Pushed 'select all' on a note, pushed the back button, and now the note is gone

Note on notes app completely vanished:

I recently pushed 'select all' on a note on a My iPhone folder and then pushed the back button to the folder, after which, the whole note was gone. It isn't in the recently deleted folder for either iCloud of My iPhone, and the shake or 3 finger method to recover recently deleted content didn't work. Going through the notes app via iCloud and turning it on and off didn't yield any results either. It's as if all data concerning the specific note had completely vanished after a small error.

This was a very important note I'd very much like to recover and I see that many others have experienced the same issue but none of the posts have any helpful advice. Most of the posts are now years old so I'm hoping this problem has been remedied.

Posted on Sep 19, 2026 3:29 PM

1 reply

WheelieNick

Level 9 (74,110 points)

Sep 20, 2026 2:54 PM in response to JoeParker612

Hi there

Please try this

Check iCloud via Browser: Log into iCloud website on a computer or browser, go to Notes, and check both the active note lists and the Recently Deleted folder there. Local "On My iPhone" folders do not sync here, but it rules out an iCloud sync glitch.

Shake to Undo: If the note's contents were accidentally deleted while "select all" was active before you exited, physically shake your iPhone immediately or tap with three fingers and select Undo if you haven't closed the app entirely or rebooted.

Check Mail Trash for Linked Accounts: If your "On My iPhone" or other synced email accounts (like Gmail or Yahoo) process notes through mail servers, check the Trash or Bin folder inside the native Mail app for that specific account.

Toggle iCloud Notes Sync Properly: Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Apps Using iCloud (or Show All), turn the Notes toggle off, choose to keep notes on your phone when prompted, restart your iPhone, and turn the toggle back on to force a re-index.

Restore from a Recent Backup: If the note is entirely absent and critical, check if your phone has a recent iCloud or computer (Finder/iTunes) backup from before the incident. Restoring the device will revert the phone to that backup state, though any data created after that backup will be lost.