I accidentally deleted a note today, and have recovered the files from ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes/ and ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/ but the notes are the exactly the same. Regardless of what I recover, the notes are the same as today. And yes, I turned off the sync with iCloud.
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15
Shawn, I found the following from my troubleshooting Notes (ironically). You are welcome to try it, although it bears a resemblance to what you already described in your original post.
The usual caveats apply. If things get really messed up you only have your TM backup to rely upon.
~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes
If it works, any Notes created or edited subsequent to that backup will be lost so consider archiving them first.
Shawn, I found the following from my troubleshooting Notes (ironically). You are welcome to try it, although it bears a resemblance to what you already described in your original post.
The usual caveats apply. If things get really messed up you only have your TM backup to rely upon.
~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes
If it works, any Notes created or edited subsequent to that backup will be lost so consider archiving them first.
The Recently Deleted folder will have them.
Otherwise restore yesterday's entire system from TM.
Are you not using iCloud Notes?
If your Notes are only stored locally, "On My Mac", then restore the entire Time Machine backup that contains the Notes you want to recover.
Dear John,
There is no "recently deleted items" at all. Since I do not know which day they last existed. Cannot you tell me where the data is stored so I can restore just this portion from months ago?
Best Regards, Shawn
Dear John,
I use iCloud Notes and this is the first place I looked. I also looked on my phone, when I opened notes the "recently deleted" folder was there momentarily until the screen refreshed.
I guess I will have to the system restore.
Best wishes, Shawn
Dear John,
After doing the 10 hour system restore, I opened notes and for a moment the old ones were there until they synced with iCloud, then they disappeared. I will turn off the internet next time..
Best Regards, Shawn
That's akin to asking what you should replace an infestation of bedbugs with.
Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community
Non-Apple "anti-virus" / "cleaning" scams account for the overwhelming majority of problems reported on this site, including problems with Time Machine. Rule 1 of Macs is don't install junk.
That certainly seems plausible. Any change to a Note will cause it to sync, so deprive it of that opportunity.
Dear John,
Thanks for this. What do you suggest that I replace Avast with?
Best wishes, Shawn
Dear John,
Have a look at this video of me retrieving the notes with the wifi off. When I open notes, the deleted note is visible for 2 seconds. After three attempts, I have managed to copy the content before the note disappeared. https://youtu.be/ARxAOlGYcsk
Best Regards,
Good news, but you might want to consider editing or deleting the portion of the video showing certain personal information. I believe it's just local network passwords but even that information should be kept confidential.
I would have restored the entire enclosing folder, not its individual contents, but I'm not going to argue with success.
Get rid of Avast! Your Mac will not work properly with it installed, but even more importantly you may not be able to uninstall it in a future macOS update or upgrade. It might already be too late.
Cannot recover notes from Time Machine