How can I retrieve the notes that have disappeared from my iPhone?

[Bo Jessen]

re:

There is a notes option. And it is enabled. However it is so because I tried that earlier in the process of troubleshooting. I wasn't so before as a standard setting - does this mean that my notes should be there, or not?

And thank you for all the help.

 

[Bo Jessen]

re:

There are no notes folders on my work email on my phone. Can it be that they are only viewable from a computer?

 

[Ledsteplin]

There are no notes folders on my work email on my phone. Can it be that they are only viewable from a computer?

Read this.
http://forums.imore.com/showthread.php?t=332859

Toggle Notes OFF in the Gmail account in Settings. Then look for the Folder in mail.

 

[Ledsteplin]

re:

On your phone, when you get done, make sure Notes are toggled OFF for all mail accounts in Settings. Only toggle Notes on for iCloud. Do that and you won't lose Notes.

 

[Bo Jessen]

re:

Sorry, i am still not allowed to see that post for some reason.

 

[Ledsteplin]

re:

Sorry, i am still not allowed to see that post for some reason.

In a nutshell, it says turn Notes off in your Gmail account in Settings. Then look in the Notes folder in your mail app. You won't see a folder if Notes is turned on for Gmail. Try that and see if the Notes are there in the folder. Do this on the phone.
Then afterward, make sure only iCloud is turned on for notes in Settings.

 

[Bo Jessen]

re:

Thanks. As far as I can see it is not even possible to give gmail access to my notes under settings? (Either under settings on my phone or on gmail desktop version).

 

[cookuser218]

re:

This seems to have coincided with the most recent update that included the new music app.

For years I just used the native Apple app and it synced to iTunes. With the latest update it changed the backup to exchange and only my most recent notes are saved and they also reside in the notes folder in outlook.

From what I can tell the old notes are gone forever.

This happened at the same exact time on my girlfriends phone.

Bummer

 

[Ledsteplin]

Thanks. As far as I can see it is not even possible to give gmail access to my notes under settings? (Either under settings on my phone or on gmail desktop version).

You don't have this in your settings >Mail, Contacts and Calendar > Gmail?

 

[Bo Jessen]

re:

Gmail doesn't appear - only my work email (and iCloud because I have added the account after the loss of notes). I am pretty sure, however, that the sync notes function was not toggled on before I lost the notes.

From what I gather from this thread my last option is to wait until I have access to my work email on a computer and see if there should be any notes folder. Is that right? I'm pretty sure there won't be any unfortunately.

 

[Ledsteplin]

re:

Gmail doesn't appear - only my work email (and iCloud because I have added the account after the loss of notes). I am pretty sure, however, that the sync notes function was not toggled on before I lost the notes.

From what I gather from this thread my last option is to wait until I have access to my work email on a computer and see if there should be any notes folder. Is that right? I'm pretty sure there won't be any unfortunately.

Your notes could not have just vanished for no reason. Was your notes app synced to any email account at all? Not Gmail? Do you have other accounts? Yahoo, Outlook? Are Notes turned on for iCloud?

 

[Mortos360]

re:

I just found this post over google... so my first post in this forum, but I have the same problem!

I am using default ios notes for years now, my icloud is turned off for notes, my gmail account has a notes folder but I dont use it, and in the settings when I go to notes, it say default account - on my phone. I never touched any settings for notes and I never had any problems!
I have an iphone 5 with ios 8.4

for the past week or so I was using notes every day for a bit, last time jesterday around 7PM, today I open the notes and its empty!!!
i tryed to restart my phone, I also did the power//home button restart, still empty. I tryed to make a new note, works perfecly fine, but other then that... all my past notes are gone!! I have a backup that is few weeks old so I didnt lose too much, but still... how did this happend???

Since jesterday I didnt do ANYTHING with my phone.. no updates, no restarts, no sync or installing any apps... the only thing I did was subscribing to a new podcast.

if somebody finds a solution for this problem, please update this post, I would still love to have m my notes from the past week.

Thanks

 

[Ledsteplin]

re:

I just found this post over google... so my first post in this forum, but I have the same problem!

I am using default ios notes for years now, my icloud is turned off for notes, my gmail account has a notes folder but I dont use it, and in the settings when I go to notes, it say default account - on my phone. I never touched any settings for notes and I never had any problems!
I have an iphone 5 with ios 8.4

for the past week or so I was using notes every day for a bit, last time jesterday around 7PM, today I open the notes and its empty!!!
i tryed to restart my phone, I also did the power//home button restart, still empty. I tryed to make a new note, works perfecly fine, but other then that... all my past notes are gone!! I have a backup that is few weeks old so I didnt lose too much, but still... how did this happend???

Since jesterday I didnt do ANYTHING with my phone.. no updates, no restarts, no sync or installing any apps... the only thing I did was subscribing to a new podcast.

if somebody finds a solution for this problem, please update this post, I would still love to have m my notes from the past week.

Thanks

I find it best to toggle Notes on for iCloud. And toggle anything else, such as an email account, off. That way Notes will be backed up to iCloud and you won't lose any. It's how I do it and have had no problems at all.

 

[Mortos360]

re:

Thanks for your answer, but its not really helping and your opinion seem to imply that its normal to lose data just like that?!
So people who refuse to use iCloud just have to accept the fact that data typed into phone will randomly vanish?

 

[rwp626]

re:

My Notes app disappeared completely. I have tried everything for a week, every setting in the notes, everything possible, including eveything on this thread. I am a very experienced iPhone user of many years. The responses on this thread aren't helping. There is something happening to some people with the Notes app. Even the guy at the Apple store couldn't figure it out.

 

[Just_Me_D]

re:

My Notes app disappeared completely. I have tried everything for a week, every setting in the notes, everything possible, including eveything on this thread. I am a very experienced iPhone user of many years. The responses on this thread aren't helping. There is something happening to some people with the Notes app. Even the guy at the Apple store couldn't figure it out.

The responses in this thread are probably from people who have NEVER experienced what you are describing so instead of saying that they are not helpful my, be thankful that they are taking the time to attempt to help. I've owned the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5, the iPhone 5S and now the iPhone 6 Plus, and my native Notes app have NEVER EVER EVER disappeared from the screen. In fact, I'm currently running iOS 9 beta, and if something like that happens it'll more than likely do so via beta software, and yet, my Notes app is present and ALL of my notes are present and accounted for.

 

[sjmei]

re:

All of my notes have vanished as well. I have never had them ON or attached to any email accounts or pushed to icloud. The default account for notes has always been "on my iphone." I do have the gmail app, but never had my notes attached in any way (no notes folder). I have restarted and nothing has magically reappeared. I wasn't playing with any settings and hadn't installed any new apps, they all were just gone when I went to pull up a list one afternoon.

I have the demo of iExplorer so I can read all of my notes from my past iPhone backups, so I suppose I COULD retype everything in but these things go back to 2011. Also I've done enough on my phone recently that installing from a backup would get rid of new pics/messages/etc.

If anyone in the same boat has come up with a solution, I'd love to hear it!

ETA: just had a lightbulb moment. I airdropped all of my older notes from my last iPhone to the newer one, not a perfect fix but now I have my 2011 notes back!

 

[Ledsteplin]

re:

All of my notes have vanished as well. I have never had them ON or attached to any email accounts or pushed to icloud. The default account for notes has always been "on my iphone." I do have the gmail app, but never had my notes attached in any way (no notes folder). I have restarted and nothing has magically reappeared. I wasn't playing with any settings and hadn't installed any new apps, they all were just gone when I went to pull up a list one afternoon.

I have the demo of iExplorer so I can read all of my notes from my past iPhone backups, so I suppose I COULD retype everything in but these things go back to 2011. Also I've done enough on my phone recently that installing from a backup would get rid of new pics/messages/etc.

If anyone in the same boat has come up with a solution, I'd love to hear it!

ETA: just had a lightbulb moment. I airdropped all of my older notes from my last iPhone to the newer one, not a perfect fix but now I have my 2011 notes back!

Notes simply DO NOT vanish, unless you delete them. If you do not see them in the Notes app, then they synced to either iCloud or an email account like Gmail. They may be in a mail Notes folder. Toggle Notes OFF in Settings for mail. Then check your mail Notes folder. If they are not there or in iCloud, then they probably got deleted in Mail. It happens because many see it in Mail but don't know what it is and delete it.

 

[Isabella Edgecombe]

re:

i have been using notes for years since the first iphone, they have always been connected to my gmail. and the computer always used to notify me when i synced the iphone with it if there was a decrepancy in notes with an older note on the computer (and in gmail). it stopped doing this a while ago. and now many of my notes have dissapeared from my phone and from gmail. only some remain. but all of the oldest and the newest are gone? how can i find them again? surely if i am positive they were all in my gmail then they should still be there? i couldnt have deleted only some?
is it possible this has come about because i also added an icloud account to my notes? i have looked in there but my missing notes arent there only the newest notes i have written are in there..
I dont understand how even older versions of my notes could have gone from gmail as well..

 

[Just_Me_D]

re:

i have been using notes for years since the first iphone, they have always been connected to my gmail. and the computer always used to notify me when i synced the iphone with it if there was a decrepancy in notes with an older note on the computer (and in gmail). it stopped doing this a while ago. and now many of my notes have dissapeared from my phone and from gmail. only some remain. but all of the oldest and the newest are gone? how can i find them again? surely if i am positive they were all in my gmail then they should still be there? i couldnt have deleted only some?
is it possible this has come about because i also added an icloud account to my notes? i have looked in there but my missing notes arent there only the newest notes i have written are in there..
I dont understand how even older versions of my notes could have gone from gmail as well..

Adding an iCloud account will have no effect on your Google-related data. Anyway, when you initiate the native Notes app on your iPhone, you should be able to see your notes separated by account.