ICloud Notes password not working “FIX”

I ran into an issue when I tried to password lock a new note on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Less than a week old.

When I tried to lock the new note it didn’t try to use Face ID. It just asked for my iCloud Notes account password. When I tried it it didn’t accept it. I tried it again plus all of the other passwords that I would on my iPhone. None worked.

Customer support wasn’t able to help with this. I found a previous answer for this on discussions. apple.com from 2019 that helped me get my notes unlocked.

This is what I did.

1) Go to Settings-Notes-Password

2) Go to account iCloud

3) Go to RESET PASSWORD (NOT Change Password)

4) Enter your Apple ID account password.

5) Enter a NEW password twice

6) Then create the new password

7) When I went to an OLD note and entered the NEW password it still wouldn’t accept it. So I tried the NEW password again OR I cancelled the password attempt then tried to open the OLD note a second time (I can’t remember which I did)

8) It then asked me for the iCloud Notes password again BUT, it gave me a hint for my OLD Password. Which I new I tried twice before but it didn’t work.

9) For my own comfort I went back to Settings-Notes-Password-iCloud again and it’s time I CHANGED my password back to my OLD one for peace of mind.

10) When I went back to Notes my Face ID and my OLD password now worked for locking and unlocking OLD and NEW notes.

After I got it working I called customer support back. The rep. didn’t know why it worked or what caused it in the first place but suggested that I post my information here.

I Hope that if anybody else has this issue that what worked for me will work for you without locking out your OLD notes.

GOOD LUCK

Dave W.