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iOS 9 / iTunes / Outlook Notes sync on Windows

Well thanks Apple - what a cracking job you've made of iOS 9 / iTunes integration with Microsoft Outlook 2010. I can now no longer sync notes between my iPhone and Outlook. I have 250+ notes in Outlook and now no way of synchronising them with my iPhone!


I've been using Outlook and my iPhone since iOS 3 on my iPhone 3G and had no problems. I work in IT and although your support documents still state that I can see my 'new improved' iCloud notes in Outlook using the Outlook add-in it DOES NOT work


Has anyone got this working?

iPhone 5, iOS 9, Windows 7 32bit &iTunes 12.3.0.44

Posted on Sep 18, 2015 3:56 PM

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Posted on Sep 18, 2015 4:31 PM

There is no longer an iTunes Outlook Notes sync selection box for me either. iPhone 6, iOS9, iTunes 12.3.0.44, Windows 10.

292 replies

Sep 19, 2015 12:46 AM in response to Phil_from_Gideon-IT

Yes this really is unfortunate. (I used a different word, the action a vacuum cleaner performs, but it was censored.) I used to keep dozens of things such as frequent flier numbers, library card number, passport number, site usernames, store sales dates, and other odd bits of information in Notes. I would type it in Microsoft Outlook on my computer and carry it in my iPhone and iPad. Now I have to figure out some other convenient way to do this and probably have to manually sync it.

Thanks Apple.

Sep 19, 2015 11:18 PM in response to Phil_from_Gideon-IT

For all those folks who have upgraded their iPhones to the new IOS 9.0, I have discovered through trial & error and lots of anguish, a method of syncing MS Outlook Notes to your iPhones notwithstanding the MS Outlook Notes icon not showing up in iTunes as was the case in earlier IOS versions.


However it is a very inefficient way & I hope the coders at Apple come out with a fix soon. I have close to about 1100 notes in my MS Outlook program that keep getting edited & or added from time to time. I happen to be one of those souls that simply CANNOT DO WITHOUT having a mirror copy of the latest MS Outlook Notes & contacts on my iPhone 6+.


When you connect your iPhone (any model having the new IOS 9) to your iTunes software via your laptop OR desktop, click on the iPhone icon & then click on to Info. Scroll down to advanced & click on replace information on this iPhone and toggle contacts.


After the all contacts from your MS Outlook program in your laptop OR desktop as the case may be have been synced (replaced actually), you will then notice that MS Outlook Notes have also been transferred to your iPhone. One caveat though. Subsequently if you have added and or edited existing MS Outlook Notes on your laptop & or desktop, you will first have to delete all the MS Outlook Notes in your iPhone & then go through the rigmarole of syncing (replacing) actually all your contacts as was stated earlier.


Till such time the folks at Apple come out with the fix, this bullock cart age solution that I have discovered has been working fine for me ever since I migrated to the new IOS. In the process I have once again realized that patience is a truly a virtue.

Sep 20, 2015 12:03 AM in response to Naresh Arya

This sounds too complicated and dangerous. I'm all too liable to overwrite all my notes.


I did notice on my devices that my old notes weere still there after I declined the offer to upgrade them to the new format. They just won't get updated any more on my phone when I change things on my computer and vice versa.


I'm thinking some kind of document with all my notes that I can keep in Pages or email might be a workaround.

Sep 20, 2015 12:54 PM in response to Phil_from_Gideon-IT

I think the problem stems from the optional conversion of the Notes in the iPhone to a format that is no longer unformatted text only.

In other words, once Notes on the iPhone is 'upgraded' to the new format, allowing sketches, photo insertions etc. to be added, they'll not be in a state that that the text-only format of MS Outlook Notes requires and therefore Apple have disabled their sync in the iTunes 'Info' section selection.

Wish I'd realised the significance of upgrading my Notes before doing it. I suspect they would still have synced with IOS9 if I hadn't upgraded Notes.

So it strikes me there will not be a solution except for Apple to supply an option to revert the Notes on the iPhone back to text only format and then re-enable the selection of Notes sync on the iTunes 'Info' section.

I have years of detailed Notes and must have the ability to sync them with my PC.

Previously I could update notes within Outlook or on my iPhone and they'd merge perfectly during Sync.

I'm very annoyed and frustrated.

Is it my imagination or is it that just about everything Apple does lately seems to be flawed?

BTW, although I only receive about 20 private emails a day, my unread message count was just showing an enormous figure, something like 49645342553!, so big that on my home screen, it was shown as 4, 53 Another bug, clearly.

I've posted negative feedback on the link provided. Thanks to whoever supplied it.

Everyone affected should make their views known to Apple. Stubborn as they typically are, they may be moved to act....

Sep 20, 2015 4:06 PM in response to Phil_from_Gideon-IT

Problems too when I upgraded Notes with iOS 9.0. I found that my Outlook10 Notes were copied over to the "New Notes" on my iPhone 6 Plus, but the text in each file (note) no longer recognized LF (line feed) and/or CR (carriage control) characters---i.e., every note file contained ONE LONG STRING (but the data was otherwise correct). I spent about 6 hours in Chat sessions, once with a Senior Advisor with who I shared my screen so he could take a screen shot to show their technicians Outlook-Notes vs. iPhone-Notes.


A temporary solution for keeping your Outlook-Notes data from being COMPLETELY LOST or SCREWED UP during synching with iTunes (I use USB):


1) Create a directory: e.g., Outlook10 Notes

2) Open Outlook and select Notes. Then Shift-drag the note-files to highlight, and drag (Copy) to the directory above.


Not what we really want, but could save all of your thousands of lines of note data while Apple fixes their incompatibility problem with Microsoft.

iOS 9 / iTunes / Outlook Notes sync on Windows

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