What’s inside a NoteBound page archive?
A NoteBound archive is a ZIP with a readable Markdown version of each page alongside original documents, available attachments and a manifest that describes the collection.
Quick answer: The archive keeps more than one Markdown file. It contains a pages/ folder with one readable .md file per page, a documents/ folder with the original editable page documents, available page attachments, and a manifest.json describing page details and organization.
What the folders are for
pages/— readable Markdown versions of pages. They preserve common text formatting, headings, lists and checklists, page links, web links, dates and attachment links.documents/— the original editable page documents used by NoteBound. Keep these with the archive if you may restore the collection in NoteBound.assets/— original bytes for page attachments that are available on the device when the archive is made.manifest.json— page and attachment metadata, relationships and organization, plus a list of assets that could not be included.README.md— a short guide to the archive. Older saved canvas content may also have preview images or drawing files.
Markdown is the readable view, not the whole archive
Markdown makes the page text easy to open in a plain-text editor. Some editor-specific content does not have a direct Markdown equivalent, so the Markdown file may not reproduce every detail as it appeared in NoteBound. The original document is included separately for NoteBound’s restore path. Page links are written as relative links to other Markdown files in the same archive.
Check the missing-assets list
Attachments are device-local until they are available to the export process. If an attachment file is not available, the archive records its name in manifest.json rather than silently claiming it was included. Review that list when completeness matters. The export also has a 128 MB size limit; a large collection may need to be reduced before it can be exported.
What the page archive does not include
The portable archive is for pages. It does not include chat history. It is also different from sync: an archive is a file you keep or restore, while sync keeps supported account content up to date across your signed-in devices.
The Markdown files are readable copies, not a promise that every editor feature will behave the same in another app. NoteBound’s archive format preserves original documents and relationships for its own restore flow; this guide does not promise that an unrelated app can import the complete archive.
Keep the archive private
Pages and included attachments may contain personal writing or documents. Store the ZIP somewhere you trust and share it only when you intend to share its contents. NoteBound uses accounts and cloud services and is not end-to-end encrypted; an exported archive should not be treated as an encrypted vault file.
NoteBound is in development for iPhone and Mac. A public iPhone release has not launched, and the Mac installer is still being prepared. Read about NoteBound and its current availability for updates.