sapphireoceans

Q: iPhone 6+ email accounts vanished, notes vanished, iCloud email locked??!

Hi all,

 

I'm desperate for some help please.

 

I have an iPhone 6+ 128GB running iOS 9.3.4. I have just noticed in the past few days or so that all of my notes and all but one of my email accounts have vanished from my handset and I cannot seem to retrieve them! I've been abroad (in Greece) for the past four weeks and noticed the issue while I was there, but decided to rectify it when I got home.

 

I believe my notes may have been attached/linked to my iCloud email address (this email wasn't being used as my Apple ID, and never was) but when I tried to re-add this to my mail app I am getting a message that my account has been locked for security reasons. So I've been trying to get it unlocked so I can add it to my phone again and hopefully retrieve the missing notes. I am having zero luck with this. During the unlock process I get the option to do it via email or security questions. The security questions are telling me I don't even know my own date of birth and the email option is sending the email to the iCloud address Apple have locked??!!!! Utterly ridiculous. I really am bewildered and pretty much disgusted by how flawed this unlocking/password reset process is. Not to mention the possibility of not being able to recover the notes I've lost and they contain lots of important information! I do have a back up on my (Windows) PC but I'm concerned that using this will wipe other data or anything from my phone that was added after I backed up before my trip abroad.

 

I'm also having a very hard time re-adding my gmail email accounts back into my mail app as its asking for server information etc, which I simply don't have. I've never encountered such issues before and I have no clue what has caused this. I would SO appreciate some help with this please. I really, really need to get this fixed..

 

Many thanks,

Laura

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 9.3.4

Posted on Sep 24, 2016 2:55 PM

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Q: iPhone 6+ email accounts vanished, notes vanished, iCloud email locked??!

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  • Helpful answers

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 24, 2016 3:11 PM in response to sapphireoceans
    Level 8 (40,265 points)
    Sep 24, 2016 3:11 PM in response to sapphireoceans

    sapphireoceans wrote:

     

    The security questions are telling me I don't even know my own date of birth ...

    This sounds very suspicious to me - as if someone took over your account.  I am assuming you are trying to unlock your Apple ID, going through the standard process, and, when you are asked your date of birth, you are told this is incorrect.  This likely means someone else is in your account.  Did you ever share your Apple ID and/or password with anyone?  Might they have been compromised, especially during your overseas travel?

     

    Regarding adding gmail back into email accounts, when you choose Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account, simply choose "Google" as the account type and all the proper server information will be supplied for you.

  • by sapphireoceans,

    sapphireoceans sapphireoceans Sep 25, 2016 12:54 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 25, 2016 12:54 PM in response to sberman

    Hi there,

     

    Thank you for your response. The iCloud email address in question was never used as my Apple ID, was never linked to App Store or iTunes Store etc, on any of my devices. It was only ever used on my phone as an email address. I never ever share any details with anyone and so I have no idea how it could have been compromised. I'm just at a loss for what to do next. I do need this email address unlocked, the information in my vanished notes is extremely important. Lots of banking details etc, not just mine, various other things, addresses, PIN numbers etc. I dont know where else to turn for help. What would you do next in terms of gaining access to this account?

     

    Will try again with the Google Mail option. I must have missed that the first time, my apologies.

     

    Thank you for your reply.

    Laura

  • by PBKaden,

    PBKaden PBKaden Sep 25, 2016 1:00 PM in response to sapphireoceans
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 25, 2016 1:00 PM in response to sapphireoceans

    Should the Gmail option fail you, I would urge you to contact an official Apple employee at Official Apple Support

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 25, 2016 2:16 PM in response to sapphireoceans
    Level 8 (40,265 points)
    Sep 25, 2016 2:16 PM in response to sapphireoceans

    Let's focus on this statement for a moment:

     

    sapphireoceans wrote:

     

    I believe my notes may have been attached/linked to my iCloud email address (this email wasn't being used as my Apple ID, and never was) ...

    Unless you have done something very unusual (I don't even know if it's possible), your iCloud notes have nothing to do with your iCloud email address.

     

    Check Settings > iCloud on your iPhone.  There, at the top, you will see your Apple ID (not your iCloud email address), and down a bit further you will see "Notes" with an "On" setting.  This proves that your iCloud notes are associated with your Apple ID.  Further, you should be able to use a web browser on a computer, go to http://www.icloud.com, sign in using your Apple ID, and click the Notes icon and view all your notes.

     

    On your iPhone, you can open the Notes app, click the "<" sign in the upper left, and view your Notes folders.  It should look like:

     

    IMG_0519.PNG

     

    From there, you can click "Recently Deleted" to see if the notes got moved there.

     

    If you see more rows on your iPhone than I have shown, please report back what you see, as this would be a surprise.

  • by sapphireoceans,

    sapphireoceans sapphireoceans Sep 26, 2016 4:16 AM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 26, 2016 4:16 AM in response to sberman

    Hi there,

     

    You're absolutely right, my Apple ID email is shown under iCloud settings, not the actual @iCloud.com address. I have only ever used one email address as my Apple ID (my MSN address) and this is what isn't making sense to me. I just can't figure out where the notes went, why they vanished or how to retrieve them. I don't have access to a browser until a little later but I'm attaching a shot of my notes page.

     

    Thanks again for your reply.

    Laura

     

    image.png

  • by PBKaden,

    PBKaden PBKaden Sep 26, 2016 11:15 AM in response to sapphireoceans
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 26, 2016 11:15 AM in response to sapphireoceans

    The simplest way the notes might have disappeared would also be the easiest. Does anyone else, particularly little children, have access to your phone? If so the notes may have been deleted from both the 'notes' and 'recently deleted' tab.

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 26, 2016 12:17 PM in response to sapphireoceans
    Level 8 (40,265 points)
    Sep 26, 2016 12:17 PM in response to sapphireoceans

    Your screen shot does show "MSN", so perhaps you had some connection with MSN notes previously and have lost that connection.  Unfortunately, I don't know anything about how to help researching what notes might be there or how to re-establish that connection, if that's what you want to do.

     

    Frankly, I suggest once you resolve what happened to the old notes, you house all your notes in one place, and let that place be iCloud.

  • by sapphireoceans,

    sapphireoceans sapphireoceans Sep 30, 2016 2:26 PM in response to PBKaden
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 30, 2016 2:26 PM in response to PBKaden

    Hi there,

     

    I am the only person who ever has access to my phone. It just isn't possible that someone else could have deleted them, and I am certain that I haven't deleted them either.

     

    Thank you for replying.

    Laura

  • by sapphireoceans,

    sapphireoceans sapphireoceans Sep 30, 2016 2:32 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 30, 2016 2:32 PM in response to sberman

    Hi again,

     

    My apologies for the delay..

     

    I am quite certain that my notes were stored under the iCloud header and not under MSN, which is why I was concerned that my iCloud email address has been locked down for some security reason. Having said that, my MSN email is my Apple ID and is shown in settings under iCloud. I don't get it. Something doesn't make sense here. This is the first time I've ever had an issue with an Apple device, but it is baffling me and it is a disaster as those notes were vitally important.

     

    Do you think a member of Apple staff - either in a store or via online chat - would be able to assist me further? What would you do at this point? Would you upgrade to the latest iOS? I've been putting that off until I could resolve this issue.

     

    Thank you for your time.

    Laura

  • by PBKaden,

    PBKaden PBKaden Oct 2, 2016 12:55 PM in response to sapphireoceans
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 2, 2016 12:55 PM in response to sapphireoceans

    It is almost certain that an in-store Apple genius would be able to assist you. (They are usually called Apple Genius's for a reason) And in the very least, they could find a way to get those notes back, so that it won't happen again.