Voice memos is not saved after i done recording

Just wanted to let everyone that the by downloading imazing to my PC I was able to retrieve my lost voice memo file. In imazing I went to file systems and then media recordings. I found a folder with the date and time that matched when I made the recording. Clicked on it and there I found the missing voice memo. Clicked on it and it played! So from the imazing program I saved it to my PC and then transferred it to my itunes and put it in a playlist. Then I sync'd the playlist to my phone and can now hear the memo on my phone through the playlist. Crisis averted! Thanks to whoever suggested this work around.

Background

So I recorded a 52 minute long voice memo yesterday in class. Very important recording because I need it to complete my final exam. I periodically checked while I was in the class to make sure that it was still recording, which each time it was. When I wanted to end the recording there was no stop, end, or done button. So I closed down the app and returned to it. It brought me back to the recording and this time a done button appeared. I hit done. When I went to go find the recording to listen to it, it was nowhere to be found in the voice memo. I searched it on my phone and I could see the 52 min voice memo I had just recorded. I clicked on it and it took me back to voice memo but it did not show up there or in the deleted files. I contacted apple support. They could not resolve the problem. All they said is that this was a known issue that they are still investigating and to be sure to just update my iOS anytime there is an update. Thankfully the imazing suggestion worked. I have an iPhone XS and I am and was running iOS 12.1 when this problem occurred.

FINALLY GOT IT! To sum it up: Download iMazing - then try to recover the file through one of the 3 voice memo recordings the trial has, or if it results in an error, it may be because of two reasons: either it shows the path of the file, or it says it is on iCloud and has to be downloaded to the iPhone to be retrieved (not possible because as we all know there is no visible file on the app, only by the search bar @ home screen).

So, I went to the sidebar to "File System", and looked it up by its date and time filename. As you can see there is no .waveform (blank logo) or .m4a, however, I was allowed to use one of my 100 available file recoveries from the trial, to copy it to my Mac. The 1 hour 4 min voice memo was sized 370MB and inside the folder there was also the .waveform.

File recovered, so happy and so much kudos to iMazing!!!

Hi!

I also recently encountered this problem with the voice memo, and lost a really important 46 minute discussion for my thesis. As same as the others I have paused the recording and clicked done, but unfortunately it did not appear on the list. I tried really hard to find a way and read through the comments. I have also tried other stuffs written, I tried searching it it my iPhone and the record shows up but can't be open with voice memos.

I was loosing hope and found your comment! it actually worked and I have found the missing record! but in my case I do not own a Mac and fortunately iMazing is available for windows! I also did what you did and headed to:

File System -----> Media ------> Recordings

Then from there I looked for the folder that has the date of my recording and opened the "fragments".

from there I have located the missing file that I was looking for! the folder actually has 2 m4a files and I opted to try and listen to the larger file and thankfully it was the full 46 minute record that I was looking for! After making sure, I copied it into my laptop and made several back ups.

I do hope this solution would also work to others who also has the same problem, since it helped me a lot! Thank you so much!

Hi, I just had the exact same issue. My new recording didn't showed up the Voice memo app but in the search result only.

I was able to copy the file to my mac using a tool called Imazing https://imazing.com/download/macos, my invisible recording showed up in the voice memos list but gave me an error while attempting to copy to my mac. The error message will give you the path to the file. Then go in the File System and browse to this path and copy it to your mac. You can follow the instructions here: https://support.imazing.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001152374-Voice-Memos-Export-fa ils-with-The-file-or-folder-doesn-t-exis…

Hope that helps

I found a solution!!

I had the exact same problem, iOS 12, iPhone XR. When I saved a very important memo it just didn't appear after clicking "done". In a random act I tried to record, hoping it would continue the previous recording. It didn't, but when I saved *that* one the other appeared in the list of recordings.

If you clicked done it did save the memo.

It appears it's just a bug that doesn't show it immediately. Start a new recording, save that one too and both will appear!

Good luck everyone!

hey i've been having the same problem as many here - my voice memo appears in my search list but when i try to open it, its nowhere to be found. I've since tried to sync my iphone xs (i'm on ios12 btw.) to my mac but for some reason idk why it doesn't sync. So i just simply restarted my phone manually, and then opened up my voice memo again and the missing voice note somehow appeared. Hope this helps to everyone facing the same problem!

P.S. i had my location turned on, so the file is auto-saved as the name of my location.

I just had this problem, I clicked done and the file didn't show up in the app. What worked for my was signing out of the iCloud on my phone (make sure you "Keep a Copy" before you sign out,... it asks you) I did this twice.

I signed out the first time for ~15-20 minutes then signed back in, waited ~10min then signed back out and then immediately signed back in. The voice memo that had disappear but was still able to be locate on my home search showed up in my voice memos again and I was able to listen to it.

Want to echo those on this thread who have said the iMazing app has been able to find their lost recordings (that show up in spotlight search but not in the voice memo app itself). I too lost a 1hr+ memo that is highly important/irreplaceable, and after much searching this was the only solution. If apple has some sort of policy for avoiding recommending 3rd party apps such as this, then shame on them for not giving the right solution conveniently to those who are in the same boat.

As per instructions posted by others, once in the iMazing app, I was able to find the voice memos searching through 'File System', and opening up the 'fragment' folders within.

They ARE saved! Open the memos app. When you open it, see the left side bar? That is where they are saved.

you can rename them.

the first 24 hours it will reflect the time that it was recorded. After that, it will reflect the date. If you need to remember both the time and date, I suggest you name it some like “ work: 10.15.18/ 1:15 PM “

here is a screenshot. Hope this helps. I’ve renamed mine “ address” as it’s an address I need for tomorrow.

I think this will only work within the first month after losing it. It assumes your recording is in your trash, which is the default location Voice Memos places it. The problem is, the trash isn't accessible from the app, so you have to get there in a roundabout way. Here's what to do:

1. Create a new recording, name it something like "Recovery" or anything a bit unique.
2. Delete the new recording.
3. Press the home button to hide the Voice Memos app and get to the springboard.
4. From the springboard, swipe down from anywhere near the center to bring up the search.
5. Search for "Recovery" or whatev.
6. The search will bring up the recording you just deleted. Tap it to be taken to the Voice Memo trash can.
7. Recover your lost recording.

Hope this helps…enjoy! 😉

– Yuri

Just wait 10 or 15 minutes for it to process amd will show up.

At least that’s what happened for me. I recorded an hour long meeting then hit Done and was like it was never recorded, I was wondering *** happened... By the time I had googled the problem, read this question, and downloaded 2 recording apps, the original “unsaved” recording had showed up in the voice memo list at the top and so had the other test recording I had made after it

I Recovered the files!!!!!!!!

Yey!

download imazing

go to File System

Head to:

Media-->Recordings

look for the file that was saved at the time and date of the lost recoridng

make sure it has content (more than a few kb size...)

save to your mac!

quick view to listen.

TADA!

good luck!

Crash or restart the voice memo app. It's probably still waiting for you to name it.

This worked for me. Had an interview with few execs from a company for my thesis. The file just vanished after save. Found it with iMazing complete lifesaver! Get it together Apple!

This worked on 16.sep19 I had a 4.5 hour podcast I thought was give but there it was after closing & reopening app thanks