iPhone Notes Disappeared? 6 Ways to Recover Deleted Notes on iPhone

User Concern

“Hi, I'm using the Notes app on my iPad, and I accidentally deleted some notes. Is there any way I can recover them?”

The Notes app on iPhone and iPad is a handy built-in tool for jotting down thoughts, reminders, or to-do lists anytime, anywhere. That’s why it can be really frustrating if your notes suddenly disappear or get deleted by accident.

Can You Get Deleted iPhone Notes Back?

The good news is that in most cases, you can recover deleted notes on your iPhone. Whether they were accidentally deleted or removed on purpose, Apple offers a few ways to get them back. In this guide, we’ll show you how to restore deleted notes on iPhone - with or without a backup. Keep reading to learn how.

Way 1. Recover Disappeared Notes from Recently Deleted Folder

The deleted notes will be saved in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days. When you mistakenly delete important notes on your iPhone, you should first check the Recently Deleted folder to retrieve them. Here's how to do it:

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad. Find the back arrow button on the top left corner, then click it to check the Folders list.
2. Select the Recently Deleted folder (If you don't view any notes on the deleted folder, it means that the notes may be deleted permanently).
3. Click the Edit option and choose the notes you want to recover. Then tap Move and select the folder where you want to save the deleted notes.

If you store your notes on iCloud or other services like Gmail or Yahoo, you can also check the Recently Deleted folder of that account in the Notes app to recover deleted notes.

Note

Keep in mind that the Recently Deleted folder keeps your deleted notes for only 30 days. After that, they’re permanently erased and can’t be recovered.

Way 2. Recover iPhone Notes from Email Account Settings

If you use a third-party email service like Gmail to save your notes, make sure the account is properly set up on your iPhone. Keeping your email accounts connected helps prevent notes from disappearing and acts as a handy backup in case anything goes wrong.

• Go to Settings > Mail and then tap on Accounts.

• Select the email account that you want to check and tap on it.
• Then enable Notes and all the deleted notes will be back.

Note

If you use multiple email accounts, repeat these steps for each one. If an account isn’t listed, simply add it back to your device.

Way 3. Recover Deleted Notes on iPhone Using iCloud

If you can't find disappeared notes in the Recently Deleted folder, and your account settings are fine, you can try locating deleted notes using iCloud. However, note that your notes must have been previously stored on iCloud for this method to work.

• Go to iPhone Settings and click on your profile on the settings page.
• Click on iCloud and turn on the Notes toggle.
• Now, all notes saved in your iCloud account will be downloaded to your iPhone.

Way 4. Recover iPhone Notes via Online iCloud Account

If you regularly back up your iPhone data with iCloud, there's a substantial chance to recover deleted notes via iCloud. You can log into your iCloud account using a web browser to find your lost iPhone notes.

• Go to icloud.com on any browser and log in with your iCloud account.

• Click on the Notes app on the home interface.

• Then tap on Recently Deleted on the left panel, and the missing notes will be displayed.
• Choose the notes you lost and click Recover to save them on your computer.

Once you recover your notes, you can back them up by saving them to your computer or taking screenshots on your device. If you're on a Mac, you also have the option to export notes as PDFs.

Way 5. Restore Deleted Notes from iTunes/iCloud backup

If you have backed up your iPhone with iTunes or iCloud regularly, you can easily restore the device from the backup to get the deleted notes back. Please only consider this method if the notes you need are truly important. The restore will overwrite the existing data on your iPhone and cause new data loss.

Restore from iCloud backup

• Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings to restore your iPhone to factory settings.
• Then, set up the iPhone and choose Restore from iCloud Backup. Sign in with your Apple ID and select a backup to restore.

Restore from iTunes backup

• Make sure that you have the latest iTunes installed on your PC, launch it and connect your iPhone to the computer.
• Select the device when it is detected by iTunes and click Restore Backup to restore your iPhone to the latest iTunes backup.

Note

Obvious, this would be inconvenient to restore from iTunes/iCloud backup, as the restoring process will overwrite the existing data on your iPhone. And you are not allowed to preview the data in your backup and restore only notes to your iPhone.

Way 6. Recover iPhone Disappeared Notes without Backup

If you still fail to recover deleted notes on iPhone after trying the ways mentioned above, or if you have no backup of your iPhone when you found the notes get disappeared, it doesn't mean that you'll lose them permanently.

You still have chance to get them back via FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery, which are developed to recover not only notes, but also contacts, messages, WhatsApp messages, photos, videos , etc. and save them on computer or get them back to the device.

Steps on How to Recover Deleted Notes on iPhone without Backup

Step 1. Launch FoneGeek iPhone Notes Recovery software on your computer and choose "Recover Data from iOS Devices" from the main interface.

Step 2. Connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable. Once the device is detected, select the data types you want to recover and click on "Scan" to proceed.

Step 3. After the scan, the program will list the deleted files and existing files. Preview and choose the data you want to recover, then click "Recover to PC" to save the recovered data on your computer.

Note

FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery also supports extracting and recovering data from iTunes or iCloud backup. If you don't want to lose the existing data on your iPhone, we recommend you use this tool to scan your backup and selectively recover deleted notes. Also, you're allowed to preview the notes before recovery.

Bonus Tip: Regularly Back Up iPhone to Avoid Future Data Loss

To make sure that your important notes and data on your iPhone safe, you'd better back it up. Whether you rely on iCloud or iTunes, it's always important to make a regular backup to avoid unexpected data loss happening on your iPhone or iPad.

As we mentioned above, restoring from iCloud/iTunes backup has some limitations, so here we recommend a convenient way to back up your iPhone/iPad - using FoneGeek Backup & Restore (iOS). This software can be your best choice as it allows you to back up and restore data selectively. All files backed up are accessible and readable. Why not have a try?

FAQs about iPhone Notes Recovery

Why did Notes on my iPhone disappear?

Your iPhone notes might disappear if you accidentally deleted them, turned off iCloud or email account syncing, changed the default Notes account, or removed an email account that had notes saved. Sometimes, a software glitch or iOS update can also make notes disappear.

Why there's no Recently Deleted folder on my iPhone?

If you don’t see the Recently Deleted folder on your iPhone, it’s usually because nothing has been deleted recently, so the folder doesn’t show up. Sometimes, iCloud settings or a glitch in iOS can also cause it to disappear, so make sure iCloud is turned on and your iPhone is up to date.

Why are my deleted notes not in the Recently Deleted folder?

If your deleted notes aren’t in the Recently Deleted folder, it could be because they were deleted from an email account (like Gmail or Outlook) instead of iCloud, and those accounts may not support Recently Deleted. It can also happen if the notes were permanently deleted, deleted more than 30 days ago.

How can I recover my notes from my iPhone without a backup?

If you don’t have a backup, you can try checking the Recently Deleted folder in the Notes app, as deleted notes stay there for 30 days. Also, check if your notes were saved under an email account like Gmail or Outlook by going to Settings > Notes > Accounts. If they’re not there, you can try using a third-party tool like FoneGeek iPhone Data Recovery to scan your device and recover the notes without a backup.

Conclusion

We hope that you have successfully retrieved deleted iPhone notes after reading this post. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, so you can choose one to try based on your needs.

It is worth noting that there is no iPhone data recovery tool can guarantee a 100% success rate of recovery. Thus, it is of great importance to regularly make a backup of iPhone data. We'd appreciate it if you could share your opinions with us.