if youre missing Notes on your iPhone

i know it will never get looked into, but it’s obvious something glitched on many of our devices recently, maybe due to a software update. i just realized ive lost all the Notes I had created on my 3 year old iPhone-X. Im religious about keeping that phone updated. And spare me and the rest of us the copy and pasted link to an article that basically advises the user to look in all the locations and maybe if that doesnt work, just start digging around your phone. I only had one folder with notes - a couple hundred of them - and they were associated with my icloud account - not on any third party servers or locations. For the amount of money and hype Apple charges for these devices, couldnt they just do one thing well, like be able to maintain basically a digital card file box of notes. its disgusting to me that they never ever admit to failures. And im not trying to hate on the people who generally provide decent information in here, sometimes…but honestly, as often as not, theres one standard copy and pasted reply that leads to nothing. Couldnt someone at least look into this? its not a coincidence that dozens of people had this issue in the past 2 or 3 weeks! And ive read these complaints. They arent written in half legible English in a vague attempt to ask why “my iPad 2 wont install the latest update in 2021?” No, they are legitimate and frustrated consumers who have lost not just a lot of data, but maybe worse yet, faith in the company they used to trust with that data.


[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on May 20, 2021 11:15 PM

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10 replies

May 21, 2021 12:28 AM in response to DarrenBradley

This has nothing to do with an iOS update.


I have iPhone 4S iOS 9.3.6, iPhone 6 iOS 12.5.3, iPhone SE iOS 14.5.1, iPhone 8 iOS 14.5.1 and an iPad Pro iPadOS 14.5.1 and iPhone 12 Pro iOS 14.5.1. Prior to that, I had iPhone 3GS, which I have stopped using because it is carrier-locked.


I have been updating all these devices whenever a new iOS are released. I have never encountered any issue whatsoever after any update

May 21, 2021 12:37 AM in response to DarrenBradley

Before updating the device to the "software update" (iOS version not mentioned by you) as told in your post what was your earlier iOS version. Then you can look into the iOS changes that have happened between the earlier version on your iPhone and this new version that you have updated now. 


This will give you a broader idea of the issue if it is directly linked to the iOS version or is triggered by something else.

May 21, 2021 12:59 AM in response to SravanKrA

  1. Look, you may assume Im a naive user, but I’ve been using Apple oducts since 1988, and I do not need a lecture about enabling GUIDED ACCESS or reminding that I shouldnt share my account info. And FYI, Ive never once jail broken a phone, but go on and accuse me of everything you can think of…because it woukd be rather unprecedented for Apple to own up to any of their products or software versions being faulty. But, here are the facts. My Notes app has one folder called Notes under the iCloud Subhead. One subhead only in that list of Folders, my iCloud account, where Im pretty sure there should have been a copy of my Notes. I do not have the option turned on in my settings to also use an “on my phone” account. Say what you will, but these are the facts, this is how it was and has always been set up, and i have done nothing to my phone in the past couple days other than update to the most recent version 14.5.1 of the iOS. But there does not exist a recently deleted folder, theres nothing sitting on the iCloud regarding my Notes, and they have seemingly just vanished into thin air. i think some of the other users here would have similar experiences, and in case you hadnt seen, there are a plethora of them saying this. I live alone, by myself, havent even left my apartment this week. No one has touched my device, no one has broken into my iCloud unless they literally were able to someone steal a super long random and regularly updated password that is impossibly difficult to enter, i dont share account info on anything, im quite security conscious, i dont jail break, and im really tired of seeing stock replies and condemnations aimed at users who have legitimate issues. Granted, a third of the people in these forums cannot even form one complete meaningful query; like literally they are so poorly constructed that there is no indication what they are evn referring to, such as “I lost my apple lists.” So, I can see how one could become contemptuous in replying, but anyway…I have no idea why i even butted in to this topic other than lend some support to the theory that something smells fishy here.

May 21, 2021 1:04 AM in response to DarrenBradley

Smart Phones neither have the intelligence nor has the hostility. Hence we need to look at our device settings and the way we synchronise our smart phones with Mac/PC/iCloud and also how careful are we in sharing our sensitive and valuable information with friends and family members.


Be careful when sharing the device's sensitive and valuable information with friends and family members.


Thumb Rules:

  1. Enable  Guided Access before handing over an iPhone to kids
  2. Don't share Apple IDs
  3. Don't Jail Break
  4. Don't share sensitive information pertaining to your device and payment methods


May 21, 2021 1:04 AM in response to DarrenBradley

iOS / iPadOS devices cannot be hacked or infected with Virus / Malware / Spyware if it is updated to the latest iOS/iPadOS unless you have intentionally downloaded spurious software or unauthorized apps directly from the internet and installed on your device or/and have Jail Broken. 


It (Hacking) also depends on how careful are you in sharing sensitive and valuable information pertaining to your iPhone such as Passcode, Password etc with your friends and family members.


Be careful when sharing the device's sensitive and valuable information with friends and family members.


May 21, 2021 2:21 AM in response to SravanKrA

you must have enjoyed deleting my last comment but i can show you the white papers on each citatiin and two of the references come from apples own website. please explain what was speculative about that, and i will look into having my comment fairly restored. its seems like you removed it because i might have hit a nerve. my comments about my notes disappearing are true and factual, i gave you a clear history of the past 3 or 4 updates, and the research done by google project zero is hardly speculation. please be so kind to inform me what was considered specualtive in my post so that i may resubmit it to not offend a subjective call that i was merely offering speculation. thank you

May 21, 2021 12:33 AM in response to DarrenBradley

Have you logged into the device with a correct Apple ID? Because one iCloud is associated with one Apple ID.


Have you logged into https://www.icloud.com with your Apple ID credentials and checked? If it isn't there then you or someone has deleted it. An iOS update cannot get into https://www.icloud.com.


Thumb Rules:

  1. Enable  Guided Access before handing over an iPhone to kids
  2. Don't share Apple IDs
  3. Don't Jail Break
  4. Don't share sensitive information pertaining to your device and payment methods


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if youre missing Notes on your iPhone

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