PulseMoving notes between workspaces
How to move notes to another workspace, the permissions needed, and what to watch out for.
You can move your notes in bulk between the workspaces you belong to. Use it when you change team, when consolidating several workspaces into one, or when moving to a personal workspace. This article covers moving them in bulk, what does not come with them, and the administrator settings.
You can only move between workspaces you belong to. This is done in the desktop app (macOS and Windows); the web version has no settings screen. Where an administrator has prohibited moving, the options in this article do not appear on screen.
Two ways to move notes
| What you want to do | What to use | What happens to folders |
|---|---|---|
| Move all your notes at once | Settings > Workspace > General > Danger zone > Move notes to another workspace | Folders you are the only member of move too |
| Move particular notes only | From the note's three-dot menu, Move to workspace | Folders do not move |
To carry notes over from an account on a different email address, use Moving notes from another account rather than this feature.
Moving them all at once
Open the workspace settings
Click your workspace name at the bottom left and choose Settings from the menu. Open General from the menu on the left.
Open the danger zone
Scroll to the Danger zone section at the foot of the page and find Move notes to another workspace.
Choose the destination
Move notes — click the button and choose the destination workspace from the list.
Review the preview and run it
It shows how many notes will move, which folders will move with them, and which shared folders notes will be detached from. To pick a different workspace click Back; to go ahead click Move notes.
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Once the move finishes, it shows how many notes and folders arrived in the destination workspace, with a button to switch to it.
- Switching to the destination workspace shows the moved notes in the list
- Notes you meant to leave behind have not moved unintentionally
- You have reorganised notes detached from shared folders in the destination
Moving individual notes
- In the note list, hover over the note you want to move.
- Click the three-dot menu that appears.
- Move to workspace — choose it.
- Choose the destination workspace.
This way, folders do not move. Reorganise the notes in the destination workspace.
What does not come with them
The subscription — a paid subscription stays with the original workspace. To carry on using paid features in the destination, switch back to the original workspace and cancel from Settings > Billing, then switch to the destination workspace and take out a new subscription. How long you can use it after cancelling is covered in About cancellation.
Shared folders — a folder you are the only member of moves with the notes and arrives as a private folder in the destination. Where you were the only member of the original workspace, the workspace's folders and chat history move too. A folder shared with others stays behind, and your notes inside it are detached from it; reorganise them in the destination. Moving individual notes with Move to workspace never moves folders at all.
Templates — these are not included in the move. To use the same templates in the destination, open Manage templates from your workspace name at the bottom left and recreate them.
Where your notes were in a folder shared with others, running the move detaches them from that folder. Notes your team was referring to disappear from view, so check what is affected on the preview screen before running it, and tell your team beforehand if need be.
Permissions needed
A workspace administrator can prohibit moving notes for security reasons. Where it is prohibited, neither the Move notes button nor the per-note Move to workspace item appears. Where you need to move notes, ask an administrator.
How an administrator enables it
- Settings — open it and choose General.
- Data security — open Data export permissions beneath it.
- Allow notes to be moved to another workspace — enable it.
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Enabling this setting lets users move their notes from a work workspace to a personal one. Organisations wanting to restrict information being taken out when someone leaves or changes team can leave it disabled and enable it temporarily, on request, when a move is needed. Whether a move is technically possible is decided by the setting; whether the information may be moved is a matter for your internal rules.
Decide these before moving
In a Japanese organisation, settling the following beforehand saves rework.
- How much to move — moving in bulk moves every one of your notes. You cannot leave some behind, so where you want to keep some, put them in a shared folder first or use the per-note move.
- The effect on your team — where notes will be detached from shared folders, members who were referring to them lose access. Check the counts in the preview and share a copy before moving if need be.
- Keeping records — for minutes your internal rules require to be retained for a period, the reliable approach is to export them to CSV with Exporting notes in bulk, separately from the move, and keep them in your document management system.
- Timing around a transfer — where a change of team means a change of workspace, complete the move before you are removed from the old workspace. Once removed, you can no longer reach the notes.
If something is not working
Q. I cannot find the option to move notes
A. Settings > Workspace > General — open it (your workspace name at the bottom left > Settings > General, under the Workspace heading) and look at the Danger zone section at the foot of the page. The item appears only where you have notes in that workspace and an administrator permits moving. If it is not there, ask an administrator to check the setting.
Q. I cannot choose a destination workspace (the list is empty)
A. You can only move to workspaces you belong to. Create one with Add workspace from your workspace name at the bottom left, or join an existing one, then run the move again.
Q. I moved them but the notes are not there
A. Check you have switched to the destination workspace; you can switch from your workspace name at the bottom left. If they are still not there, try the steps in Notes are missing.
Q. I want to undo a move
A. There is no feature to reverse a move automatically. You can move them back from the destination workspace to the original one with the same steps, but the links to shared folders are not restored; re-filing them into folders is manual.
Q. Paid features stopped working after the move
A. The subscription is still on the original workspace. Take out a subscription on the destination workspace from Settings > Billing. Where the original workspace's subscription is no longer needed, cancel it there.