I'm concerned my Notes aren't being back up by Time Machine. The backup is working for my documents, etc., but when I search for the folder where Notes are supposed to be backed up (group.com/apple.notes) - the folder is empty.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.2
Time machine stores its extremely sparse backups in a custom format. These are NOT intended to be examined with Finder.
to do the check you want, navigate to the folder in question, then use the Time machine Icon in the menubar and select "Enter time machine".
you should get a view of the state of that folder as of the most recent backup. it may take a minute or more to populate, as time machine.app will have to calculate all changes it has saved in many older backups.
...
Time machine stores its extremely sparse backups in a custom format. These are NOT intended to be examined with Finder.
to do the check you want, navigate to the folder in question, then use the Time machine Icon in the menubar and select "Enter time machine".
you should get a view of the state of that folder as of the most recent backup. it may take a minute or more to populate, as time machine.app will have to calculate all changes it has saved in many older backups.
...
Time machine drives should not be looked at with Finder.
You go to the current LIVE notes folder on your current Hard drive (NOT looking at the backup drive)
Then invoke Time machine while looking at the current LIVE notes folder on your current hard drive.
The top folder that opens in Star Wars view should show your backed up notes folder, and its last modified DATE. Stacked behind, it, are older folders going back, back, back in time.
there are probably three or more different "Library" folders, and it is VERY easy to confuse them. The one referenced starts with tilde [~] which is an ACTIVE shortcut for "current user". if you omitted the tilde, or used a slightly different character, you will get wildly different results.
~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes
If you copy and paste that string into:
Finder > Go menu > Go to Folder
it will take you to the Folder where those reports are stored. it is particularly telling in column view.
<<. I followed the directions at iboysoft....
...the folder is empty. >>
Then that is CLEARLY NOT the folder where your notes are stored.
Unless of course you are pursuing this because you wiped out all your notes -- which is not what you started with.
¿Are you linking your notes to your iCloud account?
if you are, your Notes folder is likely to be here:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/CloudKit/
To further illustrate the good guidance already provided by @Grand Bennet-Alder, here is Apple's guidance on recovering files: Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support
Thanks for your quick reply. When I search for "group.com.apple.notes on my external drive" (Time Machine is set to backup here), the folder shows it was last modified on 10/24/24.
When I go to the enclosing folder, click on Enter Time Machine, it just takes me to my MackBook Pro folder. As in your screen shot, I can see the Time Machine on the right side of my screen, but that doesn’t tell me anything about whether my Notes have been backed
Whether or not I’m misunderstanding your suggestion, I don’t know why this is so complicated. All I need to do is confirm my Notes are being backed up. With MS OneNote, you can easily see on your hard drive where the Notes are saved, and just as easily confirm they are being backed up. I don’t know why it’s not as straightforward on a Mac.
So I followed the directions at iboysoft.***/howto/where-are-notes-stored-on-mac.html in order to find the Notes folder: ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes. FYI, the folder is empty. When I "invoke" Time Machine, and the Star Wars view opens, there is nothing in the folder. And the folder's Date Modified is 10/24/24. Is this a hidden file issue?
Please know you are talking to a lifetime MS/Windows user. Macs are new to me and very frustrating to learn after decades in another computer world... I have no IT dept to go to for answers, so I appreciate your help.
[Edited by Moderator]
Well that's where the community and other sites have said it's stored. When I try to find the path you shared, nothing is found.
Thanks for your help. I officially give up. If Notes aren't being backed up, I'm going to lose a ton of work if it ever crashes.
I'm not allowed to sync to iCloud
Thanks so much - will give it a try.
Notes Folder in Time Machine Backup Is Empty
