i accidentally over-wrote a NOTES file when update it from my iPhone. Is there a way to recover this previous version of the file from iCloud or TimeMachine backups?

1. In Finder go to the Note you want to revert back to the original state.
2. Select the note ant then on the menu bar click on the Time Machine icon and select Open Time Machine
3. In the time line that will appear on the right hand side of the screen, select a date prior to the time the note was overwritten
4. Click on Restore on the bottom left of the Time Macnhine WIndow
5. Once the file is restored you should exit Time Machine. Open the Note and eithere rename it or save it to prevent its being overwritten from the copy of the note on iCloud.

You may have to try a couple of times to get the correct version of the file, but it is in there.

If you synchronize Notes with iCloud, open the iCloud preference pane and uncheck the box marked Notes. If you sync Notes with another mail service, disable that in the Internet Accounts or Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane. You may be warned that notes stored on the server will be deleted. If you trust your backups, confirm. Leave the window open.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item named "com.apple.Notes" selected. Quit the application if it's running. Move the selected item to the Trash, then restore it from a backup that predates the unwanted change. If you back up with Time Machine, enter it and select the snapshot from which you want to restore.

Log out or restart and empty the Trash.

Re-enable synchronization in System Preferences, if you disabled it.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.