can't open Notes app (and other issues) in macOS in Mojave

I use the Notes app in macOS in Mojave and on my iPad. Recently I have had trouble trying to open the preferences panel on the MacOS; it just goes into a "spin" and I have to force quit. This started when I tried to open some notes that had password protection on the Mac. Everything still worked OK on my iPad.

I tried to disconnect from iCloud and check that the Mac was still doing this but when I reconnect iCloud the same thing is happening but after it re-establishes the connection, and re-syncs not all notes are present on the Mac bit still OK on the iPad

I have tried to delete a main ".plist' file but this makes no difference, but the very complicated structure of this and where everything is kept in deep sub-level folders is difficult to navigate.

What (if any) might be a way to restore everything please - I use Notes quite a lot.

Posted on Nov 21, 2020 5:21 PM

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7 replies

Nov 22, 2020 11:14 AM in response to Plantago1

Start with this...


Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode? Could take 10 minutes.


Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.


If need be...


Did this happen after the SecUpd for Mojave?


Try reinstalling this in Safe Mode, but not using Firefox...


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macos-mojave/id1398502828?mt=12


Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup).


Seems to fix about 90% of the problems.

Nov 26, 2020 11:09 AM in response to Plantago1

Aha, Uninstall CleanMyMac per their directions , then run etrecheck again to see what chaff it left...

On CMM…

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251370955?answerId=252661013022#252661013022

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251442443?answerId=252814053022#252814053022

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251464557?answerId=252841819022#252841819022

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251889446?answerId=253629452022#253629452022


Delete this file & restart...


/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.easeus.dataprotectbackup.plist


We may need to reinstall the OS, or even make sure we have a backup & a clone of your data, then reformat the APFS crud...


Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac

Disk Utility can fix certain disk problems—for example, multiple apps quit unexpectedly, a file is corrupted, an external device doesn’t work properly, or your computer won’t start up. Disk Utility can’t detect or repair all problems that a disk may have.

If you run First Aid on a disk, Disk Utility checks the partition maps on the disk and performs some additional checks, and then checks each volume. If you run First Aid on a volume, Disk Utility verifies all the contents of that volume only.

  1. In the Disk Utility app  on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.
  2. Note: If you’re checking your startup disk or startup volume, restart your computer in macOS Recovery, select Disk Utility in the macOS Utilities window, then click Continue. If you check your startup volume (Macintosh HD), make sure you also check your data volume (Macintosh HD - Data).

  3. In the sidebar, select a disk or volume, then click the First Aid button .
  4. If Disk Utility tells you the disk is about to fail, back up your data and replace the disk—you can’t repair it. Otherwise, continue to the next step.
  5. Click Run, then click Continue.
  6. If Disk Utility reports that the disk appears to be OK or has been repaired, you’re done. You can click Show Details to see more information about the repairs. Otherwise, you may need to do one of the following.
    • If Disk Utility reports “overlapped extent allocation” errors, two or more files occupy the same space on your disk, and at least one of them is likely to be corrupted. You need to check each file in the list of affected files. Most of the files in the list have aliases in a DamagedFiles folder at the top level of your disk.
      • If you can replace a file or re-create it, delete it.
      • If it contains information you need, open it and examine its data to make sure it hasn’t been corrupted.
    • If Disk Utility can’t repair your disk, or you receive a report that the First Aid process failed, try to repair the disk or partition again. If that doesn’t work, back up as much of your data as possible, reformat the disk, reinstall macOS, then restore your backed-up data.

If your Mac has a Fusion Drive and you see a flashing question mark or alert, see the troubleshooting section of the Apple Support article About Fusion Drive, a storage option for some Mac computers.

If you continue to have problems with your disk or it can’t be repaired, it may be physically damaged and need to be replaced. For information about servicing your Mac, see Find out how to service or repair your Mac.


Nov 22, 2020 8:54 PM in response to BDAqua

Hi BDAqua,

Thanks for your help: I have done a safe boot which did help with getting the Notes Prefs open, but nothing else. So I then tried the second step which actually re-installed the whole MacOS which took ages. But this has not been the success that you might indicated:

1) I still cannot access my password protected notes, and

2) For some strange reason I cannot get Notes on my computer to sync with the iPad. There are folders missing that I have originally been able to see on the Mac and also sub-folders.

3) And just now I have had to use a force quit again to stop it running in the background (that is I don't seem to be able to bring it to the front using Cmd-Tab??)

Nov 25, 2020 5:30 PM in response to BDAqua

I have been trying a few other "ricks" to see if I can get the Notes.app to behave. Tried copying some missing notes from iCloud back into the Notes on my Mac, but it doesn't like that at all. This so infuriating and is taking time away from the things I should be doing. Anyway I have downloaded and run etrecheck and the actual report is attached herewith. (one note to make is that it hasn't recognised my Time Machine drive but instead shows the 2TB Toshiba drive with an MS-DOS partition as well as the Time Machine partition). Disk Utility doesn't show this former partition?? Curious?


Nov 23, 2020 10:33 AM in response to Plantago1

In Sys Prefs>Users & Groups, does it still say admin under your name? (Some useshad it mysteriously turned into Standard account).


Perhaps...


EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/


Pastebin is a good place to paste the whole report if you capture the URL while there…

https://pastebin.com/

Whew, they've changed pastebin & made it harder, but after pasting in, click Create new paste button, then Embed button, then copy the URL...

<script src="https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA"></script>


The important part is...


https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA


Workable but harder for me to work with...the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

Dec 1, 2020 4:43 PM in response to BDAqua

My apologies, but I have not been able to get back to this for a while and your last post wasn't directly related to my original issue. However I will go the detail at a later stage.

In the meantime I have been able to solve the main issue with the Notes app; that have not having all the notes in a sub-folder showing up on my Mac.

First, I signed out of iCloud on the Mac,

2nd I opened the Notes app from iCloud using Safari and copied/moved the notes from their original top-level folder into the another empty folder,

3rd I opened the Notes again in my Mac. and signed back into iCloud, where it has now properly synced with the Mac, my iPad and on iCloud.

Finally on my Mac I then moved those notes back into correct top-level folder and all seems to be well.


My only issue is that - as is the case across a few functions - opening OC as well as Notes app - preferences seem to take a long time to open. And also to access the notes locking password in Notes. It seems that this seems to be an issue with Mojave.

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can't open Notes app (and other issues) in macOS in Mojave

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