How to Recover Deleted Notes on iPhone: 3 Easy Ways

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Unfortunately, if you deleted notes from your iPhone more than 40 days ago, they are no longer able to be recovered from iCloud. That period becomes 30 days if you want to recover them directly from the phone because they haven’t been backed up to the cloud. But, if you deleted the note within that time frame, there’s good news. This guide will show you how to recover deleted notes on iPhone! Read on to learn more.

Ways to Recover Accidentally Deleted Notes on iPhone Devices

If you realize that you accidentally deleted notes, there are a few steps you should take, and you may be able to retrieve the notes on an iPhone without much hassle.

Use the iPhone to Retrieve Deleted Notes From Recently Deleted

There is a folder titled Recently Deleted in the Notes app for iOS 11 and beyond, including iOS 16. “Recently” indicates that notes are just viewable here for thirty days, after which the notes are permanently deleted. As a result, you can start by going to the folder “Recently Deleted” to restore notes that were removed within thirty days.

Here is how to find deleted notes on an iOS device in recently deleted:

  1. Open your Notes application and locate Recently Deleted.
    how to recover deleted notes on iPhone
  2. On the top, you will see an Edit option. Click on it.
    Edit the recently deleted
  3. Select all the notes that you wish to recover.
    Select the note you wish to recover
  4. Click on the Move option.
  5. Select the folder where you want to move your notes on your iPhone.

Related Reading: How To Recover Deleted Google Sheets Files

How to Get Deleted Notes from iPhone Using iCloud

To use the iCloud option, you must have the sync turned on. Here is how to retrieve deleted notes using iCloud by setting up the sync.

Sync notes to iCloud
  1. Open the Settings application.
  2. Click on the name at the top.
  3. Click on the iCloud option.
  4. Locate the Notes option and turn the toggle on. All notes in the iCloud are now downloaded to the iPhone.

Related Reading: How to Reopen Closed Tabs in Chrome, Safari, and Other Browsers

How to Retrieve Notes on an iPhone From an iCloud Account

Here is how to restore iPhone notes from iCloud using a browser:

  1. Open iCloud in the web browser.
  2. Log in to your account.
  3. Locate and click on Notes from the Home page.
  4. From the left side of the screen, there is a Recently Deleted option. Click on it.
  5. If you see any of the missing notes here, click on them.
  6. Choose the Recover option.
  7. Once you’ve recovered the notes, save them to the computer or take a screenshot of them using your device. You can also export files as PDFs if you own a Mac.

Related Reading: How to Recall an Email in Gmail

How to Restore Notes on iPhone Using an Email Account

If you need to do this, you likely modified your Notes settings and lost your iPhone notes. Or, you may have erased an email account from the iPhone, and as a result, your notes were also deleted.

Check the account settings if you’re using a third-party email address, such as Gmail, to save the notes. To ensure your notes don’t disappear, it’s a good idea to keep your email accounts connected.

Here is how to get deleted notes back on iPhone using Email account settings:

Sync notes using Gmail
  1. On your iPhone, open Settings.
  2. Click on the Mail option.
  3. Now select the Accounts option.
  4. Choose the email account that you wish to check.
  5. Make sure that the toggle next to the Notes option is on. Otherwise, turn it on and check if the notes appear in the application.

Should You Check Your iTunes Backup?

iCloud or iTunes may have a backup of the notes. You can easily recover the backup and get the recently deleted notes. The major issue is that you cannot view or use the iTunes or iCloud backup without restoring it. If your recently deleted notes for iPhone aren’t in the backup folder, you risk losing any material that has been added since your last backup.

The only option left if you do not have a backup is to restore notes on an iPhone.

If you’re wondering if you can recover deleted notes without using iTunes backup, then the answer is yes, and we will talk more about it below.

When you wipe data on an iPhone, it doesn’t happen instantly. It will instead be kept in a category named “Unallocated.” But as soon as new folders are made and take up space in “Unallocated,” deleted files will be totally replaced and gone. So, to recover your notes, you must stop using the iPhone immediately to prevent irreversible deletion. Based on this, you can employ a 3rd-party tool to start the recovery process by searching the database for the iPhone’s deleted notes.

Ensure Your iPhone Backs Up Your Notes to the iCloud

To find deleted notes more easily in the future, you must ensure that iCloud backup for Notes is enabled properly.

Here are the steps on how you can ensure that your iPhone backs up your Notes to your iCloud account:

  1. On your iPhone, open the Settings application.
  2. Click on your profile or name at the top.
  3. Choose the iCloud option.
  4. Click on the Notes option and turn the toggle on.

If the Notes toggle is not green, the iPhone is not backing up all your Notes in your iCloud account.

Related Reading: A Step By Step Guide on How to Find Archived Emails in Gmail

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Recover Permanently Deleted Notes From iPhone Without Backup?

Here are the steps on how you can retrieve deleted notes from Recently Deleted:

  1. Open your Notes application and locate the folder named as Recently Deleted.
  2. On the top, click on the Edit option.
  3. Select all the notes that you wish to recover.
  4. Click on the Move option.
  5. Select the folder where you want to move your notes on your iPhone.

If they have been deleted from here and you have iCloud sync on, you can check there. If it’s not available there, you’re likely out of luck.

Are Apple Notes Permanently Deleted?

Your notes are deleted from all of your devices after thirty days. The notes are removed permanently from the iCloud account after forty days. To permanently delete a note straight away, replace or delete every element of a note for instant permanent deletion. As a result, the note is immediately deleted because it is synced to every one of your devices.

How Can I Lock Notes on My iPhone?

To lock notes on an iPhone, open the Notes application and open the note that you wish to put a lock on. Click on More and then choose the Lock option. You can either use the iPhone passcode or create a new password. Feel free to enable Touch ID or Face ID. Once you have made the password, click on the Done option. Close the app and reopen it to check if the notes have been locked properly.

Not working Face ID? Check our guide on How to Fix Face ID on iPhone.

Why Have Some Notes Disappeared From my iPhone Even Though I Didn’t Delete Them?

If you are missing any notes, they may have been removed by mistake, or the settings may need to be adjusted. To ensure that the problem isn’t related to earlier software, upgrade the devices to the most recent versions of iOS,macOS, or iPadOS first. You can also check your email is still synced to your phone by heading to Settings > Mail > Accounts.

Wrapping Up How to Recover Deleted Notes on iPhone

This guide covered how to recover deleted notes on iPhone using three different methods. If none of them worked for you, you might have to accept that the notes are gone forever. If this is the case, we hope you didn’t lose anything too valuable.

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