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How to Export & Restore All Your Apple Notes Before Reformatting Your MacBook
If you’re planning to wipe and reinstall macOS (or move to a new MacBook), you’ll want to make sure your Apple Notes are backed up first. Apple doesn’t make this super obvious, and the built-in export tools aren’t perfect, so if you want a complete backup that you can restore exactly as they are now, you’ll need to take a few extra steps.
Here’s how I recommend doing it — and yes, I highly recommend a raw dump of the Notes files for the cleanest restore.
1️⃣ Sync to iCloud (Optional, but Recommended)
The easiest way to keep your notes safe is to have them syncing with iCloud.
Go to System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud.
Make sure Notes is turned ON.
Visit iCloud.com/notes to confirm your notes are there.
If they are, they’ll reappear after your reformat as soon as you sign in to your Apple ID again.
2️⃣ Do a Raw Dump of the Notes Database (My Recommendation)
This is the fastest and most complete method because it saves every note, attachment, and folder exactly as they are now — even if they’re local-only notes that aren’t in iCloud.
Here’s how:
Open Finder and press Shift + Command + G.
Paste:
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Copy
Edit
~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes
Copy the entire group.com.apple.notes folder to a safe place (USB drive, external SSD, cloud storage, etc.).
💡 This backup is your insurance policy. After the reformat, you can drop it back in the same place, and your notes will be instantly restored exactly how they were before.
3️⃣ Extra Safety: Export Individual Notes
If you want readable copies of your notes outside of Apple’s system:
Export as PDF: Open each note → File → Export as PDF.
Drag to Finder: You can drag notes or whole folders into Finder to get .rtf or .txt versions.
Use “Exporter” App: A free Mac utility that exports all notes to Markdown or TXT in one shot.
These are great for archive purposes, but they won’t let you restore Notes in their native format — that’s why I recommend the raw dump method.
4️⃣ Restoring Your Notes After Reformat
If you used iCloud:
Sign in to your Apple ID after reinstalling macOS.
Make sure Notes sync is on in iCloud settings.
Open Notes — everything will reappear automatically.
If you used the raw dump method:
Quit the Notes app completely.
Open Finder → Shift + Command + G →
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Copy
Edit
~/Library/Group Containers/
Replace the group.com.apple.notes folder with your backup copy.
Open Notes — everything will be there exactly as before.
Final Word
If you only rely on iCloud, you’re trusting Apple’s sync to keep your notes safe — and while it usually works fine, it’s not foolproof. That’s why I personally recommend doing a raw dump of the group.com.apple.notes folder before you reformat.
It’s the fastest, cleanest, and most complete way to guarantee you can restore your Apple Notes exactly how you had them — no retyping, no missing formatting, and no guessing.
