all my notes disappeared from iPhone and MacBook not in recently deleted

all my notes disappeared from iPhone and MacBook not in recently deleted. I could backup was on. logging into iCloud.com.. the notes are not there either.

iPhone XS Max

Posted on May 6, 2022 5:17 PM

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18 replies

May 10, 2022 7:14 AM in response to DirkAkron

Is the iPhone using the same Apple ID as the computer ?


Is the iPhone using iCloud for Notes ?


Predicated on the two above being enabled and working the Apple Computer needs to have the same Setup as per above with iCloud >> Notes enabled.


What should happen, once the iPhone has uploaded the Notes to iCloud they should be in iCloud.


Once the user enables iCloud >> Notes on the computer the Notes should appear in the Notes Application of the computer


Depending on the complexity and number of Notes in iCloud - this Sync process can take some time

May 10, 2022 7:42 AM in response to Owl-53

  1. yes I have the same Apple ID logged on both devices. (computer and phone). Both Current and updated to most recent IOS and Mac OS.
  2. I have both set set to backup and sync all devices using the iCloud.
  3. I faithfully, also back up my iPhone to my macbook "back up ALL the DATA on you iPhone to this Mac" monthly.


I lost my Notes in my icloud backup. They are gone.. not there... not in phone and not on this Mac.

However......they ARE on my iPhone backup this is saved to my MacBook from last month!


Now, I want to restore my iPhone backup from my MacBook computer.... After the iPhone restore from my MacBook "all iPhone data" I can see my notes! ===> but only for a second, because the icloud apparently updates my freshly restored phone ..to the iCloud that currently had zero notes... apparently syncing with the could and deleting my notes.


The Notes are Not in the recently deleted notes folder either. I did a test Note delete and that one test note will show in the recently deleted folder...but not my MacBook backed up notes that were taken from my MacBook-iphone-restore.

May 7, 2022 6:54 AM in response to DirkAkron

DirkAkron wrote:

on my MacBook, I did a password reset, and then had to log into my phone again.
joined a family cloud share, later it said there wasn’t enough storage for my cloud backup. So, I switched back to my own account. Later, I turned off photo backup to reduce my clouds size. Then switched back to the family cloud plan and my backups “fit”. Now the notes are gone.

Q - " on my MacBook, I did a password reset "


A - Password reset of what? The Computer Password or the iCloud Password


The two are very different and have different ramifications


A - Normally, , the only way to change the iCloud password is by logging into My Apple ID and changing the Apple ID Password which in turn will changes the iCloud Account associated with that specific Apple User Account


A - Changing the Computer password only effect the Log In Process to the computer and nothing more.

May 7, 2022 3:17 AM in response to picas

when I do an iPhone restore from a backup I did a week ago, the notes show on the iPhone for only a few seconds and disappear right before my eyes.

I’ve done this twice, the restore takes so long and then they just vanish. I have about 300 notes I need back. They are not showing in recent deleted.

this photo is a second before they vanished and show zero

May 7, 2022 5:46 AM in response to Owl-53

Yes, the same Apple ID. I have only one. Backup for notes turned on for the iPhone and MacBook. I have time machine backups of my MacBook and I have have backups of my iPhone in both (iCloud and full backup to MacBook finder).

All was good until a few days ago, I changed my password for iCloud, logged out everywhere and logged back in. iPhone contacts and calendar are fine. Just my notes are gone.

May 7, 2022 6:41 AM in response to Owl-53

on my MacBook, I did a password reset, and then had to log into my phone again.

joined a family cloud share, later it said there wasn’t enough storage for my cloud backup. So, I switched back to my own account. Later, I turned off photo backup to reduce my clouds size. Then switched back to the family cloud plan and my backups “fit”. Now the notes are gone.

May 10, 2022 6:02 AM in response to DirkAkron

Please help me figure this out. I can restore my iPhone from MacBook full backup.. .but as you can see in the photo... iCloud will update my notes seconds after I open the notes app and wipe them out to zero notes. My notes are there when I finish my restore from my MacBook... I want my backup... not iCloud to erase my notes.

I should be able to restore my phone as it was in my backup without iCloud erasing my fresh restore.

May 10, 2022 7:57 AM in response to DirkAkron

sorry, this is part two of the prior post....as you can see in this screen shot I took right after my iPhone restore from MacBook "not cloud" ... you can see the swirl next to iCloud...and a second later all the notes change to -0- (zero). there are in my notes for just a second until that iCloud sync removes them. How can I stop the cloud from removing then immediately after a restore from the MacBook.

It's frustrating since each restore take so much time.


below you can see the screenshot after my notes disappear... its adds the recently deleted folder.

.... Question...why does my old restore not have that folder... "doesn't have Recently Deleted" but it appears later after my notes vanish? By the way.. the 1 note you see is the one I added as a test and the one in the deleted folder is a test note I made after.

Was there an update that changed the Notes app on the iPhone? Since I didn't have a recently deleted folder showing on my phone at my last backup last month?


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all my notes disappeared from iPhone and MacBook not in recently deleted

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