Shared Notes folder not showing on iCloud.com

James Theberge1 wrote:

I think I found out how to get it to work. Sharing of notes folders and notes has to be done from your icloud enabled desktop notes app in order for you to be able to stay in sync across all devices/ . If you share from mobile device it becomes device specific sharing to the recipient by-passing icloud syncing.

Thanks. But if that is true it does not help us who have an iPhone and a windows PC and are using the Notes App through a browser. Apple, please listen.

Hey Allen,

I'm having this same problem. I'm not sure if you understand what the OP (brenden) was describing, but essentially here's the bug:

Folders of notes that have been shared to other users are *completely missing* from the web version of Notes on iCloud.

In other words, I can see shared Note folders on Notes for Mac, but the folder I've shared is *completely absent* from Notes on the Web at icloud.com. All other folders are unaffected.

I've tested this up down and sideways and can confirm that the act of sharing a Notes folder completely *hides* it from Notes on the Web at icloud.com.

Where can I file a bug to report this?

I'm having the same problem. It seems that the icloud.com Notes web interface just doesn't support the new shared Notes folder feature in iOS 13.

This problem should be easy for anyone to replicate using the steps below:

For example, on my iPhone running iOS 13.2.3, I can create a folder in the Notes application called "Test1" and it immediately appears in the icloud.com web interface. If I enter into the Test1 folder in the Notes application on the iPhone and choose "Add People", and then add another user, the "Test1" folder immediately disappears on the icloud.com web interface -- even if the other user has not accepted the invite.

If I then tell the iPhone to stop sharing the "Test1" folder, it immediately reappears in the icloud.com web interface.

Individually shared Notes (rather than shared folders of Notes) do not have this problem and work fine.

I believe the truth is that Apple do not claim that it works at all. It is extremely frustrating, but that is the way it is.

To plagiarize from the Apple support pages:

"Share notes on iCloud.com

If you are using upgraded notes, you can invite people to view and edit a note. When you share a note, only people you invite can view and edit it, even if someone else has a link to the note.

When you share a note, the shared icon appears next to the note in the notes list and, when the note is selected, the View Participants button  is highlighted and shows a tick.

Note: You cannot share a locked note."

Then further down the page:

"You can share folders in the Notes app on an iOS device, iPadOS device or Mac. See the Apple Support article Share your notes."

The inference being you cannot share folders on iCloud (the option is not there anyway)

To date, the problem is still there.

1. I have created a sub-folder, on my iPhone, where I only use my iCloud account.
2. I shared the sub-folder with my wife.
3. I added a new note.
4. I can see the note listed under "All iCloud" on my iPhone.
5. I can see the note (and the subfolder) on my iPad.
6. On iCloud Notes I can see the root folder, but not the subfolder that I shared, or the note inside it.

It is either a bug or a serious lapse in measuring the business value of this feature. Either way annoying.

Same problem and still not resolved, very irritating. Shared folder in iPad Notes not syncing to iCloud and therefore not my iMac. What is interesting is that it is showing also ok in iPhone Notes.

So to be clear, in Notes:

• Shared folder ok on iOS devices
• Shared folder not showing in iCloud
• Shared folder not showing in macOS

Would be nice to see an update from Apple somewhere in this thread as to what is being done to address this.

Hello rsborges and welcome to Apple Support Communities.

I see you're having an issue with a shared folder that shows up on your devices but not at iCloud.com.

Notes—as well as notes folders—can be shared via iCloud or the can both associated with a different email address that is shared between all devices. For example, if Notes is active at Settings > Passwords & Accounts for a non-iCloud account (typically a Gmail account or an account associated with a custom domain) and both devices have Notes activated for the account, the folder would appear on the devices and not on the iCloud.com website. You can tell is this is the case because on your devices, in the list of folders, this folder would appear under the name of the email account to which it is associated.

Cheers.

Hi rsborges.

I totally understand the confusion. It's easiest to think of the Apple ID as a user name. So, even though it's in the form of an email address, unless it's an iCloud email address, then it only functions as a user name. The easiest way to deal with this is to have functions such as notes only enabled for one account. The most likely issue here is that the shared folder was created and associated with the Gmail account as opposed to the Gmail address as an Apple ID user name.

If I were in your shoes, this is what i would do. 1) Go to iCloud.com and create new shared folder and then ensure that said folder migrates out to all of your devices. 2) Open the shared folder on one of your devices (not at iCloud.com) and for each message, swipe left until you see a group of icons representing options. Choose the option represented by the file folder. This will allow you to move the messages to the newly created shared folder that's associated with your actual Apple ID. 3) Once all messages are in the new folder and you've gone to iCloud.com to confirm they are there as well, delete the old shared folder.

After that, unless you really need to have notes associated with both your Apple ID and with the Gmail account, consider keeping Notes as an option only enabled on the Apple ID account. If you go to Settings Passwords & Accounts and tap on each account listed there, you'll be able to see and enable/disable options for each account.

Cheers.

Same here -- very frustrating. I have one Mac on Catalina and my iPhone on iOS 13 -- but my main Mac is still on Mojave. I get that Mojave doesn't support the shared Notes folders, but it seems absurd that shared Notes folders aren't visible on the iCloud website.

I even tried beta.icloud.com to see if shared folders are visible on the web interface there. It didn't help.

Also having this issue. I seem to be able to see individual notes that I've shared (or that have been shared with me), but can't see anything inside a shared folder (nor the folder itself), whether I create/share the folder or someone else does.

I also can go to icloud.com on my ipad, and see the same behavior, and can still see the shared folder inside the application itself.

I think I found out how to get it to work. Sharing of notes folders and notes has to be done from your icloud enabled desktop notes app in order for you to be able to stay in sync across all devices/ . If you share from mobile device it becomes device specific sharing to the recipient by-passing icloud syncing.

I had access to my shared folders before. The only thing i can think of is that this came from the last apple ios update on my phone. I have not tired it yet but i'm going to attempt to make a folder from notes on icloud.com then share it and see what happens.. That may be the only way.

Same issue here, but on my wife laptop I can see the folder and files (Catalina 10.5.4) on my laptop I can't (high sierra 10.13.6).

I tried all many possibilities creating the folders from diferente devices and I guess the problem is the operation system of my laptop.

Yeah, the issue isn't related to being signed into iCloud the wrong way, if you read the post.