Notes not syncing or uploading to iCloud After iOS 13 Update

I found this sorted my sync issue..

Make sure the notes aren't being stored locally on your iPhone

If you have chosen to store the notes locally on your iPhone, the notes will be uploaded to iCloud neither can you view you the notes on your Mac even with the same iCloud account.

Go to "Settings" on your iPhone > scroll down to find "Notes" > disable "On My iPhone" by toggling switch.

IOS Notes not syncing to iCloud - I had same problem as mentioned above. Mac notes go to ipad and iPhone xs max, but not vice-versa. Twice in last 8 months after major apple os upgrades. I tried all of the above and spent probably 4 x 2 hr sessions w support. Last support person indicated I should in addition to above suggestions about logging out and back into apple cloud to to

SETTINGS>GENERAL>SCROLL DOWN TO RESET> RESET NETWORK SETTINGS.

Then it took about 6-8 hrs for my 2400 iOS notes w attachments to sync.

They work great now, without sluggish syncs, on Mac, iPad Pro 11" iPhone Xs Max - all w current updated OS's . Thanks to the forum and the patience at Apple support

I was following one of the recommendations as I was having similar issues. All I did was go into the reminders app, which I don’t use, and get through the welcome stuff, and voila, the cloud folder appeared in my notes, allowing me to sync between devices. Seems like reminders may be the issue.

I also had this issue for many months and it was driving me crazy. I would create or edit a note on my iPhone and the change would not take effect on my Macbook for several days or more. Sometimes it would sync sooner, sometimes later. I tried all of the suggested solutions to force the sync immediately (restarting both devices, signing out of iCloud and signing back in, making sure the note was saved to iCloud and not the device, etc.) and nothing worked. Then I stumbled upon the solution that solved my issue:

I realized one day that the syncing was directly related to which network I was using on any given device- either wifi or cellular data (4G). I realized that if I edited a note on my iPhone while using cellular data, it would not sync to my Macbook which was connected to my at-home wifi network. But then it would sync immediately when I switched my iPhone from cellular data to wifi, and opened both Notes apps (on the phone and the macbook).

So the key for me is having both devices operating on the same network-- then the changes will sync immediately.

Sometimes there is a lag and they don't sync immediately. The way I have solved this is by turning off the wifi on the device I made the change on, then turning the wifi back on. As soon as I turn the wifi back on, the change pushes to the other device.

Problem solved. For me anyway...

Here's how I fixed it and got the NOTES to upload to iCloud.

1. Go to notes and select the folder with the notes.
2. Top right three dots select it... Select Notes.
3. Select Move All.
4. Move them to the Notes folder. Boom done.

this is an old string but I have bought a 2014MacMini and fresh installed Catalina. Amongst many problems I found this one. I tried the 'reminders upgrade' but my App Store was not loading (that took ages to sort). THEN I SAW a post with five points about unchecking and rechecking the icloud notes tick. I left a few minutes between. Hey presto - it worked and all 813 (with a few images)loaded quickly (I have 200MBps net speeds). Next job is how to download my photos off my ipad......grrrr - it seems not to recognise it.....off to another string

Hi it finally solved for me, I realized that over WIFI they synced, so I went to cellular data in iPhone preferences, and switching OFF and ON again cellular data. then went to notes and they start syncing again

so don't trust it even if it says ON, just switch it OFF and ON again

This was very easy to fix once I saw the solution posted by m4stertech.

Go into Notes and keep hitting the left arrow at the top until you get to Folders, if the notes are under ON MY IPHONE, then they are stored only on your phone, not in iCloud, hence they cannot be synced with other devices.

You must move them to ICLOUD, which is very quick and easy.

1. Go into Notes
2. Go into the folder with the notes.
3. Select the ... icon in the upper right corner
4. Select "Select Notes..."
5. Select "Move All"
6. Select the iCloud folder

If you have hundreds of notes it may take a moment to finish.

You can watch the number of notes rapidly going up on your other device.

When the number stops going up, it's done.

The problem went away when I upgraded to iOS14. But it was quite pathetic to see that Apple did not have any official response to such a wide-spread problem. Not even on its own discussion board.

I love Apple hardware and its aesthetics.

I wish the software and user-experience was at least 50% as good as their hardware/aesthetics.

Guess what? On a whim, I tried toggling iCloud off and on again on my XR, and voila - syncing Notes. I was POSITIVE I'd already tried this multiple times (and maybe I had), but this worked this time. Good luck, everyone.

Having the same issue as original poster. What worked for me (at least right now): I closed Apple Notes, then opened Apple Reminders app, then reopened Apple Notes. My latest notes suddenly appeared. Hopefully this will not happen again, but who knows! Good luck!

Had this issue as well on my MacBook pro even now in 2021 ffs.

Anyway, what I did was toggling off the iCloud and notes setting on my MacBook. For those of you who are not familiar with the steps, you can go to system preference > iCloud > Uncheck the boxes for iCloud Drive & Notes. Wait for few minutes, and then check the boxes again. Gotta makes sure your wireless connection is good enough coz sometimes syncing does get affected by your network speed.

My notes were all synced between my iPhone and MacBook after these steps.

Hope these steps work for those of you who are currently having this problem.

When Notes doesn't sync I just force quit it and then it syncs.

Had to go to preferences on my Mac and go to Apple Id and select Overview and then update my settings and what not. This fixed it

Hi all,

I have resolved the issue.

I have had the same problem as everyone  - Notes not syncing between my iPhone, iPad, MBA - all with the latest OS. I tried everything recommended and ended transferring all my notes to sit on my iPhone - then deleted all notes out of the iPad and MBA and switched iCloud off for Reminders and Notes on all three devices.

I then backed up my phone so at least I had a copy of my notes (I used iexplorer to look into the backup to make sure all of my Notes were there).

I periodically switched iCloud back on in the iPad and iPhone and attempted to create notes and see if they would sync. They did not. My wife created a note on her phone and shared it with me - and that synced as we both made changes, although it was not instant as it had been prior to the iOS upgrades.

So until yesterday things were still not working.

Then I did the following:

• switched off iCloud again on all devices.
• deleted all notes on the iPad, MBA and deleted any notes in the 'recently deleted folder'.
• logged into the iCloud account to access Notes via the browser and deleted all notes/folders - including notes in the recently deleted folder.
• The only notes left were the 480 notes I'd transferred to the 'On my iPhone' folder on my iPhone. If you don't have this option in Notes you have to go to Settings/Notes and switch it on.
• Then I did this (this is what I think resolved the issue). I went to Settings/Passwords & Accounts/iCloud/iCloud/Manage Storage - and I looked down the list to see how much data Notes had stored in iCloud (obviously it should be zero as I had deleted all Notes out of iCloud). It was 2.2GB - ranked 5th after iCloud Drive, Photos, Messages, Backups. Obviously something was jammed in there.
• So I swiped left and the option comes up to Delete Data. I hit that option and I think it says 'This will delete all Notes in iCloud and on you iPhone' - I say yes or OK or whatever it asked. It didn't delete the Notes I had 'On my IPhone' - but I guess it deleted whatever was stuck in iCloud.
• I waited for 30 minutes. Then switched on iCloud on my phone, and tested making notes on my phone, and in iCloud via the browser and it all synced immediately. I then added my iPad - and the same - all synced immediately - then added my MBA and notes synced immediately between all four. I then copied a folder from my 'On my iPhone' folder - to the iCloud folder - and it immediately synced the folder and all the notes it contained between all my phone, iPad, MBA and iCloud. I then copied all the folders - and all other notes have now synced between all devices. Each account has 480 notes.
• If you are going to follow these instructions the only thing I would do differently is use my MBA to hold all the notes in the 'On My Mac' folder. If you don't have this folder you have to switch it on in Preferences. It is easier to use a mouse to move folders around.

I'll report back if I have any problems, but it seems I have resolved this issue.

Good luck all.