Can't delete an empty folder in Notes

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Level 1

11 points

Can't delete an empty folder in Notes

In my iCloud Notes I have two empty folders that I would like to have removed. Whenever I delete these folders (regardless whether from macOS, iOS or the iCloud web site) they eventually reappear.

None of the solutions on the other post worked for me. From the answers there it seems that the solution would be to:

Copy / backup all notes elsewhere.
Delete all notes via System Preferences > iCloud > Manage (storage) > select Notes > Delete Documents and Data.
Restore all the notes (excluding the empty folders) from the backup copy.

The part that I cannot figure out is how to copy the notes elsewhere from where I could restore them again. I have a lot of notes, so copy/pasting notes one-by-one is not a viable option. Neither do I want to lose the last-edited dates of the notes as I want to keep having the latest notes at the top and the oldest ones at the bottom.

Any ideas?

Posted on Jan 4, 2025 10:52 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

6x6

Level 7

24,057 points

Jan 4, 2025 4:08 PM in response to bernhard-h

I'm suspecting a synchronization issue.

First backup your Mac to make sure that anything you try won't lead to data loss. Then, make sure you have plenty of free storage space on iCloud. If you are close to running out, do not proceed with the following.

On your Mac, turn off Notes in System Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Do the same on the iPhone in Settings > [your name] > iCloud.

On iCloud.com, delete the folders. Wait a few minutes and refresh the webpage to make sure the folders are gone. Then turn Notes back on on the Mac and iPhone.

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Answer 2

6x6

Level 7

24,057 points

Jan 5, 2025 11:10 AM in response to bernhard-h

Thanks for giving it a shot. Another thing to try: on your Mac, drag the folders to the “On my Mac” location and try to delete them from there.

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Answer 3

6x6

Level 7

24,057 points

Jan 5, 2025 11:50 AM in response to bernhard-h

Dang, I'm running out of ideas. Two very long shots:

Try to rename the folders and delete them.
On the Mac, right-click the folder, convert it to a Smart Folder and delete it.

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Answer 4

bernhard-h Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 5, 2025 11:05 AM in response to 6x6

@6x6 thanks for the advice. I deactivated iCloud -> Notes on all of my devices and deleted the empty folders on the icloud.com web page. However, if I refresh the page a while later the folders still return! 😕

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Answer 5

bernhard-h Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 5, 2025 11:51 AM in response to 6x6

Unfortunately, when I do this the folders persist on iCloud (on the web site). Moreover, it seems that following this one of the empty folders come back from iCloud to Mac and then any change that I make to a note on Mac doesn't sync back to iCloud.

Disabling and re-enabling iCloud -> Notes on Mac fixes this, but of course this brings the folders back again.

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