tanyasingsdido

Q: I don't think I understand Notes - please help

I'Ve had an iPad 3 for four years and have been sporadically using the Notes app. I probably have about 60 Notes all told, so not masses of stuff, but stuff I'd rather not lose nonetheless.

 

I don't have a Mac and haven't backed up to a PC for about two years. So far as I know, I've always had the iCloud option for Notes turned on in Settings, though I haven't been able to use full iCloud backup for everything on the iPad because I use my iPad for work and my employer's settings won't allow it.

 

Last week I updated my iPad software to the latest version. I had my work profile deleted from my iPad so that I coukd back up everything to iCloud, and then used the backup to set up a brand new iPhone SE (I haven't previously had a smartphone of any description).

 

Somewhere in this process, some of my Notes have disappeared. I now only have about half of them on my iPad, and there doesn't seem to be any logic to the ones that have disappeared. Meanwhile, I can only access a random selection of 12 Notes on my iPhone. I had assumed that all my Notes would be automatically available on the iPhone when I set it up from the backup.

 

Additionally I now see options that either weren't there before or I didn't notice: on the iPad, some of my Notes are described as iCloud Notes, and some are "on this iPad". In settings, I am not able to turn the "on this iPad" option off.

 

So, where have the missing Notes gone and how do I get them back?

Why have only some Notes been backing up to iCloud despite having that option turned on all the time I've been using it?

Why are only some of my Notes on my iPhone and how do I get them all to appear there?

What settings do I need to have turned on so that in future, any new Notes or changes I make on either iPhone or iPad will sync across both devices and will be backed up to iCloud?

 

Thanks!

Notes

Posted on Jun 19, 2016 2:44 AM

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Q: I don't think I understand Notes - please help

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  • Helpful answers

  • by mdesignffm,

    mdesignffm mdesignffm Jun 19, 2016 4:44 AM in response to tanyasingsdido
    Level 2 (306 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 19, 2016 4:44 AM in response to tanyasingsdido

    you do not write what versions of iOS you are using on your devices. on certain version changes, certain notes became incompatible.

     

    you write you 'deleted your work profile'. if this means you erased the present user account (apple ID) and replaced it with another, you lost all your icloud stuff while keeping only what was on your device and not related to icloud.

     

    updating icloud on bad or missing networks can also be an issue. i recently lost updates to notes due to this.

     

    you can check whether you will find your lost notes in your icloud account on icloud.com. sign in with your apple ID. click on the notes symbol.

     

    main problem is that you did not make a proper backup. the icloud is none, apple discourages this. backup regularly on a harddrive or other physical media via a computer.

  • by tanyasingsdido,

    tanyasingsdido tanyasingsdido Jun 19, 2016 3:58 PM in response to mdesignffm
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jun 19, 2016 3:58 PM in response to mdesignffm

    Thanks for your reply, that's helpful.

     

    i'm now on iOS 9.3.2 on both my iPad and iPhone. Before I updated the software on my iPad I wasn't using an iPhone at all, so there has never been a problem with different versions of software on differeny devices.

     

    My work profile was nothing to do with my iCloud ID or Apple account, which remained intact.

     

    I just went to icloud.com but couldn't see any option for logging in... I must be missing something!

     

    Doing a full backup on my PC always seems like overkill for what I need - there is very little on my iPad that I need to back up, Notes and Calendar are pretty much the only things and I thought that having them selected under the iCloud bit of Settings would be sufficient - if selecting that option doesn't lead to them being available on both of my devices, what is it doing?

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jun 19, 2016 4:11 PM in response to tanyasingsdido
    Level 8 (39,746 points)
    Jun 19, 2016 4:11 PM in response to tanyasingsdido

    When you go to http://www.icloud.com you should see:

    Screen Shot 2016-06-19 at 4.07.52 PM.png

    Log in using your Apple ID and password, and check your notes from there.

     

    While you're there, you should see this on the left side:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-06-19 at 4.09.38 PM.png

     

    Be sure to inspect "Recently Deleted".

     

    iCloud notes are not backed up, as "Recently Deleted" maintains them for thirty days.  This assumes you performed the Notes upgrade when switching to iOS 9.

     

    Upgrade your notes with iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan - Apple Support

  • by tanyasingsdido,

    tanyasingsdido tanyasingsdido Jun 20, 2016 8:55 AM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jun 20, 2016 8:55 AM in response to sberman

    Thanks - I managed to log in to iCloud this time, but when I go to Notes I don't get the sidebar with the 'all iCloud', 'Notes' and 'recently deleted' options - I just get a list of the same 12 Notes that are the only ones now on both my iPad and iPhone. Let's say I can't recover the lost notes - a shame and annoyance, but not earth-shattering. But how do I get the other 20-odd Notes that are on my iPad to be on my iPhone (and show up in iCloud) as well? And how do I make sure that changes and new Notes will sync across both devices? As I said before, I have the iCloud option checked for Notes in my iPad and iPhone settings - what is that actually doing if it's not handling back-up and syncing? This seems hopelessly complex to figure out compared to, you know, One Note or Evernote!

  • by mdesignffm,

    mdesignffm mdesignffm Jun 20, 2016 9:10 AM in response to tanyasingsdido
    Level 2 (306 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 20, 2016 9:10 AM in response to tanyasingsdido

    in notes, use the arrow in the upper left corner.

  • by tanyasingsdido,

    tanyasingsdido tanyasingsdido Jun 20, 2016 2:34 PM in response to mdesignffm
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jun 20, 2016 2:34 PM in response to mdesignffm

    This is all I see when I click that arrow:

     

    Capture.PNG

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jun 20, 2016 6:23 PM in response to tanyasingsdido
    Level 8 (39,746 points)
    Jun 20, 2016 6:23 PM in response to tanyasingsdido

    I believe you have become confused, especially regarding the "use the arrow in the upper left corner" comment supplied by someone else, that has nothing to do with the context we are discussing.

     

    Again, from http://www.icloud.com, click on the "Notes" icon:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 6.14.06 PM.png

    Then you should see this or something like it on the left:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-06-19 at 4.09.38 PM.png

     

    If you do not see the folders, it's likely you failed to upgrade your Notes when iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan were released.  Check that out and tend to it now:

    Upgrade your notes with iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan - Apple Support

  • by tanyasingsdido,

    tanyasingsdido tanyasingsdido Jun 22, 2016 3:08 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jun 22, 2016 3:08 PM in response to sberman

    So I've upgraded Notes and along the way learned that you can't log in to iCloud from Safari on an iPad, which was very confusing...

     

    I still didn't have the deleted items folder, so I tried deleting something I didn't really need and the folder appeared, with only that one note in it. Seems like the others are gone forever.

     

    Somewhere along the line the "on my iphone" and "on my ipad" options in settings have magically become unchecked, which is handy. Can I safely assume now that any new notes or changes will sync across both my devices?

     

    Thanks so much for your help and your patience.

  • by sberman,Solvedanswer

    sberman sberman Jun 23, 2016 3:39 AM in response to tanyasingsdido
    Level 8 (39,746 points)
    Jun 23, 2016 3:39 AM in response to tanyasingsdido

    Yes, this sounds good!

     

    If iCloud Notes is now your only option, then from now on, you should immediately have the same notes on your iPad as your iPhone ... in other words, change or create a note on your iPad and it will immediately be reflected on the iPhone.