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notes are gone after accepting new icloud terms and conditions

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?

iPhone 6s Plus

Posted on Nov 5, 2024 8:11 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 6, 2024 10:17 AM

Hi,


Had this too and found a simple fix….


1) Go to Settings and search for iCloud

2) Select iCloud Apple ID (at the top of the list)

3) Under ‘Apps using iCloud’ select Show All

4) Select Notes

5) Turn off ‘Sync this Phone’ and wait for a few seconds

6) Turn ‘Sync this Phone’ back on


This should kick the notes app back into life to use iCloud again.


Hope this works for you and helps a few others along the way 😊


268 replies

Nov 8, 2024 7:03 AM in response to stumble-upon-flowers

The solution of deleting the Notes app and then redownloading it worked for me when the other solutions mentioned above didn't. Luckily I could see that the notes were still there on my laptop. On the new download I could see the On my iCloud option which was previously not there. Once selected, all my notes came back.


Obvious solution really, but it should not have happened. Everyone I know with an older iPhone has been affected. Mine is an XR

Nov 8, 2024 7:01 AM in response to waitinthefire

i have iphone13 and when you toggle the “sync this iPhone off it asks you to choose Delete from my iPhone or cancel. It shows the command clocking while waiting for a response. It does not turn off at that point. After 5 minutes of waiting it still doesn’t toggle off. If I choose the delete option will it also delete the notes on iCloud?

Nov 8, 2024 8:11 AM in response to waitinthefire

I had the same situation. My heart nearly stopped when I found my Notes gone from my iPad. I read some of the other responses here, then logged into iCloud.com, and was relieved to find all my notes - but I didn’t change any settings. I then opened Notes on my iphone, and they were all there. Just doing that one thing slowly began repopulating the Notes on my iPad, oldest to newest. It took a couple minutes but they’re all back.

Nov 8, 2024 11:19 AM in response to cami189

Hi,


I think you may be looking in the ‘Manage Account Storage’ menu which will shows the message that all notes will be deleted from iCloud…don’t do this!


Just underneath that option you’ll see ‘Apps using iCloud’. Click ‘Show All’ then go to Notes and carry on from there. It will pop up with the message that it will delete all iCloud messages from this device which is fine as it will put them back on when you reselect it.


Just be sure to read the pop up warnings carefully as some people may have different set ups to me.


Hope this helps! 👍

Nov 8, 2024 7:12 PM in response to AdamsiThings

when i toggle off the sync this phone button it then displays two options

first to delete notes from my iPhone

or second, to cancel the sync


You indicated that it asks if you want to delete your notes from your phone My interpretation of the option is that if I select that it will proceed to delete the notes on my iPhone. Is there another step you see after you select the option. I don’t perceive that to be the way it works

Nov 8, 2024 7:35 PM in response to Tippygladstone

It didn’t work for me. My iCloud was full, so it wouldn’t restore from there. And i tried to go turn on the on my iPhone option and zero notes popped up. Apple should have given some warning that if your notes weren’t backed up, they would be lost by signing these new terms. I’m so mad. I lost some very important medical documentation, as well as lots of other things. Super upset.

Nov 10, 2024 8:02 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.

notes are gone after accepting new icloud terms and conditions

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