Apple Notes to Obsidian: How to Import Your Notes (2026)

You don't need to export Apple Notes first. On a Mac, Obsidian's free, official Importer plugin reads your notes straight from the Notes app's data and turns each one into a Markdown file. Folders, checklists, tables, tags, images, drawings and links between notes carry over. Locked notes are skipped, so remove their locks before you import.

This guide covers the setup, the import and what to check after. We make SystemSculpt, an AI plugin for Obsidian, so the last part shows how to add AI to the notes you bring over.

Checked on November 3, 2026, with Importer 3.1.16 and Obsidian's and Apple's own help pages, linked at the end.

Before you start

1. Use a Mac. Importer can only read Apple Notes on macOS. On an iPhone, iPad or Windows PC it says Apple Notes can't be exported from that device.
2. Open Notes on that Mac and let your iCloud notes finish syncing. Importer reads the copy of your notes stored on the Mac.
3. Install Obsidian and create a vault, or open the one you'll keep these notes in. A new, empty vault makes the first import easy to check.
4. In Obsidian, open Settings, then Community plugins, and turn them on if they're off.
5. Select Browse, search for Importer, then Install and Enable. Importer is made by the Obsidian team and is free.

Optional: unlock your locked notes

Apple encrypts locked notes, and Importer can't read them. It skips each one and lists it as "note is password protected". To bring a locked note over, remove its lock in Notes first:

1. Open the locked note in Notes.
2. Click the lock button next to the search field, at the top right.
3. Choose Remove Lock, then enter your password or use Touch ID.

You can lock the note again in Notes after the import.

Do you need to export Apple Notes?

No. Importer doesn't use an export file. It reads your Notes data on the Mac, so you skip the export step entirely.

Notes on a Mac can also export the note you've selected from its File menu, as a PDF and, in recent macOS versions, as Markdown. That's handy for a few notes, but Importer is quicker for a whole library and keeps your folders.

Import into Obsidian

1. Open Importer from the left ribbon or the command palette (Importer: Import notes).
2. On Import data into Obsidian, choose Apple Notes.
3. Look at Apple Notes data folder. If it shows no folder path, select Select folder. A Mac dialog opens on the group.com.apple.notes folder. Select Open without moving to another folder. This is how macOS lets Obsidian read your notes.
4. Under Folders to import, tick the folders you want, or choose Select all. Each folder shows how many notes it holds.
5. Select Continue.
6. Check the Output folder. It's Apple Notes unless you change it. Optionally change Attachment location, and turn on Include handwriting text to keep the text Notes recognized in your drawings.
7. Select Continue. Importer previews a few of your notes with the template it will use.
8. Select Start import and wait for it to finish. Save report lists anything skipped or failed.

If Importer says your Apple Notes database is in use, quit Notes and try again.

Each Apple Notes folder becomes a folder in your vault, with one note per Apple note. Notes in your main Notes folder go in the top level of the output folder. If you have more than one account, such as iCloud and On My Mac, each one gets its own folder.

What carries over and what doesn't

Here is what Importer 3.1.16's Apple Notes converter does with each kind of content.

Comes through:

• Folders and subfolders, as folders in your vault.
• Note names, taken from each note's first line. Omit first line, on by default, keeps that line from repeating at the top of the note.
• Titles, headings and subheadings, plus bold, italic, strikethrough, block quotes and monospaced text, which becomes a code block.
• Bulleted, dashed, numbered and nested lists.
• Checklists, as Markdown checkboxes, ticked where you'd ticked them.
• Tables, as Markdown tables, with the first row as the header.
• Tags, as Obsidian tags where you typed them in the note.
• Web links, and links to other notes as Obsidian links.
• Images, PDFs and other attachments, copied into your vault and shown in the note.
• Drawings, as PNG images. Scans, as images or, for scans edited with newer features, as PDFs.
• Highlights, as Obsidian highlights, each starting with a colored dot for the highlight color.
• Created and modified dates, as the file's own dates on your disk.

Changes or doesn't come through:

• Locked notes, unless you removed the lock as above.
• Smart Folders. They aren't listed. Their notes import from the folders they're actually in.
• Text color and fonts. Obsidian has no text colors, so they're dropped.
• Underline, superscript, subscript and centered or right-aligned text. These come in as HTML tags. They display in Obsidian, but you'll see the tags when you edit.
• Tags made only of numbers, like #2024. The text comes through, but Obsidian doesn't treat it as a tag. Rename those tags in Notes first, for example to #y2024.
• Drawings never downloaded from iCloud. Importer skips them. Open the note in Notes to fetch it, then import again.
• Created and modified dates as properties. They're on the file, not written in the note, so syncing or copying the vault can reset them. Add them with an Importer template if they matter to you.

You can run Importer again later. With Existing notes set to Update, the default, it brings in notes you've changed in Apple Notes and skips the rest. Importer adds an apple-notes-id property to each note so it can match them next time.

After the import, open a few of your busiest notes next to the original in Notes. Keep Apple Notes until you're happy with the result.

Add AI to your imported notes

Once your notes are Markdown files, any AI tool that reads files can work on them. If you already use Claude Code or Codex, install the free SystemSculpt plugin from Obsidian's community plugins. It runs your signed-in Claude Code or Codex in a chat pane in your vault on desktop, and can ask for your approval before each edit. You can ask it to tidy imported notes, add links between related notes or summarize a notebook. Chats are saved as Markdown notes in your vault. It needs no SystemSculpt account or plan.

For mobile chat, audio transcription and related-note search, eligible new accounts can claim 500 one-time starter credits with no card. Paid plans are $9 a month or $90 a year. Compare plans.

Questions

Do I need to export Apple Notes before importing? No. Importer reads your notes directly from the Notes app's data on your Mac. You only pick which folders to bring over.

Can I import Apple Notes into Obsidian on an iPhone, iPad or Windows PC? No. Importer reads Apple Notes only on a Mac. Open your vault in Obsidian on a Mac to import.

Is the Obsidian Importer plugin free? Yes. It's an official plugin made by the Obsidian team, free in Obsidian's community plugins.

What happens to my locked notes? Importer skips them, because Apple encrypts them. Remove the lock in Notes first, then import.

Can I import again after I add more notes? Yes. With Existing notes set to Update, Importer brings in new and changed notes and skips ones that haven't changed.

Sources

• Import from Apple Notes, Obsidian Help
• Importer, Obsidian Help
• Tags, Obsidian Help
• Obsidian Importer 3.1.16, GitHub
• Import, export, and print notes on Mac, Apple Support
• Lock your notes on Mac, Apple Support