{"id":33717,"date":"2024-09-03T17:12:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/?p=33717"},"modified":"2024-09-03T17:12:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T15:12:00","slug":"notion-backup-and-migration-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/notion-backup-and-migration-guide\/33717\/","title":{"rendered":"Notion backup and data migration guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

A corrupted hard drive no longer need lead to the loss of all your data. Today there are cloud services: mail is stored in Gmail, files in Dropbox, notes in Apple Notes, and so on. But even with cloud services there\u2019s no doing without backup. Instead of corrupted drives, they present other surprises: for example, they might shutter<\/a>, hike subscription prices<\/a>, lose your data<\/a>, or use it to train AI<\/a>. And if your internet ever goes down, online-only data is useless.<\/p>\n

So as not to be caught off guard by sudden unavailability or policy changes, always back up your data on your own computer and protect it against ransomware<\/a>. And backups need to be both readable and usable without proprietary software. They should be able to either be exported to common standard formats (PDF, HTML), or migrated to a \u201cbackup\u201d app that works offline and without a subscription.<\/p>\n

There is no universal recipe here: each online service has its own procedure. Today we look at backing up data in Notion<\/a> \u2014 a knowledge base and note-taking app.<\/p>\n

Backup<\/h2>\n

Notion lets you export data in one of three formats: PDF, HTML or Markdown+CSV. You can export a single note, a group of notes, or even an entire database. But only business and enterprise subscribers can do a full export to PDF format.<\/p>\n

For most apps, we recommend exporting to HTML format, as it\u2019s free, saves all types of data, and can be viewed in any browser with no special software required.<\/p>\n

You can do the exporting on a desktop computer or mobile device. For small amounts of data, a ZIP-archive download is immediate; for large amounts, you receive a download link by email\u00a0\u2014 which arrives with some delay.<\/p>\n

To export several notes or a subpage, press the advanced menu icon (\u2022\u2022\u2022), select Export<\/em>, specify HTML as the export format, and include subpages and all types of content (Everything<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>

How to export all data from Notion<\/p><\/div>\n

An entire workspace can be exported from the desktop app or web interface. Go to the settings, and under Workspace \u2192 Settings<\/em>, click Export all workspace content<\/em>. In addition to the above settings, be sure to enable Create folder for subpages<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Only workspace administrators have this export option. For teamspaces, the export won\u2019t include other users\u2019 personal (hidden) pages created within the teamspace.<\/p>\n

\"Exporting<\/a>

Exporting a workspace from Notion<\/p><\/div>\n

Having unzipped the archive on your computer to a separate folder, you can open the index.html<\/em> file in it with any browser and freely navigate through your notes.<\/p>\n

Export to Obsidian or AFFiNE<\/h2>\n

To not only view saved notes but also be able to edit them without Notion, you have to migrate your data to another, similar app that works offline or on a server under your control. The list of possible alternatives to Notion warrants a long read all of its own, so here we\u2019ll limit ourselves to just two apps that Notion users often recommend<\/a> as a substitute.<\/p>\n

Obsidian<\/a> is an app for structured data storage that can work entirely offline, free of charge. There\u2019s a paid service \u2014 Obsidian Sync \u2014 for synchronizing multiple devices, but users manage without it by placing the storage (vault) in an iCloud folder, or by using third-party plugins<\/a> for synchronization with SFTP<\/a>, Amazon S3, Dropbox<\/a> or other services.<\/p>\n

To migrate data from Notion to Obsidian:<\/p>\n