iCloud Notes not syncing across all devices

Question

Level 1

55 points

iCloud Notes not syncing across all devices

After spending 2.5 hours via online chat and phone with Apple Support today, I've verified all of my settings are correct and my devices are all running the most current software versions.

I've signed out of iCloud and back in to iCloud on all devices, deleted notes app and reinstalled (on iOS only) toggled Notes on and off in iCloud settings over the course of multiple device restarts without success.

I created test notes (device name, time and date) on each device to see if they were syncing, and every test note remained on it's device of origin. I logged in to iCloud.com, and the test note created there populated immediately on all devices.

My affected devices are as follows:

iPhone 7 Plus 256 - running iOS 10.1.1
iPad Pro 128 - running iOS 10.1.1
MacBook Pro 13" Retina (Early 2015) - running macOS Sierra 10.12.1

Apple is aware of the issues, apparently they are receiving plenty of calls about this very issue this afternoon.

They have scheduled a call back with me tomorrow afternoon, hopefully everything is sorted out by then.

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 10.1.1, null

Posted on Nov 15, 2016 11:24 AM

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Answer 1

deho73

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2017 4:44 AM in response to fahn5150

It worked very well, except that, like the first time I tried, I lost all my "on my Mac' notes and, like some of you, saw old notes from 2015 resurfacing.

Then I restored my "on my Mac" notes from my Time Machine back-up, and it seemed to broke again the sync. Now it doesn't work anymore and I'm back to square 1 ...

So I guess that there is also something creating trouble in the files linked to the "on my Mac notes that are located in :

~users/library/containers/com.apple.Notes

~users/library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes

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Answer 2

Loubush

Level 1

15 points

Jan 5, 2017 11:23 AM in response to fahn5150

Thanks!

I had to quit notes and do the "reset iCloud migration" a couple of times as Notes seemed to lock up the first couple of times with a spinning wheel forever, but it seems to have worked now. Fingers crossed!

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Answer 3

payner96

Level 1

4 points

Jan 7, 2017 4:23 PM in response to fahn5150

This worked awesome! But....I had set up an "on my mac" notes account and moved all of my iCloud notes to that folder. When I clicked "delete data from cloud" it also deleted the on my mac notes. Does anyone know of a way to trouble shoot getting the notes I've lost back? I had around 400 work related notes with pretty important info. and all I've got now are about 15 notes I've imported from Evernote which I've been using since apple FUBAR'd our notes app. with the last updates.

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Answer 4

payner96

Level 1

4 points

Jan 7, 2017 5:03 PM in response to fahn5150

I had quit notes and restarted the application and now when i start the debug menu in terminal I am not seeing the "restore notes local command". Where did you find this option? Wondering if reseting local migration would do anything without screwing up my existing notes...

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Answer 5

Yotsiri

Level 1

17 points

Nov 2, 2017 7:04 AM in response to MK05HJ09

Apparently, all my syncing problems between apple products, which I have many (iMac, Mac Pro, MacAir, iPhone 5, iPhone 7 plus, iPad four of them) had all gone away recently in Mac OS Sierra. The syncing in all platforms were nice quick and reliable. Until, I upgrade to Mac OS High Sierra and IOS 11.0.3, the syncing problem get worse. Previoius problem before the fix was that notes sync from iMac to iPad and iPhone, but not the other way around.
This time, none sync. Not even between IOS!!!

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Answer 6

kyleson

Level 1

19 points

Nov 20, 2016 7:34 AM in response to MK05HJ09

Got the same problem but mine is working for iPad and iPhone when I delete the Notes app and install it again. Unfortunately for MacBook and iMac can't reinstall the app so I haven't found the solution for my MacBook and iMac.

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Answer 7

Nov 20, 2016 7:34 AM in response to MK05HJ09

Same issue for me. Notes will either not sync or will not reflect changes across devices. Seems like this should be easy to fix on Apples end, but alas, maybe I have to buy a new MacBook Pro dongle to fix it.

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Answer 8

sok777

Level 1

19 points

Nov 20, 2016 3:04 AM in response to MK05HJ09

same issue still?

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Answer 9

MK05HJ09 Author

Level 1

55 points

Nov 20, 2016 7:59 AM in response to sok777

Sorry for the delayed response, it's been a rather busy weekend so far. I've been busy with other things lately, so I put this one on the back burner for a little while in hopes it would be sorted out while I was preoccupied with other stuff.

I had a chance to sit down this morning and test the functionality of iCloud notes on my devices. I have verified that I can create a note on my iPhone, and it will appear on my MacBook Pro and I can see edits made on either device on the other device. The initial edits appeared across devices almost instantly, as it worked before any of these issues arose.

In an effort to bring it back in the loop, toggled notes off on the iCloud settings from the iPad Pro, powered off and rebooted, and switched it back on. Some of the most recent iCloud notes appeared, but not all of the most recent edits to the test notes as reflected on my MacBook Pro and iPhone.

In summary, it seems that whatever issue is being corrected on Apple's end does seem to be working, but it's still not 100% just yet.

Additional edits still aren't syncing reliably between devices, and my iPad Pro still seems somewhat out of the loop.

I will continue to monitor the issue and post back when I notice any changes (hopefully improvements!)

Thanks for your active participation in this discussion, I appreciate it.

Reply

Answer 10

MK05HJ09 Author

Level 1

55 points

Nov 20, 2016 8:40 AM in response to MK05HJ09

I've been updating various notes on my iPhone and MacBook and monitoring the changes to see when and where they are updating across devices, and it still seems to be very "hit and miss" reliability. Some will update seemingly instantly, and others don't change at all.

I am starting to notice some signs of life with some updates on various notes starting to make it to the iPad Pro, but its not reliably syncing changes made between devices.

I primarily use and access Notes from my iPhone, as it is the only device I have with me everywhere I go, but not being able to trust that the notes are being updated reliably between devices is beginning to wear on me. At the recommendation of some coworkers, I've decided to give Microsoft's OneNote a try and see how that works for me while Apple is getting the details on iCloud Notes ironed out.

I don't like the idea of using something different, but I have way too many notes I rely on for work and home life that I can't leave up to fate, hoping they are current on all of my devices.

If anyone has any additional updates, please post here so we can get some resolution. I firmly believe this is not a hardware issue.

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Answer 11

sok777

Level 1

19 points

Nov 20, 2016 8:46 AM in response to MK05HJ09

Thanks for the update mate.

I am awaiting a call back from the engineers.

At the moment it is only my MacBook Pro that isn't syncing to iCloud, but does get all the edits from my other devices.

Ticking and unticking, as well as restart, still doesn't work.

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Answer 12

MK05HJ09 Author

Level 1

55 points

Nov 20, 2016 8:49 AM in response to sok777

Glad to hear you're getting things to work on your end, that is certainly encouraging.

Question for you: Whenever you make an update to a note on either your iPad or iPhone, how long does it take either device to recognize an edit? Within seconds, a minute, five minutes? I've seen everything across the board in attempting to diagnose and correct this issue, I'm to the point I'm not sure what to expect or what is considered average or normal.

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Answer 13

sok777

Level 1

19 points

Nov 20, 2016 8:50 AM in response to MK05HJ09

Within seconds on all of my devices, when changes made on iPad, iPhone or iCloud.com. MacBook still doesn't sync to iCloud, but does get all the changes immediately.

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Answer 14

MK05HJ09 Author

Level 1

55 points

Nov 20, 2016 8:52 AM in response to sok777

Thanks for the prompt reply.

That's exactly what I expected, when Notes is working properly and syncing as it should, it's practically seamless and very fast to update. It's been a little while since that's been the case on my end and just wanted to make sure I wasn't remembering it's abilities a little too fondly.

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Answer 15

Nov 20, 2016 7:54 PM in response to sok777

No luck yet. Went through two senior advisors who forwarded to engineers. Suppose to talk to someone next week. If I find a solution I will post. Seriously weird issue, and apple seems to not really be interested in finding solution, just telling me to sign out and back into iCloud and toggling notes option the normal stuff. It is an issue with recent updates in my opinion. My problem still remains maciPhone works fine, or anything put on iCloud.com comes to devices. But mac>iCloud

-Apple I will buy your notes sync dongle if it helps to get this issue fixed. I miss Steve.

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