Evernote says ‘small number’ of users affected by data loss bug, offers them free year of Premium

Evernote has started notifying Evernote for Mac users via email informing them that they should update the app as soon as possible. In the email, the company says that this is due to a recently discovered bug that could cause images and other attachments to be deleted from a note “under specific conditions.” Text notes, however, are unaffected.

Evernote points out that not everyone is affected, saying “a small number of people” were hit by the bug. Nevertheless, Evernote says that once the problem was identified, it worked quickly to resolve it and attempted to restore all lost attachments, though it wasn’t entirely successful.

While some attachments were able to be saved by Evernote, users themselves may be able to salvage some through the service’s note history feature, which is only available to Evernote Premium customers.

In a move that might be a little too late, though, Evernote is offering everyone affected by the attachment loss bug one free year of Evernote Premium to “make amends” and offer improved customer support via chat and email. If you already have Premium, Evernote says the gift code can be used to either extend your subscription for one year or saved as Points for use down the line.

Personally, I’m a big Evernote user but was not affected by this bug. It’s unclear just how widespread the issue is, but either way, be sure to update Evernote for Mac to the latest version as soon as possible.

The full email that was sent out is below:

We have identified a bug in some versions of Evernote for Mac that can cause images and other attachments to be deleted from a note under specific conditions. We believe you are one of a small number of people impacted by this bug.

Please update Evernote on your Mac to the latest version as soon as possible:
• From the menu, go to Help > Check For Updates…
• If you do not see this menu option, update through the Mac App Store or from our website

The bug can occur in the version of Evernote for Mac released in September, and less frequently in versions released since June. In these versions, certain sequences of events, such as skimming quickly through a large number of notes, can cause an image or other attachments to be deleted from a note without warning. Text in notes is not affected.

Once we identified the problem, we worked quickly to implement a solution and attempted to restore all lost data. Unfortunately, some of your attachments couldn’t be automatically restored. However, you may be able to recover your attachments using Evernote’s note history feature available through Evernote Premium.

We are giving your account one free year of Evernote Premium to make amends and give you access to priority customer support via chat or email. If you already have Premium, the gift code can be used to extend your subscription for one additional year, or banked as Points to use for later.

We understand how important your notes and attachments are, and we apologize. Again, please update your app as soon as possible to prevent any further loss of data.

The Evernote Team