IOS 18.5 update has deleted all of my notes from my iPhone 16 pro AND my iCloud account.

Pilotjim77 wrote:

After being stressed out over Apple losing 99 % of my notes data on both my iPhone 16 pro (3 months old; purchased directly from Apple store) as well as my iCloud account, I researched EVERYTHING available on the internet about this issue. (For some reason, they decided to save 12 notes from 5 years ago.) After trying all the "fixes," I called Apple support. After 45 minutes or so on the phone, they basically told me I'm screwed. This morning, I realized that the only significant event was an automatic IOS update 8 hours before I discovered the missing notes. So, how does one deal with this other than avoiding the Apple company altogether? Thinking that your data is safe because you have it backed up to iCloud is apparently a big mistake.

Never lost any data doing an IOS update since my first iphone 3GS to now iphone 13 max. Notes/data just don't disappear by itself.

My phone auto-updated to iOS 18.5. Any note that I had updated or created in 2025 vanished from my notes app. No deleted folder to view and revert. Everything was strictly "on my iPhone." Apple support both chat and on the phone were the opposite of helpful. Offered the most trivial of troubleshooting options. Disgusted in Apple's handling of this.