--- type: Guide title: "How to move from Notion to plain markdown files — Oknola" description: "Export Notion as Markdown and CSV, clean the file names and links, turn database rows into files with fields, and end with a folder any AI can read." resource: https://oknola.com/guides/move-notion-to-markdown/ --- [Guides](https://oknola.com/guides/) · For solo founders # Moving from Notion to plain markdown files By [Ricardo Cardona](https://oknola.com/about/) · September 21, 2026 Export your workspace from Notion as Markdown and CSV, strip the IDs Notion adds to file names while fixing the links that point to them, turn each database row into its own file with fields at the top, and keep the result in one folder you own. A small workspace fits in a weekend, and an AI agent can do most of the repetitive cleanup while you check its work. ## Why people move A Notion setup looks great in its first month. Then the busy weeks come, the databases stop getting filled in, and the business lives inside someone else’s app. Plain markdown files open in any editor, show every change, and any AI agent that reads files can work on them without a connector. The trade is real: you give up Notion’s database views and live co-editing. Decide early what replaces them, and keep in Notion anything other people edit with you. ## Step 1: export - **One page and what’s under it:** the ••• menu at the top right of the page, then Export. - **The whole workspace:** Settings, then General under Workspace, then Export all workspace content. It’s there on desktop and web, for workspace owners. - **Format:** Markdown & CSV. Pages come out as markdown files. A full-page database comes out as a CSV file, plus a markdown file for each page in it. - **Keep “Create folders for subpages” on,** so the export mirrors your page tree. The export arrives as a zip. Keep the zip untouched as your backup, and work on a copy. ## Step 2: pick a route - **Clean the export yourself.** The steps below, with an agent doing the repetitive parts. - **Use Obsidian’s Importer plugin.** Connected to your Notion account, it keeps databases and their formulas and turns them into Obsidian Bases, importing each database’s primary view. From an exported zip, it converts the pages but not the databases. Either way, you end up with markdown. ## Step 3: clean the names and links Notion adds a 32-character ID to every exported file and folder name, and the links between pages point to those exact names. So removing the IDs isn’t only a rename: every link that points to a file has to change in the same pass. It’s exact, repetitive work, which suits an agent. Open Claude Code, Codex or Cursor in the copy and ask: ```text This folder is a Notion Markdown & CSV export. Remove the 32-character Notion IDs from file and folder names, and update every internal link to match, including URL-encoded ones. Change nothing else in the files. Stop and ask if two files would end up with the same name, and list what you renamed. ``` Check a sample by hand: open ten files, follow their links, and confirm each one lands. ## Step 4: turn databases into files with fields A row in a CSV isn’t something an agent can work with. Give each row its own file, with the columns as fields at the top. In the export, each database page lists its properties as plain lines under its title, so the conversion moves those lines into the fields: ```markdown --- type: Client description: Design partner, pilot since June. tags: [Client, Business] status: active next_step: Pilot review next_date: 2026-10-02 --- # Acme Corp The page's notes, as exported. ``` The `type` field follows OKF, the open standard for AI-readable markdown ([what OKF is](https://oknola.com/guides/what-is-okf-open-knowledge-format/)). Have an agent convert one database at a time from a template like this one, and check the first ten files before it does the rest. ## Step 5: check, then move in - Compare the number of files with the number of rows in each CSV. - Search for leftover IDs and broken links. An agent can list both. - Put the folder where you’ll keep it, and back it up. - Add a one-page context file at the top, so any agent knows where things live ([how to stop re-explaining your business to every AI](https://oknola.com/guides/stop-re-explaining-your-business-to-ai/)). ## Where Oknola fits A folder of plain markdown was the right instinct, and Oknola keeps it a folder. Point Oknola at the result, and it types, tags and files what lands in it, so the structure you just built doesn’t slide back into a pile. The structure is fixed and enforced, so there’s nothing to redesign in a busy month, and an agent gets only the tags you allow. Leaving is copying a folder. [What is available today is on the roadmap](https://oknola.com/roadmap/). ## Questions people ask ### Will I lose my database views? In plain markdown, yes: the rows become files and the views go. Obsidian’s Importer can rebuild each database’s primary view as a Base when it connects to your account. Otherwise, one file per row with good fields lets an agent answer the question a view used to answer. ### Can I keep using Notion for some things? Yes. Keep what others edit with you there, such as a shared wiki, and move the records only you work on day to day. ### What happens to images and attachments? They come with the export, in folders beside their pages. Keep them next to the file that links to them, and check that those links still work after the rename. ### How long does it take? The export is quick. The cleanup is the work, and its length depends on how many databases you have. An agent handles the repetitive part, and you check its output. Ricardo Cardona Builds Oknola, the company brain for one-person businesses. Ten years and 100+ business systems delivered for real companies. [About Oknola](https://oknola.com/about/) [How Oknola works for solo founders](https://oknola.com/use-cases/solo-founders/) Waitlist ## Start with the folder. The free app comes first, on macOS and Android. Early access opens in waves.