Migrate from Notion

Migrate from Notion

Folio has no Notion importer. The honest path is: export from Notion as Markdown, put the files in a Git repository, and create a space from that repository. It is a manual job, we have not tested it on a real Notion export, and databases do not move over automatically. If you need a one-click import, say so in Discussions.

When it is worth it

Pages and plain content move well because they become Markdown files. Notion databases, relations, rollups, formulas and board or calendar views do not. Count how much of your workspace is documents and how much is databases before you start.

Step by step

1. Export from Notion. Export a page with its subpages, or the whole workspace (only workspace administrators can export everything, and a large export can take hours). Choose Markdown & CSV. See Notion's export help.
2. Unzip and look. Pages are .md files in folders; databases arrive as .csv files. Notion adds an id to file and folder names, which you can clean up before the commit, or leave (page titles in Folio come from the first # heading, then from the file name).
3. Put the files in Git.

   cd notion-export
   git init -b main
   git add .
   git commit -m "Notion export"
   git remote add origin git@github.com:your-team/team-wiki.git
   git push -u origin main

   Use a private repository on GitHub or GitLab. Folio has saved tokens for those two hosts.
4. Create the space. In Folio: New space, From a git repository, enter the address and branch. A repository that already holds files connects with a light footprint by default: Folio writes no id into your files and git status stays clean after the scan.
5. Check the result. Open the tree, a few pages with images, and the graph with Unresolved links switched on (Graph) to find links that did not survive the export.
6. Move the databases by hand. Open a CSV in a spreadsheet, copy the cells, create a Folio data table and paste: the paste dialog lets you mark the first row as a header, set the type of each column and append or replace rows. Then add views and filters (Data Tables and Forms).
7. Rebuild access. Notion permissions are not exported. Set roles per space and narrow single pages (Sharing and Permissions).

Optional cleanup with an agent

Folio AI in Agent mode, or any MCP client, can restructure sections and fix headings inside your rights. Work on a copy of the space first; every change is a Git commit and can be reverted.

Limits

• Notion databases, relations, rollups, formulas and views are not converted. Rows come over as pasted cells only.
• Only ordinary Markdown links and Obsidian-style wikilinks are rewritten when pages move; other link forms are indexed but left as written (LIMITATIONS.md).
• File names of pages you create later are Latin only; existing files keep their names.
• Tables above 20,000 rows open read-only.

See also

Folio vs. Notion · Notion alternatives · Migrate from Obsidian (the same "space from a git repository" mechanics)