Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I have a bunch of notes that just disappeared. One as recent as July 11. There are a bunch more missing now that I search, but don't know how long they've been gone.
Is there any way to retrieve specific missing messages from iCloud backups? Or at least see what's in the iCloud backups?
iPhone 4S, iOS 6
If you were syncing Notes using iCloud, they won't be in your backup. You can't see the content of a backup. It is an all or nothing restore.
Have you checked for a Recently Deleted folder in the Notes app?
Another would be to access your iCloud account via a web browser, and then, select Notes. As long as the notes were not updated, they should still be there. If so, you can either "sync" them back or email them to yourself.
However, if they were updated with the deleted ones, then they are "permanently" deleted. A number of vendors (Syncios & Wondershare/dr. fone) claim they have products that can recover notes, but I haven't verified this for myself.
As long as the notes were not updated, they should still be there.
As soon as I saw the note disappear, I switched to AirPlane Mode specifically to stop the sync, but when you don't want it, Notes synced immediately! It also had to happen on the most important, most time-spent-on note I have! Murphy's law times two.
The dr. fone software found the missing note in my iTunes backup, but the contents preview is blank. Trying to find out from the developer if that's a limitation of the free trial version, or the contents are indeed missing.
Thanks for the lead.
I managed to restore the missing note! For the benefit of others, here's how.
I had the foresight to archive the iTunes backup made days before the disappearance. Made a fresh backup. Turned AirPlane Mode on and restored my iPhone from the older backup. The missing note reappeared in Notes app. I know Apple says that backups do not include files that are otherwise synced via iCloud, but that, apparently, is not true. All 500 of my notes were recoverable from the backup.
According to this article, the only synced data an iTunes backup doesn't include is photos. It differs from an iCloud backup.
Unfortunately, restoring Notes is not available with this method. Any other options?
Uh! That explains it. Never noticed that difference. It's a good thing I'm in the habit of making both, iTunes and iCloud, backups before iOS updates.
Thanks.
You are welcome.
Restore lost notes?
