# Apple Notes to Obsidian, kept in sync

Keep writing in Apple Notes and read every note in Obsidian.

## Steps

1. In Finder, make a folder for the export inside your vault, like `Vault/Apple Notes`. With no vault yet, make an empty folder and open it with Obsidian's "Open folder as vault" first.
2. In Exporter, press "connect" on the Apple Notes card, then "Select this folder" in the panel that opens.
3. Press "select export folder" and choose `Vault/Apple Notes`. Leave the `format` row on markdown.
4. Press "sync now". From then on every edit in Apple Notes is written to the vault while Exporter runs, window open or closed. Settings > "launch at login" keeps it going after a restart.
5. Optional: "install companion plugin" on Exporter's Obsidian card (or in Settings > OBSIDIAN) adds sync status inside Obsidian and opens any note back in Apple Notes.

## What you get

```text
Vault/
  .obsidian/
  Apple Notes/
    Studio/
      Poster, first pass.md
      attachments/
    bases/
      all-notes.base
      photo-notes.base
      all-attachments.base
  My own note.md
```

Each note's front matter shows as Properties, with `created` and `modified` as real dates that sort and filter, and `cover` pointing at the note's first image. Your #tags stay in the text, where Obsidian reads them as tags. `source_url` reopens the note in Apple Notes.

## Pitfalls

- Choose a folder of its own, not the vault's own folder, so your notes and Exporter's stay apart. A "full resync" removes only the files Exporter wrote: the notes you wrote in Obsidian and `.obsidian` with your settings and plugins stay.
- An edit to an exported file goes nowhere: Exporter replaces it the next time it writes that note. Write in Apple Notes, and keep your own notes outside the export folder.
- The bases filter by file type, so they list your own notes too, and they are rewritten on every export: to change one, copy it under a new name.

Moving to Obsidian for good? Its free [Importer](https://obsidian.md/help/import/apple-notes) copies Apple Notes once. Every field in the files, and each problem with its fix, is in [the Apple Notes docs](https://exporter.dev/docs/notes).

## Related

- [Apple Notes](https://exporter.dev/docs/notes): Folders, fields, HTML and fixes
- [Apple Notes in Claude](https://exporter.dev/guides/notes/apple-notes-in-claude): Claude searches your notes, on your Mac
- [Export Apple Notes to Markdown](https://exporter.dev/notes): Apple Notes as Markdown, kept in sync

---

human version: https://exporter.dev/guides/notes/apple-notes-to-obsidian
every page: https://exporter.dev/llms.txt