Export Apple Notes as md format (Markdown)
Transform your notes into developer-friendly, future-proof text files.
Quick Answer
"To export Apple Notes to Markdown (.md) format and preserve your attachments for tools like Obsidian, use Apple Notes Exporter Pro. It automatically converts formatting to standard Markdown syntax and handles image links and folder structures in a few clicks."
Markdown (.md) has become the de facto standard for technical writing, personal knowledge management (PKM), and developer documentation. If you're moving your notes to Obsidian, Logseq, or Roam Research, or if you just want to keep your notes in a simple, open format, exporting to Markdown is essential.
Apple Notes Exporter Pro converts your Apple Notes into clean, standard Markdown, and it handles attachments and images along the way.
✓Why Markdown (.md)?
The Export Process
1. Select Markdown in Settings
In the Apple Notes Exporter Pro dashboard, select "Markdown (.md)" from the export format dropdown menu.
2. Manage Attachments
The app will automatically create an "attachments" subfolder for each exported note (or a global one) and link them correctly within your .md files using standard Markdown syntax.
3. Preserve Metadata
Enable "Front Matter" to include metadata like tags, folder paths, and dates at the top of your Markdown files. This is perfect for Obsidian users.
--- title: Project Brainstorm date: 2026-04-12 folder: Ideas/AI --- # Project Brainstorm This is a note from Apple Notes. ## Tasks - [x] Research API - [ ] Build prototype 
What survives the export, and what to check
Markdown is a text format, so anything that is really text comes through cleanly. Anything that is really a picture or a file comes through as a link to a picture or a file. Knowing which is which before you export saves a lot of surprise later.
| In Apple Notes | In the .md file | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Title, Heading, Subheading | #, ##, ### | Clean. Every Markdown app reads these. |
| Bold, italic, strikethrough | **, _, ~~ | Strikethrough is a GitHub-flavored extension, not core Markdown. Obsidian renders it; a strict CommonMark viewer shows the tildes. |
| Checklists | - [ ] and - [x] | Task lists are also a GitHub-flavored extension. They are the item most often reported as imperfect in Apple's own export, so open one exported checklist and confirm the boxes and their ticked state before trusting a whole library. |
| Tables | | pipe | tables | | Notes tables are simple grids with no merged cells, which is exactly what Markdown tables can express. These convert well. |
| Inline images |  | The image becomes a file on disk and the note links to it. The note is only portable while the attachments folder travels with it. |
| PDFs, audio, scanned documents | [file](attachments/...) | Saved as the original file and linked. The contents are not converted into Markdown text. |
| Handwriting and sketches | image | Exported as a picture. Nothing turns handwriting into text. |
| Locked notes | not exported | A password-locked note is encrypted on disk and no export tool can read it. Unlock it in Notes first, then export. |
The optional block at the top of each file (title, date, folder) is a convention rather than part of Markdown itself. Obsidian reads it as note properties. Other apps treat it differently. Logseq, for example, has its own key:: value property syntax. Check how your destination handles a YAML block before you rely on it, or leave it off for the cleanest possible files.
Since macOS 26 and iOS 26, Notes can export Markdown natively, and for a handful of notes that may be all you need. It has known limits on a whole library: every note lands in one flat folder, and checklists and attachments are the parts people report trouble with. We cover each of these separately: what the native export does and does not do, why folders come out flat and four fixes, the checklist problem, and what goes wrong on large libraries.
When Markdown is the right format
Pick Markdown when you want Apple Notes content in an open text format with headings, lists, links, and optional metadata. You get clean, portable Markdown files that stay readable in any text editor.
Not sure Markdown is the right choice? Compare it against the other formats on the Notes Exporter Pro blog index.
Common Questions
Is the exported Markdown compatible with Obsidian?
Yes. The export is standard Markdown, which Obsidian, Logseq, and other PKM tools all read. The optional YAML front matter is an Obsidian convention; Obsidian treats it as note properties, while other apps such as Logseq use their own property syntax, so switch it off if your destination does not use it.
How are images handled in the Markdown export?
The tool automatically extracts images and attachments into a dedicated folder and creates correct Markdown links (e.g., ) within your .md files.
Can I preserve my Apple Notes folder structure?
Absolutely. The tool mirrors your Apple Notes folder hierarchy exactly on your file system, creating corresponding folders for each of your note categories.
Switch to Markdown Today
Don't let your notes be locked in a proprietary database. Take control with Apple Notes Exporter Pro.