
• On My Mac notes: these are stored on that Mac rather than in iCloud, so don't rely on Apple's data request for them. Export them on the Mac itself.
• Missing Markdown option: you're on macOS Sequoia or earlier. Update macOS, use Exporter, or go through Pages for editable text.
• Missing Open in Pages: Apple's fix is to update Pages from the App Store.

Which export method should you use?

Pick by where the notes are going, not by which method looks easiest.

• One note for a person to read: File > Export as PDF.
• One note into another app or a website: Markdown export, or Copy as Markdown for a section.
• One note someone needs to edit in Word: Open in Pages, then export to Word.
• Everything, as a backup folder: Exporter.
• Everything, into Obsidian: Obsidian's Importer.
• Everything, with no new app: Apple's data request, if your notes are in iCloud without Advanced Data Protection.

If many of your notes are meeting notes, it may be worth rethinking where those live before you export them. The AI note-taking comparison covers apps that write meeting notes for you, and the Granola alternatives page looks at the options in more detail.

Before you move or delete your notes

1. Unlock any locked notes you want in the export.
2. Export, then open a sample of files, including ones with images and checklists.
3. Keep the export somewhere other than your Mac's desktop, such as an external drive or a cloud folder.
4. Leave the originals in Notes for a few weeks until you're sure nothing is missing.

Deleting the originals is the only step you can't take back, so it goes last.