Freeform not syncing across ipad, iphone and Mac

I'm having same issue with my iPhone and Macbook - Documents created on Phone are syncing with Mac but Documents created on Mac are not syncing with phone - tried with VPN on and off, also am update to latest OS versions on both. I hope Apple Support filed a bug for this.

Step by step instructions on how to lose a time-consuming Freeform document forever via iCloud syncing:

1. Have an iPad and MacBook air both on same iCloud account and running latest operating system
2. have "Freeform Syncing" turned "ON" for both devices. This is CRUCIAL to losing your document.
3. launch Freeform on MacBook air, spend somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes making a document showing, lets say, your ideas for the next line of t-shirts you're making for your company. For example.
4. Assume this document will now show up on your iPad as you move your work zone to the more comfortable confines of the work sofa.
5. It's not there, so you go back yo your mac, and click around trying to see whats up. In the course of doing this, you click on the "share" icon and get a clue:
6. 
7. OK- here's the important step to losing this document, so please pay attention. Assume that toggling iCloud syncing for Freeform to "Off" and then back "ON" will do something to, you know, kickstart this process. Proceed to settings on your Macbook and turn iCloud syncing for Freeform off, and you will get this message:
8. .
9. IGNORE THIS MESSAGE. It's really not clear what this means. Changes? Did I change anything? Is that the same as making a new document? No idea. Turn off and Delete.
10. BAM. your time consuming document is now gone. Forever. Go check! Its true.

There may be faster ways to permanently delete your document, but I'm not sure what they are. Maybe something in the Unix Command line? Simply deleting the document using the delete command will just put it in the trash where you can retrieve it. No fun! The process outlined above will dissolve your document into the ether.

I've tried all suggestions, and still not working. I disabled/enabled freeform in the cloud in system settings and lost my work! This has seriously destroyed my trust in Apple - I know (in hindsight) that I should have at least taken a screenshot but I've never experienced Apple products lose information before. My board was deleted from my MacBook pro and cloud.

Last time I was this annoyed was 20 years ago when I switched from Windows to Apple.

This is not a solution for everybody- (so keep working on a real fix, Apple.) ....but what worked for me was signing out of iCloud on my iMac (the device that wasn't sending out the updated version, my iPhone and iPad both updated instantly between each other.) Then restarting my iMac, then turning on iCloud and waiting about 15 minutes, and then the machine had time to restart and updated everything and send out whatever update signal that wasn't going out before.

I think after doing all of that, waiting the 15 minutes is a big part of it, because when you make a smiley face on your iPad you see it on your phone instantly- you sort of expect the update to be visible on the Mac after a restart, but I think the process of connecting and updating is more complicated and takes more time and processes than keeping input in sync in real time and needs time to process.

Also, to be clear- the info you have on your Mac (if that's the problem device for you like it was for me) in FreeForm does NOT save that info locally- so take a screenshot and save it on your phone as a backup, because after restarting there's a chance it won't be there if your problem device is the only place the new info is written into FreeForm. Also, I updated the IOS on my iPhone, iPad, and iMac to the very very latest version while doing all of this earlier, which I'm sure eliminated a possible issue.

Looking on line, this is an issue for A LOT of people, and just updating the IOS (which is often given as the cure-all for every issue) is NOT going to fix it for most people. Something is getting hung up and the issue needs to be looked into by Apple.

But this is what I did and it started working for me, but a real solution is only going to come from Apple looking further into this.

I assume that everyone took all the obvious and necessary steps. If you are still experiencing the issue then try to mark the board as Favorite. That solved it for me. Now Freeform syncs my activity in real time across all devices.

Three suggestions:

1 - Make sure all 3 devices have been updated to the latest OS versions.

2 - Make sure all 3 devices are logged into the same Apple ID account.

3 - If using a VPN on any of the devices, try it with the VPN disabled on any/all of them.

I was having the same issue. I created boards on an iMac then tried to share. Upon clicking the share button there was a pause then a message saying "Can't share board" "This board is still uploading to iCloud, try again in a few minutes" Whether or not this was true, it persisted for many days.

The solution:

1. Make sure iCloud syncing is toggled on for all devices you want to share with-System/user/ iCloud sync
2. fully shutdown all devices. Restart then try sharing again.

This solved my issue. Hope it helps

Here's some food for thought:

Unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer's, school's or bank's servers, public VPNs provide false security from a privacy standpoint.  Read these articles:  FPubic VPN's are anything but public,, Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns a Number of Public VPNs and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites and Security Risks: The Dangers of Using Free VPNs (eccu.edu).  

I'm having the same problem. What I add to the iPad or iPhone syncs immediately to my iMac and the third device, but what I add to the Mac doesn't sync to my iPad or iPhone.

Just noticed this today when I added something to the Mac. I originally started using the app when it first came out the Mac was syncing with the other devices.

Yes, this. Also had this issue (Mac boards/updates weren't syncing over to the iPad) - turning iCloud sync for Freeform off, restarting the mac, then turning the iCloud sync back on on the Mac seems to have sorted the sync issue...

BUT, turning off iCloud on the Mac made all the boards DISAPPEAR with no warning. And now they're GONE...

No huge deal as I'd only just started using the app, and took a screenshot first after reading your message... but still, that seems like a significant bug for Apple to fix. If the sync failed you'd expect them to still be stored locally or recoverable somewhere, or at least a warning first...

I am having similar troubles, except my sync issues are one-way. I can receive updated and new documents created on my iPhone and they push down to my iPad correctly and timely. However, updates or new documents created on my iPad are not reflected on other devices.

I'm having this exact issue, I have a Mac Studio (running 13.1) an M2 iPad Pro. iPad mini (6) and iPhone 12 Pro Max all running 16.3. Any board I create on the Mac will only show on the Mac, despite restarting multiple times etc. Some of the boards I create on the iPad Pro show up on all the devices (but not all!). Change I make to the boards on the iPad mini don't appear anywhere else. I also noticed that the "last changed" date on the Mac makes no sense as it will say "last changed at 17:45 today" when its 8 in the morning, obviously it is not communicating with iCloud, but I have no other iCloud issues and a 900Mb fibre connection.

Any ideas!?

All of the fixes and workarounds have done nothing to fix the syncing issues on my side either. Shared board with 1 collaborator and it never has a complete version shared. Edits from iPad/iPhone don’t sync either. A lot of lost faith in this feature. Seeking third party solution.

Do not turn off Freeform on iCloud on the device with the latest version of the board! I have synching issues too - MacBook Freeform board to iPhone. The latesd version of my board was on my MacBook and NOT synching to my iPhone so I turned off Freeform in iCloud on my MacBook and turned it on again (thinking it would reset the connection), only to find that the synching only took place from iPhone to MacBook. So I lost all my updated work and was left the old version of the board which was on my iPhone!

Lesson I learned here is to send the latest version of the board to pdf if complete, or always make two copies of the board, one with a different title (which totally rules out the convenience of synching tho).

I hope the developers fix this problem soon. I use Freeform for work!