I have problems with Notes with pictures on my iPhone. I did a move to the iCloud. The pictures became image icons, and the pictures were not visible or recovered. How to fix this problem?
iPhone 11 Pro Max, iOS 17
This issue usually occurs when Notes finishes syncing the text of a note before it finishes uploading the attached images, such as photos, scans, or PDFs. When the move to iCloud is interrupted or does not complete successfully, Notes replaces the images with generic image icons that act as placeholders. Once this happens, the images may not automatically re-download, and in some cases the attachment references are lost.
The first thing to check is whether the images still exist anywhere else. Sign in to iCloud.com using a computer browser and open Notes to see if the images appear there. You should also check any other Apple devices signed in with the same Apple ID, such as an iPad or Mac, because another device may still have the original attachments even if the iPhone does not.
If the images exist elsewhere, the problem is likely a local sync issue on the iPhone. You can try forcing Notes to resync by going to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Notes, turning Notes off, and choosing Keep on iPhone. Restart the iPhone, then turn Notes back on and leave the device connected to Wi-Fi and power for at least 30 minutes so syncing can complete.
If that does not resolve the issue, signing out of iCloud can help reset the Notes database. Go to Settings → [your name] → Sign Out, choose to keep a copy of your data when prompted, restart the iPhone, then sign back in and re-enable Notes syncing. This forces a deeper rebuild of Notes and its attachment links.
If you have access to a Mac, check the Notes app there as well. macOS sometimes retains attachments even when iOS only shows image icons. If the images are visible on the Mac, you can copy them out or reinsert them into new notes, which will then sync correctly back to iCloud.
If the images appear only as icons on all devices and on iCloud.com, the attachment data is likely lost. This usually means the images were stored only on the iPhone and were never fully uploaded to iCloud before the move completed or failed. In that situation, there is no source from which Notes can recover the images.
It is important to understand that updating iOS or waiting will not make missing images reappear, and Apple Support cannot recover attachments that were never uploaded or were already lost. These image icons represent broken references rather than hidden or recoverable files.
To avoid this in the future, make sure Notes has fully synced before moving notes to iCloud or signing out of an account. Keep the device connected to Wi-Fi and power during large migrations, and consider exporting or duplicating important notes with images as a backup before making changes to iCloud settings.
This issue usually occurs when Notes finishes syncing the text of a note before it finishes uploading the attached images, such as photos, scans, or PDFs. When the move to iCloud is interrupted or does not complete successfully, Notes replaces the images with generic image icons that act as placeholders. Once this happens, the images may not automatically re-download, and in some cases the attachment references are lost.
The first thing to check is whether the images still exist anywhere else. Sign in to iCloud.com using a computer browser and open Notes to see if the images appear there. You should also check any other Apple devices signed in with the same Apple ID, such as an iPad or Mac, because another device may still have the original attachments even if the iPhone does not.
If the images exist elsewhere, the problem is likely a local sync issue on the iPhone. You can try forcing Notes to resync by going to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Notes, turning Notes off, and choosing Keep on iPhone. Restart the iPhone, then turn Notes back on and leave the device connected to Wi-Fi and power for at least 30 minutes so syncing can complete.
If that does not resolve the issue, signing out of iCloud can help reset the Notes database. Go to Settings → [your name] → Sign Out, choose to keep a copy of your data when prompted, restart the iPhone, then sign back in and re-enable Notes syncing. This forces a deeper rebuild of Notes and its attachment links.
If you have access to a Mac, check the Notes app there as well. macOS sometimes retains attachments even when iOS only shows image icons. If the images are visible on the Mac, you can copy them out or reinsert them into new notes, which will then sync correctly back to iCloud.
If the images appear only as icons on all devices and on iCloud.com, the attachment data is likely lost. This usually means the images were stored only on the iPhone and were never fully uploaded to iCloud before the move completed or failed. In that situation, there is no source from which Notes can recover the images.
It is important to understand that updating iOS or waiting will not make missing images reappear, and Apple Support cannot recover attachments that were never uploaded or were already lost. These image icons represent broken references rather than hidden or recoverable files.
To avoid this in the future, make sure Notes has fully synced before moving notes to iCloud or signing out of an account. Keep the device connected to Wi-Fi and power during large migrations, and consider exporting or duplicating important notes with images as a backup before making changes to iCloud settings.
Notes with pictures moved to iCloud issue
