Cannot delete folder in iCloud Notes

I have the same issue, but I also found something else. I read on this thread that JMTee found a method and someone else make it work again. This method preconizes to disconnect the Icloud from the macbook's preferences and then erase the folder directly in the website of Icloud. So I did it and after that I logged out/logged in again from Icloud, and the folder was came back again... So that means that the problem is not (necessarily) related to the macbook, the bug is already on the cloud !

I also found something more : when I logged out from Icloud, I had a pop-up message noticing that I will loose all new changes that I havent' recorded yet... I undertood this notice after I repeated the process many times, when I found that after I erased the folders, a recording process begins... Here in the screenshot, you can see at the right top of the window, it is before the icons for trash and for invitation to other users... What you see on the screenshot below is in french: "Enregistrement..." which means: "Recording...". So now I have been waiting for more than one hour and the gray message is still there...

I don't have any idea of what I can do next...

You wrote - By the moment, I don't really have problems with erasing notes, but with erasing folders in which the notes are organised.

Please see this article if it helps Notes for Mac: Organize notes in folders

I solved this in another thread, reposting for you all here:

1. backup all your notes offline. I just moved them to Notes On My iPhone
2. create one at least one dummy note on iCloud
3. on a Mac, go to System Preferences/iCloud
4. click Manage at the bottom right
5. select Notes and press Delete Documents and Data
6. press Delete

This cleared out all my empty folders and the dummy note. It should work for you too. It seems to be the only way to 'Empty Trash' on iCloud.

When I tried this on my iCloud Notes, it says Saving and Saved once it is done Saving. It looks like yours got stuck saving. Has this happened before? You can close your browser session and then go back in again, and you should be able to get back into Notes.

Try it again now to see if the problem is resolved. I was just testing this in iCloud.com, and when I deleted the folders using the ➖ they were coming back almost immediately. When I deleted them using the gear at the bottom, they seemed to get deleted, but when I went out of and then back into Notes, they came back. When they came back, if I deleted them again, they seemed to stay deleted.

Then, all of a sudden Notes crashed. When I went back into them and tried some additional testing, I couldn't because they now aren't coming back. It is possible that the crash was because some kind of fix was being put in iCloud. I'm not sure, but it's worth a try.

Cheers,

GB

Hi Gail,

I did what you said but it didn't work (yet?). So after closing/reopening Icloud on Safari, I also did it on Chrome, then on Firefox... but my Icloud account is still unable to complete the saving process... and the folders deleted are always coming back. After this, we can consider that the crash is not directly linked to the browser. It is definitely inside the Icloud.

I have to say that I liked the way you think on this problem, so I really appreciate if you have other clues that I can be explore?

Just to answer your question : I really don't know if this happened before. I just noticed that today after I try a simple reorganization of my notes.

Regards !

Thanks for the very nice compliment Guillermo! 🙂

So, you get the Saving message when you have the Notes app open in iCloud.com and you then click on your name and then Sign Out, correct? All I can think of is that there is either a server issue, or that something is corrupted in your Notes App.

Are you able to sign back into iCloud and open the Notes app, or is it stuck even after you leave and then come back? Because if it you can get back into them, and those folders are still there, then then try the "delete with the ➖, then go to your Mail app or something, then go back to Notes, and if they are back, then delete them via the gearshift method".

There is also a 3rd method for deleting them which is to select the folder and press the Delete key. So, if the "double-delete" doesn't work, then see if a "triple-delete" will.

Also, is there any chance you are running low on iCloud space?

Finally, I would suggest that you clear all of your History, website data, and cache on your preferred browser to see if that helps at all.

If none of those things work, then what I normally do when an Apple server doesn't seem to be acknowledging me is to wait overnight to see if it gets fixed.

One last thing - your post stated that you closed then opened iCloud, but did you actually sign out of it? Just want to make sure....

Cheers,

GB

I have managed to delete my corrupted folders. You will have to erase all of your notes, and as I cannot assure anything, I would recommend you to try these steps on another iCloud account first.

1. Copy all of your notes to someplace else

2. Delete the Notes app's data (iOS 11: Settings --> Apple ID --> iCloud --> Manage Storage --> Notes --> Delete Data --> Delete) (Cannot tell you the Mac instructions, because I don't have one, but I don't think that they would be difficult)

3. Recreate all of the healthy notes and folders manually

3.1. I don't know if there is some way to make backups of your notes, but if it is, create one. At least, you will able to restore your data if this doesn't work. (Do not restore the notes from a backup file if everything worked out -- this may restore corrupted folders too)

This painful way allowed me to get rid of one undeletable folder and two subfolders in it.

P.S. As I mentioned before, I cannot assure anything. Try this at your own risk.

I would highly recommend that you do NOT delete any of your Notes. The reason the folder keeps coming back is because the folder is not getting deleted from iCloud.

Also, the problem is not caused by corrupted folders. It is an iCloud issue. I set up brand new folders in iCloud that I tested with, and they were doing the exact same thing.

Go to iCloud.com on a computer to do this. Delete the folder using the ➖. When it comes back, delete it again, by clicking the gear at the bottom and selecting Delete Folder. The double-delete seems to do it.

Best of luck,

GB

Post meant for "gail from maine" above me^

Hi there! I know this is probably a bit inappropriate for this thread but I saw your answer on another question that I have a problem with (to do with iCloud) and since you seemed to know quite a bit about it, would it be okay if I asked you here? (Sorry, original poster! I'm new here and I couldn't find an option to reach out to Gail any other way.)

Please get back to me, thank you!

Hi Gail, Kelnaven and tygb...

Thank you for being here !

On the past three days, I have been in contact to apple services about this problem, but we don't have a solution yet. I spoke with two different level assistants (the first assistant and her superior). So now, we are going to another level of assistance, engineers from apple are allowed to get into my icloud account and they are going to see deeper... More news about this will come around 20 November, so in two weeks.

I also have made some little progress with the problems I described before :

1. I understood why the folder that I was trying to erase was blocked on the saving process. This only happens when the folder that I'm trying to erase also contains subfolders. So I put all the folders at the same level, and then, Icloud was able to conclude the saving process... But after logging out and logging in from my icloud.com, the folders keep coming back.

2. The aim that I'm pursuing here since the beginning is to erase 6 folders. I have some good news, because I already erased 2 folders. But I still have 4 folders on the waiting list... The question now is: what I'm waiting for to do it? Well, this 2 folders disappear, but it is not clear how I did it. I have been following the magical step-by-step described by Gail before, that is: using two different methods (event three), many times, until the folders finally disappeared. All of this directly on Icloud.com. But this two folders did not disappear on the same day, only with a lapse of time of two days. So there is a hypothesis that icloud.com needs extra-time to process the order of erasing folders. Next days, I will be concentrating the process on one folder, and then I will tell you what I find.

3. Gail you also said that you create new folders and you make them disappear with the method you described before. So I decided to create new folders and see if I was also able to make them disappear, and it definitely works. But the ancient folders are not erasing. So there may be a difference between new folders and ancient folders... Maybe you can try creating two folders with notes inside and try to erase them after two or three days, and see if it is still working.

4. tygb, you sent me a link with instructions to erase notes. By the moment, I don't really have problems with erasing notes, but with erasing folders in which the notes are organised.

5. Kelnaven, by the moment, I will not erase my notes, but if I don't have a better solution in two weeks via apple service, I will consider this option again. Thank you for your advice !

I will be back with new discoveries about this bug. I'm still reading and following your advices. Thanks again!

Thanks for posting back with your findings so far, Guillermo!

I will set up a couple of folders today, and wait until Friday to see if I can erase them. I'm going to set one up on my device, my Mac, and iCloud.com, then see how each acts on Friday when I try to delete them.

I know you said that initially you had folders within folders and that caused a different problem, so I won't do that, but did you have data in the top level folders that keep coming back?

Cheers,

GB

Thanks for contacting Apple engineers because they definitely have a problem. I disconnected all my apps (macbook, imac, iphone) from cloud, proceeded to delete the subfolders on icloud.com and they persistently returned on the icloud platform. Thinking of finding another notes app because this app is unreliable.

Hello junkdeck,

I am also a little bit tired of this but we need to make apple engineers work on this kind of bugs, but I have a good news: I found a partial solution to this fastidious problem ! Yes I do !

Before giving the partial solution, I also consider the possibility of using a new application to remplace Notes, but I really don't find something good for me. So I decided to explore Notes with another cloud service, and that is the partial solution!

If you don't know how to do this, this is more or less what I did. In Macbook, Notes application has a menu: Notes, and then you go to your accounts. In my case, I have three internet service providers and multiples accounts : the service providers are google mail, yahoo mail service, and OVH mail service. I just activate my main google mail and my main OVH on the macbook and on the ipad. On the Ipad, you have to go to settings and to accounts and then you can choose which internet account are able to use Notes application.

After I activate google mail and ovh, I try moving my notes from icloud. It is not possible to copy them, so I have to move everything. My first try was with OVH. Everything gets synced between my macbook and my Ipad. I also tried with gmail, and I found that gmail was syncing faster than OVH service. So I just let all my notes on my gmail account, and I deactivate icloud.com and OVH, which I am not seeing anymore !!!

When I use Notes with gmail or OVH, I can easily erase all the folders and subfolders. So I can let my notes well organized. This solution is partial because by using Notes on the Ipad with Gmail, the subfolders don't work as expected. They are not following the hierarchies, so they works as simple folders. But in despite of this, all my notes are well organized, in their folders (or subfolders), they are synced fast and without bugs. I hope that Apple is going to find a solution for this, because I will certainly use back icloud with Notes when this bug will be corrected.

Hope you can also use this partial solution.

I will be back here on the next week to resume what apple found during my "absence".

I solved this problem instantly and completely!!😁

(caution!!!:please backup your notes data another place beforehand because all data will delete)

in mac

system preference

icloud

manage

delete notes data

now I'm not annoying!!🙂

good luck!!😉

Hi konbu,

This is a radical solution, and it also works for me... I was waiting for a reply from engineers (two weeks later), but I was already using Notes with google, so it was easy to me to erase all documents because my icloud notes was supposed to be blank. So now I just bring my notes back to Icloud and I know what to do if I need to reorganize my folders....

Thanks for your practicity !

Guillermo