Are iCloud notes saved if the phone is deleted/restored?

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Level 1

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Are iCloud notes saved if the phone is deleted/restored?

This is probably a basic question, but I previously was only doing all my (extensive) note-taking using the "on my iPhone" option, because I believed that if they were in the cloud I wouldn't be able to access them when I'm offline. I recently had to restore my phone, for the first time ever so it's hopefully very rare, but now this total-deletion issue is on my mind. At the time, my iTunes backup was 2 weeks old, so I lost some messages and notes, so I decided to switch to iCloud notes.

Here's the basic part: if my phone crashes again, are those iCloud notes saved? (since they would no longer be part of an iTunes backup?). I feel like...they MUST be, since the syncing means I can see the same notes on my desktop app, through a web browser, and on my iPad, so they shouldn't just disappear if my iPhone is deleted. However, because iMessage did not "re-sync" back to my restored phone (I believe this is because I'm not using 2FA, though?), I'm wondering if iCloud notes could possibly be lost during a restore. (if so, I'd change certain notes back to "on my phone").

iPhone SE, iOS 15

Posted on Nov 9, 2021 7:46 AM

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Answer 1

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Michael Black

Level 10

80,298 points

Nov 9, 2021 7:56 AM in response to NChuang

Yes, notes in iCloud would re-sync back to that device when you restored it and signed back into iCloud on it using the same AppleID.

In order to use messages in iCloud, yes, you must enable 2FA with your AppleID. So if not using 2FA, your iMessages are not in iCloud but should be backed up to your iTunes and/or iCloud backup. But if your backup is not up to date, you’d lose messages when you restore that backup.

Use Messages in iCloud - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Nov 9, 2021 11:16 AM in response to NChuang

If you are not using messages in iCloud (as I said that will require 2FA) then your devices are sharing messages using a feature of iOS/iPadOS and MacOS called continuity (Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support). Continuity is not real synchronization. A device first receiving a message then shares it with the others that are connected. But deletions on any given device do NOT sync to the others.

Messages in iCloud is true synchronization - any changes (including deletions) in the Message app (for iMessages or SMS/MMS texts) are sync'd up to iCloud and down to all devices also using that iCloud account for messages. So messages in iCloud is exactly the same sort of sync feature as iCloud Photo or Notes in iCloud.

Since the current state of iCloud sync'd data is already in iCloud as well as on all devices, it would be wasteful of people's iCloud storage to also include that information in an iCloud backup. So iCloud backups do not include any of the data being synchronized across devices (including contacts).

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Answer 3

NChuang Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2021 11:00 AM in response to Michael Black

Thank you! It's just a bit confusing that iMessage is synced across devices yet not backed up (luckily I did have an iTunes backup, just a couple weeks old), and the way photos work with iCloud is if you delete your phone copy it deletes off iCloud as well, so I was worried that any future phone restore was similar to "deleting" my notes. I've tried creating new Notes on any device and can see them on my phone, which is ideal, but I kept wondering if that it's only synced "for now" while my phone is still functioning.

I definitely feel safer if it does re-sync, though!

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Are iCloud notes saved if the phone is deleted/restored?

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