iPhone Apple Notes not uploading to iCloud, only downloading from

Apple Notes on my iPhone 12 (iOS 16.4.1) is not uploading to iCloud, but it does download from iCloud.


If I create a folder or note on iCloud web, Mac, or iPad, the new item appears on my phone after a minute or two (as it should).


But if I create or modify something on my phone, the new/updated thing doesn't sync to iCloud or my other devices.


It used to work. I frequently would create notes on my phone and scan documents, later accessing those notes+scans on my computer. But recently, I found that the scan/attachment would be blank on my computer version of the note. And now, the phone note doesn't even appear on the computer (or iCloud).


This means there are notes and scans/attachments on my phone which are ONLY on my phone; thus, I am very reluctant to toggle the iCloud sync button on my phone, as I recall that can wipe all the notes from the phone.


This blank attachment problem began a few weeks ago, before my latest iOS update. So I don't believe this problem is related to the update. Also, my phone has been rebooted a few times. So the usual "reboot phone" advice is pointless, as is the "toggle notes icloud sync".


How can I force Apple Notes on my phone to push its new/updated data to iCloud?


Also, all my folders and notes are under the iCloud category of the app, so they are not being intentionally stored only on the phone.

iPhone SE, iOS 16

Posted on May 1, 2023 04:36 AM

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May 2, 2023 07:08 AM in response to michaelteter

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Some of the notes would show the attachment image in a thumbnail, but the actual note attachment would be blank. Clearly at one point the attachments had been in iCloud since thumbnails had been made.


Anyway, I was trying to think of any way to kick Notes/iCloud and force it to update/sync. Simply adding text to a note wasn't enough to force a sync.


So I enabled note locking on my phone, and then I locked one of the notes that wasn't syncing properly. After locking it, it synced to my Mac and notified me that it was locked and could only be viewed on my phone. Then I removed the lock from the note on my phone, and it synced to the Mac -- with attachment properly uploaded and visible.


I did this on one or two more notes, locking, then removing lock, and got the same positive outcome. However, I'm not sure there is a way to mass lock notes and then mass remove the lock feature (thereby forcing a big sync).



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iPhone Apple Notes not uploading to iCloud, only downloading from

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