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Level 1

74 points

Notes not syncing or uploading to iCloud After iOS 13 Update

I'm having an issue where, after updating my devices to iOS 13, notes from the Apple Notes app are either not syncing, randomly syncing, or syncing only after a prolonged delay (e.g. days) between my iPhone and iPad. I've tried signing out and back in to iCloud and have removed and reinstalled the Notes app on both devices. I've ensured that the OS on both devices has been updated to the current version. Interestingly, If I have the notes app open on my iPhone, I still get the notification in the dock on my iPad that the notes app is open on my phone, but the notes still fail to sync, or at best, some notes randomly sync hours or days later, between the two devices. I noticed that if I create a note in the notes app through the iCloud website, the note downloads to both my devices immediately, but notes created on my devices fail to upload.

Has anyone else had this issue and found a solution? Is this a known bug in iOS 13, similar to one with the Reminders app (which I don't seem to be having)?

Posted on Oct 8, 2019 3:55 AM

Best reply

pg2001

Level 1

19 points

Posted on Oct 31, 2019 6:12 PM

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.

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Similar questions

537 replies

Oct 29, 2019 4:10 PM in response to Jonathan Wickens

I'm finding that it's just inconsistent. There are times it works instantly.

However, there's been a few times today where I'll update Notes on my Mac. The changes even pushed out to iCloud Notes.

But my iPhone and/or iPad wouldn't update until I quit out of the Notes apps a few times...

hc2008

Level 1

18 points

Oct 29, 2019 8:19 PM in response to Jonathan Wickens

I did an experiment, and used the google server instead of iCloud. Used iPad os 13.2 and OS 13.2 and Catalina 10.15.1 The sync was equally dysfunctional to the iCloud sync (even with a single note on it ) which tells me this is a software problem with Notes not an iCloud problem.

The other experiment was using Notability with iCloud and the notes synced within seconds. Also the reminders app seems to sync fine, meaning it’s not likely to be an iCloud problem, it’s more about the software’s push update and probably can not be fixed without Apple releasing the bug fix.

[Edited by Moderator]

jeffbod

Level 1

9 points

Oct 30, 2019 1:29 AM in response to smccorkle13

Seams that Apple do not realises their simple Notes app is used by thousands of "users" i.e. CLIENTS on a level they have not imagined. Most people use it to take a quick note and discard the note later on. Others as I do, put EVERYTHING there, it is therefore a tool and should be handled properly from Apple. I recently exported all my note from Bear to Notes, this way is easy to do while exporting to Bear is quiet difficult. If it is not settle within the next 10 days I will export all notes as PDF into Bear app. That's it.

pi-apple

Level 1

10 points

Oct 30, 2019 3:01 AM in response to Chengera

Thank you for putting this link here, I’ve given my feedback, others should do the same, because seriously this is a massive issue, and unless you have more time on your hands to effectively re-build the system, the problem will still persist!

avand3r

Level 1

8 points

Oct 30, 2019 5:59 AM in response to Bidule200

I tried to follow the Bidule200 instructions and ended up nowhere... once I turned off Notes on all my devices and I tried to log in into web browser iCloud and open Notes app to delete notes, the app started crashing on me every time I try to delete some notes... so I am not able to delete nor put my notes back, bummer. This seems to be even bigger issue.

Oct 30, 2019 11:44 AM in response to Chengera

So far my notes are now syncing ok, the only problem being the odd “page” graphic being inserted in the text when viewing notes In iCloud on the web via a browser. These are not not visible when viewing the notes on MacBook or iPhone. I’m now on latest versions of Catalina and IOS but the problem seemed to get better just before upgrading to either.

GerbenW

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2019 11:58 AM in response to avand3r

Thank you, this last step was what I needed to solve te problem! All my notes seem to sync instantly again, including drawings made on the iPad.

I hope this will solve the problem for other people too.

MapucaNL

Level 1

8 points

Oct 30, 2019 4:01 PM in response to Bidule200

Incredible to see that Notes sync still has not been fixed by the latest updates.

Contacted Apple 4 times over the last months.

Still no "confirmation" from Apple that this problem exists and that they are working on a solution. It seem that they are keeping it silent since they seem unable to fix this.

I migrated the workflow to OneNote about three weeks ago, so I can do my work. And doubt if I ever go back.

Unfortunately I have not been able to manually move all my notes (>1000) to OneNote yet, since you have to do this one by one and some attachment or content does not copy over with copy/past.

Now I really find it stupid that they did not include any the export option.

If you believe your notes are syncing again after some action. Please be aware that when the number of notes are the same on all your devices, this does not mean the content is synced as well. I have been missing all type of tables, graphics and attachments within notes.

hc2008

Level 1

18 points

Oct 30, 2019 10:11 PM in response to smccorkle13

I ran a pretty conclusive test of the problem today. I have the latest OSs installed on all devices 13.2 and Catalina 10.15.1, EXCEPT my MACBOOK which still has Mojave.

when I write a note on the Mojave version of notes it updates INSTANTLY to all devices. This does not happen on the NEW version of Apple Notes. This means the OUTBOUND sync (to iCloud) is broken (doesn't work at all or may work a long time from when you make a change) on the new version but INBOUND sync (from iCloud) works fine on all platforms. I can't see how this takes MONTHS to fix.

Kottke

Level 1

14 points

Oct 30, 2019 10:23 PM in response to smccorkle13

Hi smccorkle13,

I had problems with my notes and reminders syncing correctly post-update. I fixed it by closing all the apps on all of my devices, signing out of iCloud on all of my devices at the same time, restarting them all off/on, then resigning into iCloud on all of them and making sure my iCloud settings were on. It was a logistics hassle but everything works perfectly now!

paulidj

Level 1

8 points

Oct 31, 2019 2:06 AM in response to hc2008

Same here! (Mojave, iOS 13.2)

If it (also) requires specific action on the client side, it may take a while.

Restarting my iPhone does the trick, but it's temporary.

Other than that. I have not lost anything.

For me this strange behavior started when Notes would no longer sync through iTunes on Mojave, and I somehow by accident switched it to iCloud and back.

smccorkle13 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 31, 2019 2:08 AM in response to Kottke

kottke

I’ve tried that a few times, however the issue persists.

from what I’m seeing I’m agreeing that it does appear to be more of a push to the cloud issue, with attachments and handwritten notes being most susceptible.

edwz

Level 1

16 points

Oct 31, 2019 2:54 AM in response to smccorkle13

Between iOS 13.2 and iPadOS 13.2 I have the same problem with shared notes.

I found that forcing close the Notes app on both sides and re-opening does the trick. Notes are forced to sync.

It appears to be a problem with iCloud sync service not registering changes while Notes is open or suspended.

coderc

Level 1

4 points

Oct 31, 2019 12:48 PM in response to smccorkle13

I also have this issue. Here are my devices:

MacBook Pro (10.15.1 Catalina)

Mac mini (10.14.6 Mojave)

iPad Pro (13.2)

iPhone 11 (13.2)

For me specifically, I had been creating notes on my MacBook Pro (Catalina) over the past few weeks without even noticing that they weren't syncing until recently. My Mac mini, iPad, and iPhone had none of the notes I created in Catalina. They were all able to sync together, and were all in the same state: creating a note on one would show up on the other. They just weren't able to see any notes I created in Catalina.

I turned off Notes from iCloud settings for my Mac mini, iPad Pro, and iPhone, and then turned them back on - which did nothing; they were all in the same state after re-fetching as before. I didn't want to turn off Notes in Catalina because I thought I'd lose the 20+ notes I created there.

Here's what worked for me: Hand-off. I opened a note on Catalina that didn't exist on any other device. I then went to my Mac mini (running Mojave) and clicked on the Note hand-off icon to open the note that was open in Catalina. It failed, showing a blank note, and then Notes crashed. When it re-opened though, it started pulling down all the notes from Catalina! So apparently the notes *were* in iCloud and my three non-Catalina devices were not pulling them down.

I then opened Notes on my iOS devices and they started pulling them down too.

Maybe this is related to Kottke's force-close solution above?

Hopefully this works for someone else until Apple fixes the problem!

JelleDL

Level 1

4 points

Oct 31, 2019 3:48 PM in response to smccorkle13

Wondering. If you open Console.app (located in Applications / Utilities and you filter on "Notes". Having Notes open. Are you guys also seeing sync errors?

Eg:

Partial error for modify operation <CKModifyRecordsOperation FA92E8D4Bxxxxxxxx isFinished=1 group=<CKOperationGroup 453349718xxxxxxxx quantity=126 expectedReceiveSize=1 name=SaveChangedObjects expectedSendSize=2> databaseScope=Private duration=9.307209968566895>: <CKError 0x600xxxxxxxx: "Partial Failure" (2/1011); "Failed to modify some records"; partial errors: {

6C9D7FD7-8662-43FE-B6A3-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d513e0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

440C55CA-8FCB-48CB-A19E-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000e869d0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

E8822F41-B7EC-4D3D-99E8-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000db30c0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

671D46ED-BFE7-42DA-A837-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d1ba20: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

BAC99F00-88F3-426D-9CCD-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d4e6a0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

5923558A-6BF2-4A84-83Axxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d4e2b0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

05430C65-9368-4CF0-ABCB-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d66670: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

CF874288-F8CB-4851-9Axxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000e7cae0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

5A2131A4-251E-4F04-B02xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000e868e0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

4F31B60C-AD0A-4BE5-94xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000db03f0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

2A7972AD-10C1-437B-9E8B-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000c41260: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

8D053345-C72D-461C-8648-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000eb16e0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

FF2AD4E5-AF0C-415F-B0xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d70870: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

562EF2E7-8184-4xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d5cbd0: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

_f84d13915e3b23xxxxxxxx:(_defaultZone:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000d1b390: "Internal Error" (1/5000); "Failed to sync user keys">

F3CBCA16-2C58-442C-B470-xxxxxxxx:(Notes:__defaultOwner__) = <CKError 0x600000e8c360: "Asset File Not Found" (16/3002); "open error: 2 (No such file or directory)">

... 83 "Batch Request Failed" CKError's omited ...

However.. you would expect it works at least on iOS. All of my devices are in a different state with iCloud Notes and completely not syncing anymore :( Photo's and other items are working however.

Notes not syncing or uploading to iCloud After iOS 13 Update