Apple Notes: Text disappears and note closes while editing

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Level 1

4 points

Apple Notes: Text disappears and note closes while editing

Editing a Note, and all text disappears and the Note closes. It seems like a glitch/bug - I’m NOT selecting all txt, deleting then saving/closing the Note.

This has happened a few times and because the Note has no content when closed, there’s no Deleted Note to recover.

I could restore from the previous night’s backup, but often that seems like more work than retyping the Note.

I’ve tried the usual: hard reset, delete and reinstall Notes, login via browser etc..

Any help is apreciated.

iPhone 16e, iOS 26

Posted on May 5, 2026 2:06 AM

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Answer 1

Alancito

Level 7

31,318 points

May 5, 2026 7:46 AM in response to Dkeosmds

Dkeosmds ~ Perhaps it's a syncing glitch...

Is iCloud sync set for Notes on your iPhone 16e?

Do you have other devices set for Notes sync via iCloud?

...If so, I wonder if another device is repeatedly syncing its old version of the note back to your iPhone 16e.

Use iCloud on iPhone - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Alancito

Level 7

31,318 points

May 5, 2026 5:18 AM in response to Dkeosmds

Dkeosmds ~ Which point version of iOS 26 are you running?...

Settings > General > About > iOS Version

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Answer 3

Oct 11, 2026 4:00 PM in response to Dkeosmds

It's a very real problem for me. It happens when I am doing voice-to-text entry into a note. I also accidentally experienced this with Apple Intelligence the first time about a week ago, when I hit a random button that was an Apple Intelligence button. It brought up "Some weird AI. Let me help you finish your thought," and I was immediately like, "No thanks." When I closed it, my note was erased.

There's something going on in edit mode that selects all and deletes everything. I've had it happen twice now. It's horrifying because I have so much stuff in Notes that I don't know what to do. I guess I need to keep backups on devices unconnected to the internet.

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Answer 4

Dkeosmds Author

Level 1

4 points

May 5, 2026 6:33 AM in response to Alancito

iPhone 16e IOS 26.4.2

This problem has happed a few times while editing a Note. It’s as though I’ve done SELECT ALL, DELETE then CLOSE (tick) and so the Note is gone!

Only I haven’t done any of those things - it’s as though a shortcut has run, and just done it!

The Note that disappeared today had links to other Notes. When I tried to find the lost Note using one of those links, the message returned was ‘Note Unavailable - This could be because the note was deleted, exists on a different device or account, or is not shared with you’.

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