'On My iPhone' notes disappeared - How to get all your Notes back

This videos shows how you can recover your iPhone notes if they randomly disappeared from the Notes app but you can still search for them in the search bar. I explain this at the beginning of the video.
If you are facing the same problem then you should be able to get your notes back by following this tutorial.

Simplified steps:

4. Open the Notes app on the Mac and you should see your notes (at least some of them but if you don't then don't worry, this is not the final step)

NOTE: There may be easier and less complicated ways to do this but I have not found any yet. From what I know this is the only working method.

Any questions, feel free to contact me. I will try to get back as soon as I can.

iMazing:

iPhone Backup Extractor:

More on recovering data from the DB Browser for SQLite:

Reddit:

[brogazelle]

For those who don't have a Mac, you can also emulate a Mac OS instead. Here is a guide:

[Alex-gtn]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I lost all of my notes spanning back several years and was in a complete panic - I also had icloud turned off and no recent backups of my phone but I was able to get all of my notes back. Thank you once again this was a lifesaver!

[FrostySteeez]

Apple needs to address this issue asap, Im guessing it happened to me because of storage issues along a bunch of other people, why would they think its a good idea to remove NOTES out of all things just delete some apps off my phone instead man they gave me a heart attack. Are they so stupid to remove peoples most important information ?!!!?

[ghostaround]

Oh man, I can’t thank you enough, this saved so much precious information. I deleted my iOS mail app(it was taking up over 7GB for some reason) idk why but doing so wiped out my notes. You’re a genius for figuring this out and a hero for sharing it with the world.

[starskyflo]

oh my god it Thank you so much man! this one the only way I tried everything !! I'm so happy... FYI I had no icloud storage and no backup, but as I can see the data on my phone settings, I knew the notes were still there... So I just backed up the iphone and followed your instructions. Thats so great, thousand thanks you rule !!!!

[lithiumfilms]

absolute legend! This needs to be top of the searches. saved 1400 notes from the past 10 years

[merritthughes]

I have never commented on a youtube video in my life but I cannot begin to thank you enough. I ended having to use iPhone backup extractor and I had to replace the files of my notes on my Mac, but it worked PERFECTLY and I regained the 200 notes that were on my phone. You are so amazing for this. Thank you.

[AshweenDara]

oh my god!!! this video saved my notes. I cried today while talking to apple tech support as all my notes had disappeared. These notes were from 2015. I never took a backup (beat myself for it). Came across this video via reddit. We tried and it worked, like magic!!!! I really cannot thank you enough.

[Kamel]

Hello Brogazelle!
My nerves have been all bundled up for two days until I could sit down to try this after Apple deleted all my notes due to storage.
I have officially restored ten years of notes thanks to you and I actually cried when they popped up again. THANK YOU so very much!!!

[TheFedvin]

Bro I had lost 6 months worth of travel notes and memoir and thanks to you I got them all back! ❤❤❤❤

I don’t what religion you have or what you believe in, but from the bottom of my heart thank you and I pray that everything beautiful and good and pure and amazing comes your way in life and that you are bestowed with goodness and happiness worth times the joy and happiness you have just brought me thanks to your tutorial.

God bless you bro

[얼그레이-ym]

I just got back my notes. I can't thank you enough YOU ARE MY HERO

[kiymin]

I don’t own a Mac so I had to install Mac OS on a virtual machine to get my notes back, and it worked!

I feel like simply saying thank you would not be enough for the service you have given to me and others who had this exact issue. Instead I wish that you receive many good things in life. Thank you so much for your help!

[newartistspotlight_]

Thanks bro! This was a Life Saver!!! It definitely works! Even if you can’t search your notes prior it still works.

[siennaalwin]

Thank you so much bro! You saved my life! I can't actually see everything yet because I don't have a Mac, but the alternative you showed at least reassured me that my files still exist. I'll borrow a family member's Mac and get everything back! Thank you so much!

[noabruser]

For some reason my folder that has my backup does not have a folder inside named "Backup" it instead has a folder called "thumbnails"
I can see there is data on the ".sqlite" file but whenever I copy it over and open notes, it still doesn't show.

[oroMoro]

Thank you so much. You saved my life, the only method works on the whole internet

[kerithrae]

Thanks so much for taking the time to make this video. This worked for me, using the 2024 free version of iMazing after my Notes dissapeared due to low storage. Legend!

[CHACKOmusic]

Thanks for this video - once you open the notes on your Mac what do you do from there? Manually copy and paste them back into your phone? The data still lives on the phone, it is just not showing up for some reason.

[kristofdonatkovacs]

You are an angel my brother! Thank you for saving our life !!

[AnnaRoss-ty]

I also am using iMazing and the "app groups" are not there. There are only 4 folders: apps, documents, logs, and media, please help!!