You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Apple Notes Blank

Sometimes when I go to my notes on my phone, the contents of my notes have disappeared. The only way I have been able to get them back is by going to my notes on my computer and editing the note where the content shows up.


To be clear - is it not a login issue. I am logged in to all of my accounts and I am able to see my notes. The title of the note is there, the subtext is there, but when I click the note, it is blank. Oddly enough, it will let me write in the note but with "invisible ink" so I don't see anything when I am typing, but if I leave the note, I can see gibberish in the subtext. See photos below.


So that image shows what I see even if I'm writing (of course there is a keyboard below). The second image shows what shows up after I write something, but if I click the note, I see nothing! Very frustrating when I need the content of a note when I only have my phone. I am not having this problem with my computer. Sometimes if I close out of notes, it lets me see what I'm writing again, but I still can't access the data on a note that is blanked out on my phone until I open it and edit it on my computer and they resync... its a confusing problem, I hope I have explained it clearly but if you need clarification just let me know.


I just got a brand new iPhone XR. Please help!

iPhone XR

Posted on Nov 20, 2019 2:29 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 23, 2019 3:54 PM

Hello Ninaxtina1,



Thanks for that info and for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If I understand correctly, you are unable to see contents of notes on your iPhone, unless you edit the notes on your computer. If you haven't already, please force close the Notes app and restart your device as iOS clears cached data and does other system optimizations when you turn your device off and on.



Force an app to close on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch



Next, make sure your iPhone is fully up to date, as the updates contain stability fixes that can resolve issues like yours, as well as important security updates to keep your iPhone safe. If you're still having this issue, please contact Apple for further assistance.



Update the iOS software on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Contact Apple Support 



Cheers!

Similar questions

95 replies

Mar 24, 2021 12:44 AM in response to Ninaxtina1

I managed to retrieve the content of my note by clicking on the icon that lets you share notes, selecting copy even though the page looks blank, opening a new pages document, and selecting paste. The contents of the note then appeared on my pages document. Not altogether satisfactory but better than losing all your information. Hope this helps.

Mar 25, 2021 12:12 PM in response to Annieg19

You shouldn’t have to do this though, this is something Apple should sort considering how expensive their phones are. Before I realised what this was it unfortunately coincided with me getting a new iPhone and I thought it just hadn’t synched my notes over properly so had started deleting some of them and lost important info I needed and had saved for years. Disappointed in Apple, such a high tech company who can’t resolve this issue!!!

Apr 23, 2021 9:56 AM in response to Ninaxtina1

The ‘invisible ink’ Notes problem has been around for a good few iOS releases on my IPhone 5 and X.


I use a single Note as a kind-of to-do list so it’s open most of the time. Every few days (sometimes more or less frequently), when I switch to it, the note has become invisible but I’ve found that just killing the Notes app and reopening it makes the note visible again. I haven’t needed to restart the phone, just kill the Notes app.


I assume that not many people use Notes as this bug has been around for a long time but Apple don’t appear to have tried to fix it. It’s irritating but manageable, I guess.

Apple Notes Blank

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.