Derryl S
Level 2 (220 points)
Desktops

Q: iPhone notes do not sync to Mac

I use iCloud on a limited basis - Find My iPhone, iCloud Drive, Reminders, Notes, and News. Settings for iCloud show those three items turned on. Unfortunately, Notes does not sync to the Mac now or ever. Settings for iCloud show the Mac and iPhone are signed in to iCloud. I don't know if News is syncing to iCloud as there is no icon for it on the iCloud web page.

 

In iCoud settings on the Mac, there is not a single entry in notes even though there are 15 different notes on the phone any of which are changed daily as to do lists. On the phone there is a 0 for notes under iCloud.

 

As far as I can tell, Notes should be working, but I can't tell what is wrong.

Mac Pro (Mid 2010), OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), 2.8 GHz Quad, 6 GB ram, 4-1TB drive

Posted on Jul 17, 2016 8:02 PM

by Derryl S,Solvedanswer
Derryl S Derryl S
Level 2 (220 points)
Desktops
A:

The problem has been solved. It was not a problem with iCloud or setup, but was not having any documentation explaining that notes under the "on my iPhone" do NOT sync to the cloud but only those notes entered under the iCloud header.

 

I tried a test note under the iCloud header and it worked fine. To me, I thought that notes entered on the phone would sync - not very intuitive!

 

I ended up copy/pasting sixteen sets of notes that were in 6 different folders.Tedious, but it worked.  Why isn't there just notes? Other apps don't appear to work that way!

Posted on Jul 19, 2016 8:16 PM

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Derryl S

Q: iPhone notes do not sync to Mac

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Jul 18, 2016 1:25 AM in response to Derryl S
    Level 6 (8,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2016 1:25 AM in response to Derryl S

    In Settings > Notes is 'On my iPad'-account checked or not?

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Jul 18, 2016 1:34 AM in response to Derryl S
    Level 10 (120,969 points)
    Apple Music
    Jul 18, 2016 1:34 AM in response to Derryl S

    On the iPhone tap Settings > iCloud then toggle Notes off then back on.

     

    On the Mac open System Preferences > iCloud. Deselect the box next to Notes then re select it.

     

     

    Give iCloud a few minutes to re sync your Notes.

     

    You can access your Notes at iCloud.com.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Jul 18, 2016 2:38 AM in response to Derryl S
    Level 6 (11,948 points)
    Jul 18, 2016 2:38 AM in response to Derryl S

    Unless I'm misunderstanding, what you are doing is NOT using iCloud. You said you have some notes on iPhone, and zero on iCloud. That's the problem. If you create a note "on the iPhone" or "on the Mac" it will not be synced to other devices. That is how it is supposed to work.

    Create a note under "ICLOUD" in the iPhone, iPad or Mac and it should be synced.

     

    You can also drag a note from one folder to the other (on the Mac). Not so sure how you'd move them on the iPhone.

     

    With this selected, File->New Note and it will be synced:

    Screen Shot 2016-07-18 at 10.30.58.png

     

    With this selected, they are device-specific:

    Screen Shot 2016-07-18 at 10.33.10.png

    Likewise, on the iPhone, only the notes under "ICLOUD" are synced:

     

    IMG_1603.PNG

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Jul 18, 2016 2:40 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 6 (11,948 points)
    Jul 18, 2016 2:40 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    To move notes on the iPhone or iPad: click on Edit, select the notes you want to move, then click on Move...; or do not select, and just click on Move All.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 18, 2016 5:23 PM in response to Derryl S
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 18, 2016 5:23 PM in response to Derryl S

    Are the notes at iCloud.com? Did you upgrade Notes iCloud on the device and the computer?

     

    Notes Upgrade

  • by Derryl S,Solvedanswer

    Derryl S Derryl S Jul 19, 2016 8:16 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 2 (220 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 19, 2016 8:16 PM in response to Eric Root

    The problem has been solved. It was not a problem with iCloud or setup, but was not having any documentation explaining that notes under the "on my iPhone" do NOT sync to the cloud but only those notes entered under the iCloud header.

     

    I tried a test note under the iCloud header and it worked fine. To me, I thought that notes entered on the phone would sync - not very intuitive!

     

    I ended up copy/pasting sixteen sets of notes that were in 6 different folders.Tedious, but it worked.  Why isn't there just notes? Other apps don't appear to work that way!

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Jul 20, 2016 3:07 AM in response to Derryl S
    Level 6 (11,948 points)
    Jul 20, 2016 3:07 AM in response to Derryl S

    I take it that you are not a very good reader...

    I explained as much in my posts. And I also told you how you can move notes from one folder to the other. No need to copy/paste...