Save Notes to Pages

Hello


I think I'm right in saying that I can't access deleted or old versions of Notes documents via Time Machine back ups...


If that is the case is there a way I can copy all of them to something I can back up (like Pages) in one go? I realise I could do this manually by copying and pasting each individual note, but I've got hundreds of the things...


Even better would be a way of getting all Notes documents (including all previous versions) to back up to Time Machine as they are created/revised. Perhaps via a workflow that automatically copied documents created in Notes to Pages along with subsequent revisions.


Is this possible?


I'm using High Sierra on an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015), iPad 2 iOS 9 (it creaks but it's still trying) and iPhone SE


Cheers all

Dave

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.5)

Posted on Oct 12, 2018 4:31 AM

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3 replies

Oct 12, 2018 9:08 AM in response to Dave Daveness

All notes are stored in a sqlite3 database buried within your local Library hierarchy, and thus, are not stored as individual files. These database files do get backed up by Time Machine.


The AppleScript dictionary for Notes does allow access to the Note folder, its individual notes, and the name, unformatted body text, and creation date of the individual notes. So one could, given the individual Note folder name, iterate through its individual notes and their content — shoving that information into a variable that could then subsequently be written/appended to a Pages document. There would be no simple means to eliminate duplicate Note content in Pages. It would also require someone to write and test the Launchctl script to run the AppleScript once a week at a given time.


Although in theory, I could write this, I simply don't have the available time to do so.

Oct 12, 2018 6:18 AM in response to Dave Daveness

No.


Within a Note folder, you can only select a single note's body text at a time, and drag/drop onto Pages v7.2. You cannot drag/drop just the title of the individual note into Pages, as that does nothing. You can also do the same thing by selecting the individual note title and exporting to PDF. If that is a single-page PDF, that too can be dropped onto a Pages v7.2 document as a document object. The time stamp above the note's body text remains unselected, whether drag/dropped, or exported as PDF — so no automatic means to register the note's date/time.

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Save Notes to Pages

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