Notes from my iPhone disappeared post accepting new iCloud Terms and Condition.

I got a notification from settings saying to accept the new iCloud terms and conditions if i wanted to keep using iCloud on my phone (iPhone 12 pro max) I accepted and everything was normal but then I opened my notes app and all of my notes were GONE. I logged into my iCloud account and saw my most recents were there but I still don’t understand why all of my notes are completely deleted from my phone. They’re very important to me and I need them in my phone. Is there any way I can get them back? How could this happen?


[Re-Titled By Moderator]

iPhone 6s Plus

Posted on Nov 5, 2024 08:11 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 5, 2024 11:27 PM

Me too! I restarted my iPhone but they did not come back.

302 replies

Nov 10, 2024 08:02 AM in response to waitinthefire

My notes are back, but none of the methods being shared here were the reason. I tried a lot of these and none worked for me. It appeared that I didn’t have the most recent update, so I updated it and my notes came back after my phone restarted itself. It sounds like a relatively easy solution, but there’s still multiple things I’m confused.


At one point, the notes in my phone and the notes in my iPad were the same. Making a note on one device would show up on the other as well. At some point it stopped doing this. The notes that showed up on both devices while they were still somehow synced were still there, but new notes on one device would no longer show up on the other one. And that’s how it remained for a long time up until this terms & conditions mess. After accepting it, all the notes

were gone off my phone, as well all know, but for some reason all the notes on my phone were now suddenly on my iPad, replacing the ones I had on there. And to complicate matters I found that even when trying to make a new note during the duration of time my notes were gone, the notes would save unless you messed with the settings.

they would just disappear right after you backed out of them. Which I’m sure most people hear tried at least once.


This ordeal is very confusing and they should be dealing with the problem.

Nov 11, 2024 02:04 PM in response to Lindseys06

I hit cancel aswell. Tried other things and two of my notes are still affected i.e. partially vanished. So by reading this, I am guessing the updated version of these two notes were stored locally. I don’t know why. After hitting the stupid new T&C’s everything vanished twice, the third time it pulled all my notes even from previous devices and notes that were recently created even after the two that were impacted. Just before I pressed that, I edited those two notes. My mobile was running low on storage at the time that it undone the changes I made. But still bizzare how everything else pulled up and no later version of my two notes came. They better fix this! Please keep me posted. I hope you get yours back too… I understand your frustration. It was a nightmare!

Nov 12, 2024 03:40 PM in response to waitinthefire

After the updated most of my notes are gone. What's left are only some parts of notes, and now they are divided by year. I had some notes that i have added to for over 5 years and now some parts are missing and the remainder are divide into separate notes by year.


I tried going to notes on icloud and turning off then back on the sync notes with this device, then waited...nothing. I turned the device off then back on, but that didn't work. If anyone has. solution for how to I may recover my notes I would be "eternally" grateful.

Nov 15, 2024 05:34 PM in response to waitinthefire

Mine are gone. I’ve tried the tips here and still gone. I had left a marriage where I was gaslit and would keep journals of different happenings soon after the events so I could go back and see I’m not crazy. I’d write or take photos and store them in my notes. All of it gone. Some cute sayings my kids would say, or poems I’d write and share with no one. It was basically my journal and loved being able to go back and see how far we’ve come… all of it gone. 😭

Nov 21, 2024 07:16 AM in response to Jomoyele

Hello, i also have the same issue. My payment for icloud backup was late and i didn’t realized it so i took notes as usual. After i had paid my icloud backup and followed all the helpful suggestions here, my “icloud backup notes” can be restored. But the notes that I had been taken before I paid the icloud couldn’t be found anywhere 😭. Does anybody know how to restore this kind of notes? Thank you

Dec 2, 2024 03:31 AM in response to waitinthefire

Super frustrating. Sorry to everyone who experienced the panic :/


After downloading an update on 12/01/2024 I lost all my notes too. This forum was really helpful tho, and I got them all back after the first method I attempted.


I simply went to Settings > Notes > Toggled On the “On My iPhone” switch, then toggled it off.

My linked Notes accounts and emails came back immediately, and I went back to my notes app and they were all starting to sync again already. Thankfully I got all of them back!


I hope this is helpful to others too.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Notes from my iPhone disappeared post accepting new iCloud Terms and Condition.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.