Notes not working on iPadOS or iOS 13? Here are some helpful tips and tricks

Don’t trust your memory. If something’s rattling around upstairs — a to-do list, a business idea, a new recipe — make a note before you forget it! The Notes app in iOS and iPadOS is perfect for this, but only if it’s working properly.

Despite some of the major improvements Notes has received in recent iOS releases, it still suffers from occasional problems. Maybe the app doesn’t open, maybe it keeps freezing, or maybe your notes don’t sync to other devices. Whatever the problem, we can show you how to fix it.

In this post, we’ve detailed some troubleshooting steps to fix anything that might go wrong with Notes on your iPhone or iPad.

Since we’re so excited about them, we’ve also outined the new Notes features in iPadOS and iOS 13.

Related:

• How to get the most out of the Notes app on iPhone and iPad
• Apple Notes iOS 11, 3 new features that you can use
• How to keep your Apple notes organized

How to fix Notes in iPadOS and iOS 13 or later

Notes is one of the core Apple apps that comes pre-installed on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It’s useful for jotting down ideas, scanning documents, or — believe it or not — making notes about something.

But the app is far from perfect. Apple has worked hard to expand the feature-set of Notes with the last few iOS releases. But that also means there are more ways the app can go wrong.

Notes missing after iOS 13 or iPadOS update?

Here are some common tips that you should look at for the missing Notes problem:

Verify the notes in your iCloud.com account

• • First and Foremost, log into your  icloud.com account and check if all your notes are there.
  • In icloud.com when you go to Notes, check the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder to make sure there are no deleted notes here.
  • If they are all there, it is most probably a timing issue and you will have to wait for iCloud sync to complete

Check your Apple Id / iCloud Account on your devices

• • Restart your iPhone or iPad and check if you are using the right Apple ID
  • Check if you are using the same account on your Mac (if your Notes are not syncing with your Mac)
  • Check and verify that iCloud is enabled for Notes on your Apple Account win iOS 13

Check To make sure you are set up for Notes in iCloud in the Notes App

• • In Settings > Notes, check if the default account is pointing to iCloud or ‘On my Phone’
  • Check your Mac Setting for Notes preferences as well.

If you also use your MacBook for Notes, Click on Preferences under the Notes Menu and make sure that you do not have the ‘Enable the on my Mac account’ clicked making all your notes local to your MacBook.

Check email accounts with Notes for Missing Notes

The other integration point around Notes is your email accounts. Many users use the Notes feature in their email such as their Outlook account. These email accounts sometimes allow you to save your notes. Check if you are using the right credentials for the email accounts on your Apple devices. Also make sure that the email account is enabled for Notes.

You can do this by tapping on Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Choose the email account under ‘Accounts’ and make sure Notes is enabled here.

Pro Tip: Users who have a lot of Notes often use the Search box to search for a missing Note in the app. Make sure you are using the right search. Sometimes this does not work for a partial search or spelling mistake. If it was something that you were working on most recently, try using Siri for the search and see if it shows up in the search.

 

No matter what problems you’re experiencing with Notes, you can fix it with the troubleshooting steps below. Make sure you test the app after each step — there’s no use in going through every last one if you don’t need to.

Step 1. Close the Notes app

The first thing to do, if you haven’t tried it already, is to close the Notes app and then re-open it again. This is particularly useful if Notes has frozen. 

After closing the app, make sure you return to the Home screen on your device before re-opening it. Otherwise iPadOS or iOS 13 won’t close Notes properly, and it still might not work.

How to close Notes on your device

1. On devices with Face ID: Slide up from the bottom and pause in the middle of the screen to view the App Switcher.
2. On devices without Face ID: Double-click the Home button to view the App Switcher.
3. Push Notes off the top of the screen to close it.
4. Return to the Home screen and tap Notes to open the app again.

   

Step 2. Close every app and restart your device

There’s always the possibility of a seemingly unrelated app or process on your device causing problems with Notes. The best way to fix any app that isn’t working — including Notes — is to close everything and restart your device.

After closing every app on your device, power it down for at least 30 seconds.

How to close every app and restart your device:

1. On devices with Face ID: Slide up from the bottom and pause in the middle of the screen to view the App Switcher.
2. On devices without Face ID: Double-click the Home button to view the App Switcher.
3. Push each app off the top of the screen to close it.
4. Return to the Home screen.
5. Press and hold the Side or Top button with either Volume button.
6. When prompted, slide to power off.
7. Wait at least 30 seconds before pressing the Side or Top button to restart your device.

   

Step 3. Update your device to the latest software

Apple frequently releases smaller iPadOS and iOS updates to fix software bugs. If you aren’t running the latest software, you can’t benefit from these fixes. Make sure your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is up to date, otherwise outdated bugs might stop Notes from working.

You should also update every app on your device, as out-of-date apps might interfere with Notes. You can do this from the Accounts section of the App Store in iPadOS or iOS 13.

How to update iPadOS and iOS on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

1. Use Wi-Fi to connect your device to the Internet.
2. Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
3. Wait for your device to check for new updates, download and install them.

How to update apps on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

1. Use Wi-Fi to connect your device to the Internet.
2. Open the App Store and go to the Today screen.
3. In the top-right, tap the user account icon.
4. Scroll down and tap ‘Update All.’

   

Step 4. Temporarily disable and enable iCloud sync

Notes syncs across every device you use iCloud with. If there’s a problem with iCloud, you might experience a delay in the synchronization. Visit this page on Apple’s website to check iCloud’s servers are working.

If iCloud is online but Notes still isn’t working, try temporarily turning off iCloud sync for Notes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You shouldn’t lose any data doing this, although your notes may disappear from the device until it syncs with iCloud again.

Before turning off iCloud for Notes, you should make a backup of your device using iCloud, iTunes, or Finder.

How to disable iCloud sync for Notes on an iPhone, iPad, or iPad touch:

1. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.
2. Scroll down and turn off the button next to Notes.
3. If prompted, choose to ‘Delete from [iDevice].’
4. Open Notes and wait at least two minutes.
5. Go back to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.
6. Scroll down and turn on the button next to Notes.

   

Step 5. Delete and re-install the Notes app

Ever since iOS 12, users have had the ability to delete many of Apple’s built-in apps, including Notes. By deleting and then re-installing Notes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you can overwrite corruptions in the app that may stop it from working properly.

How to delete Notes on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

1. Touch and hold the Notes app from your Home screen.
2. In the pop-up menu, select ‘Rearrange Apps.’
3. Notes and all the other apps should start to shake.
4. Tap the cross (x) on the Notes app to delete it.
5. After Notes is deleted, search in the App Store to download it again.

   

Step 6. Check the settings for individual notes

It might be the settings for individual notes that are causing your problem. Take a look at each section below to ensure your Notes issues aren’t actually a “feature” you turned on.

Pinned notes remain at the top

By default, the Notes app arranges notes by the date they were last edited, with most recent at the top. That all changes when one of your Notes is pinned, which keeps it at the top of the list permanently.

Pinned notes are separated from regular notes by a thin divider and marked by a pin icon. Pin or unpin your notes by sliding them to the right and tapping the pin button.

Locked notes require a password to open

Private and confidential notes can be password-protected, to keep out prying eyes. This is great for personal details or secret lists. To open a locked note, you need to enter the password created when it was locked.

The Notes app marks locked notes with a padlock icon. You can lock or unlock a note by sliding to the left and tapping the Lock button. You need to know the correct password to unlock a note.

Collaboration lets other people view or edit notes

Add other people to your notes to collaborate or share with them. In iPadOS and iOS 13, the collaboration feature in Notes lets you decide if other users can edit your notes or if they’re only allowed to view them. 

To change the collaborative settings for a particular note, open it and tap the person icon in the top right. Open the share options and choose between ‘Can make changes’ or ‘View only’ permissions. Or remove collaborators entirely!

Step 7. Reset or restore your device

If Notes is still not working, it’s possibly due to a problem with the operating software on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The first step is to use ‘Reset all Settings‘ from Settings > General > Reset and see if that solves your issue.

If the simple reset couldn’t help you with your iOS 13 or iPad issues, You may have to restore your device to factory settings.

Before trying either of these solutions, you must make a backup of your device using iCloud, iTunes, or Finder.

Start by resetting the settings on your device. If Notes still doesn’t work, erase all your content and settings, after which you can choose to restore from a backup or set up your device as new.

Step 8. Contact Apple Support for more help

At this point, you’ve done almost everything that’s possible to do by yourself. If Notes is still not working on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch it’s time to speak to Apple directly.

You can do so by visiting Apple’s Get Support website. Choose your device, then go to Apps & Features > App doesn’t work as expected. You can speak to Apple over the phone or through an online chat.

Apple’s technical advisors can provide the one-to-one support you need to get Notes working again. Let us know what they say in the comments below!

 

The Apple Support page gives you a range of contact options.

How to recover lost or deleted Notes using your Mac

If you have tried all the above and still are unable to find your old Notes, there is one are that you can check provided you use your MacBook for Notes (with Notes synced to iCloud).

This option is more of a workaround for recovering lost notes and is not pretty. 

• Open your Finder App and click on Go at the top and then Go To..
• Type in 

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes/    and press enter

• Right Click on the .storedata file from the folder and choose open with ‘Text Edit’
• Here you will find your notes but it is mixed in with other stuff.
• Since you notes will be in large block of text, you can search and then copy your note content into a word doc.

Like we said, this is not the prettiest workaround but it might be helpful if you are looking for a particular file or an important piece of content.

Display Issues when Typing in Notes, Here are some tips

Some users have reported that when they are typing in notes, they cannot see anything on the display. Keyboard types without giving errors but cant follow your typing on the display of your device. Similar issues have been reported with some other third party Notes apps such as Fantastical.

If you are having this issue in iOS 13 or iPadOS, here are a few tips that should solve this issue.

• Force Quit the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad
• Tap on Settings > Display and Brightness
• Switch off Automatic for Light/Dark mode
• Open your Notes App
• Toggle back and forth between Light and Dark mode and check if the Notes Display works
• Check if that worked for you
• if not, tap on Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size
• Switch off Increase Contrast in the setting here

Check if after disabling the contrast feature in accessibility, you are able to see the keypad characters when you type in Notes.

New features in Notes for iPadOS and iOS 13

Since we’re so excited about the release of iPadOS and iOS 13, we wanted to give a brief rundown of the new features coming to Notes with Apple’s update. There are actually quite a few upgrades!

Gallery view

Get a more visual view of your notes with the Gallery view. This is great for seeing images, sketches, handwriting, or other doodles. It makes it quick and easy to find the note you’re looking for!

Shared folders

If you collaborate on a lot of notes you can simplify matters by sharing an entire folder of notes. This is a natural advancement from the collaboration features already present in Notes.

More powerful search

As your notes pile up it gets tricky to find the right one. Thankfully, Apple improved the search feature to recognize words from handwriting or pictures in your notes, making it easier than ever to track down what you’re looking for.

New checklist options

Drag and drop to quickly reorder items in a checklist, swipe right to indent them, or make completed items shift to the bottom of the list. It’s so much quicker to keep track of your to-do lists with Notes in iPadOS and iOS 13.

Folders and notes management

You can now create sub-folders for better management and organization of your notes. In fact, you can create multiple levels of sub-folders! As your Notes app fills up, it’s simple to keep everything organized.

View-only collaboration

Previously, whenever you shared a note with someone they could edit it freely. But that isn’t always the case in iPadOS and iOS 13. For notes you don’t want to change, add view-only collaborators instead.

We’re excited about the new features of Notes in iPadOS and iOS.

Hopefully our troubleshooting guide helped you get Notes working again so you can enjoy those new features as well!