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Notes not syncing across devices

For months, I've been unable to get Notes to sync across any of my devices.


  • Affected devices: iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, iMac, and iCloud.com
  • All other application data appear to be in sync
  • Running the latest production version of iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra
  • Notes is enabled in the iCloud settings screen on all devices
  • "On My Mac", "On My iPad", and "On My iPhone" are disabled
  • "Default account" in settings reads "iCloud" on all devices (no other options listed)


I can't find any way to fix or troubleshoot this. I have important notes on all my devices, so I need to merge all of them, rather than pick one to sync across the rest.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Oct 1, 2017 4:56 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Oct 1, 2017 11:03 AM

Please try the following…


  1. First check that all your settings are correct, that contact syncing is checked on all devices (System Preferences > iCloud > Notes > On on a Mac and Settings > Apple ID (Top) > iCloud > Apps Using iCloud > Notes > On on an iPhone, iPad or iPod).
  2. Make sure the notes you are adding are added to your 'iCloud' group and not an 'On My Mac', 'On My Phone' or other non-iCloud groups (you can do this by checking in groups), non-iCloud notes will not sync.
  3. If you are sure that everything is setup correctly and your notes are in the iCloud group, you might try unchecking notes syncing in the iCloud settings, restarting your device and then re-enabling notes syncing.
  4. You might also try signing out of your iCloud account completely, restarting the device and then signing back in again.
2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Oct 1, 2017 11:03 AM in response to freediverx01

Please try the following…


  1. First check that all your settings are correct, that contact syncing is checked on all devices (System Preferences > iCloud > Notes > On on a Mac and Settings > Apple ID (Top) > iCloud > Apps Using iCloud > Notes > On on an iPhone, iPad or iPod).
  2. Make sure the notes you are adding are added to your 'iCloud' group and not an 'On My Mac', 'On My Phone' or other non-iCloud groups (you can do this by checking in groups), non-iCloud notes will not sync.
  3. If you are sure that everything is setup correctly and your notes are in the iCloud group, you might try unchecking notes syncing in the iCloud settings, restarting your device and then re-enabling notes syncing.
  4. You might also try signing out of your iCloud account completely, restarting the device and then signing back in again.

Oct 1, 2017 1:20 PM in response to freediverx01

Try going to iCloud.com using a computer to see if the items are there and whether they are from the device or the computer. That should show whether the device or the computer isn't syncing. If the computer, try going to System Preferences/iCloud and stop syncing. Wait a couple of minutes, then recheck syncing. If the device, go to Settings/Your Name/iCloud and do the above. As a last resort, you can also try signing out of iCloud and then sign in again.

Notes not syncing across devices

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