outlook 2003 notes not syncing with iphone

I am one of those guys who went from IOS 3 to 4 and lost my notes with Outlook 2007 synch. However, I tried the "Handheld Sync" folder as well - and it didn't work for me. I hope it does for others...

I'm just about ready to go back to IOS 3... At least it worked for Outlook Notes sync. It means a lot of rework - but it may be worth it. I have already wasted lots of hours trying everything I can think of. Calendar and Contacts sync just fine. But - Notes just won't - at all.

It is hard not to be bitter at Apple. I have been a Palm Notes user for 10 years and never had a sync problem - never. It is almost like Apple considers the IPhone apps to be toys - which don't really have to work all the time. In many ways - I wish I hadn't ever switched from Palm. But - that's not an option any more. Guess I will just have to suck it up and go back to IOS 3...

I have a 3GS and upgrade to OS4 when it came out. That's when the Outlook (I'm using 2003) notes stopped syncing (via USB cable). This is irritating! I read a post somewhere about deleting the handheld syncronization folder and then notes would start synching. I tried it. I deleted the notes on the phone and moved all notes in to the notes folder in Outlook. That action moved notes from Outlook to the iPhone, but the notes were old and not the current versions. They didn't include test notes I created before the sync to make sure it worked. I don't know where iTunes found those notes in Outlook. Bizarre. It's like there is some secret cache somewhere in Outlook that I can't see. Plus, the notes I created or modified on the iPhone are not being synced to Outlook. Clearly Apple does not have a comprehensive set of test plans that are cumulative, or if they do, they weren't followed.

In my case, all notes are under 'Notes' folder while 'Handheld Sync' folder is empty. I deleted the 'Handheld Sync' folder then performed sync via iTunes. After that, all my notes were transferred to my iPhone4. I'm using Outlook 2003 running on Windows XP Pro. 2-way sync is also now working.

Message was edited by: Mandy Real

Hey, I also discovered something interesting: I have more than one 'Notes' account. When you open notes on the Iphone and look at the list instead of individual notes, you may see 'accounts' on the upper left corner. Click on it and you will see that some notes are from the PC and some may be from an online account, as is my case and finally an inbox for all the notes. So to sync between the computer and the Iphone, the notes have to be written in the account that will sync with the computer. Once I did copy and paste the notes in the correct account, two-way sync worked out fine.

I hope this help some of you guys! 🙂

Thanks HeliosBean

The multiple accounts issue was my issue exactly. I am using Outlook 2003, IOS4.0.1, and Itunes 9.2.1.5.

On upgrade to ios 4.0, notes stopped syncing.
From what I can tell, once the os was upgraded, a "notes" section was added on my active accounts including my gmail account. In the notes application, the default view was "All accounts". However, creating a note defaulted to being created in the gmail account versus the outlook account.

Symptoms:
All outlook originated notes synced/updated fine.
All iphone created notes never showed up in outlook

I followed the steps from HeliosBean to find the multiple accounts. I then manually cut and pasted the notes from the "gmail" account to the "outlook" account.
Finally, I went into the mail settings and turned off notes for the gmail account.
Removing the notes from the "gmail" account reverted the notes application to just one account and removed the accounts page altogether in that app.

After this, I haven't had any problems, but I am only 2 syncs in.

Message was edited by: ultimatealf

Ultimatealf. As I encounter the same problem syncing Note since IOS 4 and iTunes 9.2.1.5, I tried your solution to solve it but without success !
Did you succeed in syncing successfuly any more ?
What I can say is that I used to sync on two different PC, and the result is :
Notes sync is bound to each PC. The number of Notes synced on each PC has been frozen at the time I upgraded to iOS 4 and iTunes 9.2.1.5 !
I investigated and discoved that the iPod syncs using the "data.syncdb" file in the following path :
C:\Documents and Settings\Alain\Application Data\Apple Computer\SyncServices\Local\TFSM\com.apple.Notes
Each PC has its own "data.syncdb" file which is no more updated by Outlook Notes since the upgrade.
I hope to be clear !
If you or anyone has an idea about that, it would be great as I work much with Outlook Notes and have more than 200 inputs !

So far, I have been able to have a 2-way sync with no problem using the method outlined 2 posts above. I'm using just 1 computer to sync, so I'm not sure what the process is using 2 computers. Best of luck!

Hi HeliosBean,

I am not sure to understand exactly what the 'Handheld Sync' folder is.
Could you please explain what it is and where it is.

Of course, syncing from two PCs is possible. I used to do this since March 2009 without any problem. The Notes syncing bug begun to occur with iOS 4 and iTunes 9.2.1.5 upgrade.

Thank you much for a prompt answer about the 'Handheld Sync' folder, so that I can try your solution.

Believe it or not, the reason I explained how I solved the syncing issue was because I have no idea what, how, or where to find the 'handheld' folder. I could not find it where the posts at the end of page 1/beginning of page 2 said it would be. So, I dug dipper and was able to figure out what the problem was and fixed the syncing problem.

Hi Mandy Real,
What do you call the 'Handheld Sync' folder ? Where can I find it ? Does your solution still work ?
Thanks for a prompt answer.

I discovered 2 ways of syncing your iphone outlook 2003 using ITunes.

1) for OUTLOOK > IPHONE:

If you simply want to replace whats on your iphone, with contacts/notes etc from outlook 2003, then

i) Open Itunes
ii) click on iphone in menu under 'Devices'
iii) go to 'Info'
iv) click on what you would like replaced and
v) hit 'Sync' button on bottom right

now this is where it gets really stupid, and makes me swear in frustration at the stupid iphone designers...

2) IPHONE > OUTLOOK:

i) open itunes
ii) select iphone under 'devices'
iii) simply right mouse-click 'Backup'
iv) tick select what you would like syncing from iphone to back into your outlook by selecting the various contacts/calendars/notes sections
v) finally go back to side menu and right mouse click 'Sync' on iPhone
vi) it will ask you that you have changed settings on iphone, click APPLY
vii) it may prompt boxes that tell you finally that #% of your folder in outlook will change (yes not your iphone this time, but the outlook folders). Again you need to click ALLOW.

Thanks ! This solved my problem.

What about Outlook 2010? Any suggestions? I can't believe we have this kind of issues at this time. We are in the 21th Century!!!! Aahhh!

Hi. My Notes synced fine to Outlook 2007 from iPhone 3GS until I upgraded to IOS 4, now nothing new from iPhone makes it through to Outlook though all my notes prior to my July upgrade are there. I am now on IOS 4.1 and iTunes 10 and still not working. I have no "handheld sync" folder and cannot find any Notes switched on or even configurable in my email accounts. I tried to follow instructions above for IPHONE TO OUTLOOK but when I select my iPhone in iTunes, I right click and get the little menu including backup, but if I right click Backip nothing happens, and if I left click it just backs up the iPhone, giving me no options as to what to include. I have tried untickng Notes sync, sync, then re-tick and resync, but makes no difference.
At wits end

For those asking, the handheld syncronization folder is on your PC in Outlook. (It is not on your iPhone.) Open Notes in Outlook and on the left, you will see various Notes folders. In mine, I see my archived Notes folders along with my "current" Notes folder. In this list, I have a "Handheld Syncronization" folder. Each time I update my Notes on my iPhone 3Gs, I delete the old notes in the Handheld Sync folder and cut and paste ALL notes from the current notes folder into the Handheld Sync folder. I then run the Notes sync in iTunes and the Notes on my iPhone update. Crazy, but it works for me.