Help! iCloud synced notes disappeared!

PS. Been having a play and this is what happened to me. Removed email account from icloud and those notes disappeared in the Accounts page of the Notes App. when i re-associated the account the notes created in the account were then accessible fthrough the Account page of Notes. Notes App behaves as a per account association. Since cloud wirelessly push and syncs. turn these featues back on, Switch off/on and let the sync do its work. Then recheck in your notes App on your idevice. Best Wishes.

Thank you for your last two emails. I tried to reassociate my original email, but although the account is set up when I come to use it I get the message that the password is incorrect. I am not sure why this is as it works with Yahoo still.

I also followed, as far as I understood, your PS. email but again no sign of the missing notes.

I am getting in a bit of a muddle and should possibly tell you the sequence of events as I remember them. When I first had the iPhone it was set up for email with btinternet.com. This worked and I could sync with iTunes on my PC and laptop. I had the problem that everytime I deleted emails they reappeared on the iPhone next time I opened mail so that I had over 2000 emails. I booked a session at the Genius Bar when they changed the setting to Yahoo. I was still able to sync with PC and laptop, but found I had double entries in the contacts list on Whatsapp which I use to contact by brother in South Africa. I booked another Genius Bar session to try to resolve this. and, although I had already started backing up in the Cloud, it was suggested everything be transferred to the Cloud and changes were made. I wsa told the only way I could rid myself of the double contact entries in Whatsapp was to manually remove the additional ones, over 500 of them! I duly did this over a few days and was having no trouble with that app. When the change was made the technician told me I would no longer be able to sync with the PC, but I did not understand why.

Now I have an account with Yahoo, but my contacts there are double entries as again in Whatsapp! If I go to calendars I find I have three if the Cloud is switched on. One is for Yahoo and two are in the Cloud. Each calendar has a colour code. If "All icloud" is ticked I get three entries in my calendar, If I set the calendars so that only the green in icloud is ticked I get a normal entry!

My knowledge is not sufficient to work out what is happening now, even when I have sorted the calendar I still have duplicate entries in the Whatsapp contact list although not in the Cloud contacts. I would like to be able to remove these without having to do it manually again. My Notes app is now back to the stage it was after the original deletion, only having entries that I have since written.

Does any of this make sense to you. I am feeling a little frustrated that I cannot clearly understand what is going on, probably because of my lack of understanding how the cloud works and why my original btinternet.com has lost its password. Also why have I got three calendars when one to sync on my PC and laptop is all I need!

This same thing happened to me, all of a sudden all of my notes reverted to a back up from last summer. I was going to attempt a time machine restore to the day before, when I realized a tiny 'sync error' icon right next to my Time Machine icon on the top bar. Sure enough, there was an issue with the sync, and it gave me the opportunity to restore my notes to their most recent syncs, choosing from 3 options with 3 different dates. Problem solved, hope this helps somebody down the line!

First para. BTinternet account password will be the password you used to set that account up with. For instance, I set up Hotmail, gave my hotmail email password and address and now it is associated with the cloud. If i log in from a browser or home computer I enter the hotmail account password. If I log into the cloud MAIL App program on my idevice it goes straight to it!

The reason, is that the password for the hotmail account is cached on the Apple Server, so mail is fetched automatically without my having to manually log in.

Think of an online bank Payment Service such as PAYPAL. They have your details, you confirm yur identity, and they make the payment. By logging into the cloud Mail App from your idevice, that serves as your identity confirmation, since your Apple ID is matched to your iphone..

This is why security of your device is so important. Always set a passcode and a passlock on the restrictions page in settings, just in case you lose your phone. Setting a sim lock code too is useful since if you do lose your phone, the operator can autolock your device and it cannot be unlocke without either the sim code or a reset from the operator - which they wont give out once they know the phone has been lost or stolen.... but that is another subject, but something to keep in mind as we set things up for you, and hopefully recover your notes.

Since btinternet was the precursor to yahoo, I think we need to get the password sorted for that first.

Settings/MailContactCalendars Add Account. If you have accessed this account from elsewhere and changed the password during that time that is the password you will need. Or, if you cannot remember it - Log in to your BT internet home email page from a PC and select the option Forgot Password. With the password reset you can then associate the account with the cloud. If that is the account the notes were made under, that will give you access to recover them. WITH THE PROVISO OF CERTAIN OPTIONS which I will look at with you later. The important thing is we leave all options set as they are to get the lie of the land, so to speak. Then tinker later.

Recover/Reset your Btinternet email account password. Re-associate it with icloud. Once set up, tap on it in the Accounts section and go to the options page. only set the mail to ON.

Once you have done all of that let me know. Speak soon..

what I am not sure about is how the restore function will work from your xp and Vista backups if your original default account under btinternet is missing or not present.

Since everything works by account association, I am presuming that without it present and linked to your ID as before, the information will not be transferred back. And even if it was, without your password to complete the association, it would not be accessible even if the back up managed to cache it to memory on your device.

The Backup will however remain intact, unless you overwrite it.

I am testing as i write this. I have deleted several notes. I am going to change my default accounts both for my Apple ID and my default cloud email. With the changes made, I will then restore from backup off my Vista Laptop and see what happens.

Perhaps we will both understand the mechaism better once this has been attempted at least once.

Will be in touch to let you know how I get on.

What a day. This morning I discovered that my password was no longer recognised by btinternet.com. After a bit off help from the Broadbandhelp desk I managed to reset my password and had the original email working. I associated it to the Cloud but could still not find my old Notes. I have been using the iPhone during the day and had no trouble with my old email.

This evening I sat down at my laptop to reply to your latest email and checked my email account was working on the laptop, only to find it was not! I tried to use BT desktop help on the laptop only to get a message that it was not on the computer and to download it. I checked Control Panel and found the desktop help was present, so deleted it and downloaded again successfully. Again when I tried to use it I was told it was not on the computer!

I have now retired to my PC where the old email was no longer working there either, but have once more reset it with the desktop help so it is working on the PC and iPhone. I think I will have to ring BT tomorrow to sort out what has gone wrong with their help desk. I do not want to use the mail on the laptop until that is sorted or I will probably loose it again on the iPhone and PC.

Computers can make you go grey! I do not know whether we can progress with the Notes until the laptop is sorted, but the laptop is syncing the calender and contacts without trouble. Can I come back to you when I manage to sort this mess out?

I note that the time of our exchanges do not synchronise! Your last one was timed at 04:02. The one I have just sent you is timed at 14:46 although the time here at the moment of typing is 22:50 hours BST(British Summer Time) as read from my computer. As you will realise I am in the UK, where are you located?

Thanks for the update, apologies for the delay in coming back to you, just winding down for a much needed holiday starting April :)

I dont think the sycnchro is awry at my end - since I really did write and post my last message at that time.

Happy to hear you have your BT account up and running.

From what I have learned, your notes with BT are in a data file contained within the back up on your Vista and XP machines.

Before we go further though, we need to preserve the original data files.

In Vista under an administrator account.

Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer.

Under Tools Menu select Folder Options. In Options pane select the View tab.

Click on the bullet - Show Hidden Files and Folders - end of first section in the settings pane you see.

just below it should be a box - Hide Protected Operating System Files - click on the box to take the tick out of it.

Click on Apply to all folders then close explorer window.

Re-open Explorer window and browse to the User folders, located under the root or C Drive - normally next to the Windows folder - and select the User account folder that you normally use to run iTunes under.

For me it would simply be Users\Nick - then expand the folder list - you should see a folder at the top called AppData.

right click on Your User root folder - IE, your name - Nick in my case - select New from the menu, then select Folder.

- then name the new folder Databackupitunes. - adding a date if you wish I.E. name290312

Now go back to the AppData folder uder your user account you have just used to create the new folder under and click on it to expand it.

Click on Local folder to expand it.

right click the following folder - Apple Computer - select copy from the menu that appears, then locating the newly created folder, right click it and select Paste fromm the menu.

Now go back to the AppData folder and select Roaming folder, click to expand it, expand folder called Mobile Sync, and here you will find your sync folders. Right click the one called Backup, select Copy - then going back to the folder you created at the start, right click and select Paste.

Now go back to the roaming Folder and looking down the folder list you will find another folder called SyncServices, with a sub folder called -Local - and that has a sub folder called - TFSM - this is the important one. If you expand it you will see why - this is where your notes are stored. Right click on the Local folder - this is because sync data is contained in files within it and needs to be transferred with the sync files under TFSM, copy and paste the Local Folder to the folder with the others.

There is one other folder that may interest you for future use that is worth back p - particularly if you ever have to factory reset your device. Under Appdata\Roaming\appleComputer\Logs - there is a wealth of device information, crash reports, running logs etc, I think it might be as well to back them up as well.

Repeat the process for your XP machine.

Note these folders you are copying can be quite large - 230 and 362 mB in my case. Alternatively , if you have a large enough External Data drive or USB you may wish to back up there too, or instead. finally when you have finished Reset your folder View options for hidden and System Files back to their original settings.

FYI me when you have done this and we will attempt to restore your notes. Best Regards. Nick

PS. If you go into Your Stuff on any discussion page when you have signed in, you will find under Your Stuff\General Settings the section for selecting your time zone - usuall the top option GMT + 00 hrs.

Thanks for the spot on that, do not know how but mine had changed. I have reset it so hopefully you will get notificatins that i have posted back. I did not get notification that you had posted back - so wondered if you had clicked on Stop Email Notifications either on the thread, or under the settings pages for Your Stuff. TFN

Nick

Thanks for your last two emails. I am still having problems with my BT mail. I telephoned BT on 28 March and they could not resolve the problem, promising to ring me back in 24 hours but did not do so. This evening I telephoned again and the technician said they had been having problems with BT mail for the past 7 days or more, a lot of people having the same trouble as I am, namely finding their servers do not recognise my password and I have to reset it. Unfortunately if I do reset it, next time I try to use it the problem recurs. Before replying to you I had hoped this problem would be resolved.

I am glad to hear the files may be on my computer after all. I have printed your instructions and will work on them tomorrow as it is getting late now. Will be back to you with the results of your suggestions.

I have been to Your Stuff and altered the time which at the moment is 2230 hours BST. British summer time is GMT + 1. I did not check the date so will go back and check that when I have posted this as I see you are already on 30 March and at the moment we are still 29 March.

Regards, Guy

Correction! Have just checked my watch and it is 30 March today, am losing track of time!

Nick

Thank you for your time and patience in trying to resolve this issue for me. I am learning a lot more about my computers and do not think I could have found anyone better as a teacher.

It was quite a challenge finding the files as XP and Vista are different. I wonder if you are on Windows 7 as I had to deviate from your instructions even on Vista before I found the files. The files on Vista and XP are now backed up on their respective computers and I have backed up their files onto my Seagate Goflex drive. I look forward to the next step and hope it does retrieve the missing Notes after all your efforts.

Regards, Guy

Almost there. But.... sorry, there is always a but :)

Can you confirm what your current update status is with your Vista and XP machines. There is an iTunes update 10.6.1.7 pending. If you have already applied it I can work round it, though it might make things a little easier if you defer the install till we have finished. When the update dialogue presents itself just take the tick out of the box next to iTunes, the update for Safari can go ahead. Also, in the itunes application's Menu bar under Edit\Preferences, General Tab - just take the tick out of Check for New Software updates box, till we have finished everthing else.

As far as I can see the Notes which you had on your idevice previously, should be in your Vista backup, since notes are, along with contacts, calendars and settings, backed up by default

However, I have noticed a few peculiarities with how restore from backup works, and how Notes are associated with the application, depending on how the Notes are created.

Can you also confirm that at this time, you still have Backup to icloud OFF, and still have the Autosync features in both iTunesand your idevice I spoke of earlier in this thread disabled/turned off also.

This is important as I want to be able to preserve any Notes you have made since and, if the backup does have what you are looking for, perform a simple merge of everything. We have to be careful as restore from backup normally overwrites everything it applies to.

Hopefully everything will go according to plan and we can then get your Calendars and any other little niggles sorted also. Regards Nick

I am afraid I have already updated iTunes on the laptop, but XP is still on 10.6.0.40 and I will not update until all is finished. I am afraid Backup to icloud was back on, but is now off again. The preferences in iTunes to prevent ipods, ipads etc syncying automatically was checked. As far as I can see nothing will sync automatically, but I am not sure where the key for autosync is.

Hello again, before going further I would like you to have a read of a few articles. I have pasted the links below.

http://www.apple.com/support/icloud/mail-notes/

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4191 This one details default sync behaviour- now you can see why I wanted your Btinternet account active and synced to your device. Since any notes are synced via the Mail account active at the time.

Although the code reader I have for dtaabase is quite rudimentary, the first thing I noticed was that with notes enabled, there is an association between mail apps where the cloud is concerned, and between your Default account email and notes where the cloud is off. If we can recreate the precloud sync status for your iphone, the backup should recognise this state and dump your notes back onto your ipad. At least thats the theory. Have a read of all these articles and see what you think.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2621

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4083

You will also find a wealth of information available in archive. I need you to understand a little about the processes involved so you feel a little bit of confidence in the process I have elected to take in attempting to retrieve your missing notes. Others following this thread may also start to have a little more hope too. Best wishes and speak soon. Nick