Notes Not Syncing Between iPhone and Mac? Fixes

Notes sync through iCloud almost instantly when everything is configured right, which makes a missing note feel alarming. Nine times out of ten the note isn't lost — it's sitting in an account or folder that doesn't sync. Here's how to check, in order of likelihood.

Check that Notes is turned on in iCloud — on both devices

Sync only works if Notes is enabled under iCloud on each device. It's common for it to be on for one and off for the other.

1. On the Mac, open System Settings and click your name at the top, then iCloud.
2. On macOS Ventura and Sonoma, click Apps Using iCloud (or Show All) and make sure Notes is on. On macOS Sequoia, look under Saved to iCloud, click See All, then check Notes.
3. On the iPhone, go to Settings → your name → iCloud, tap See All (or Show All), and confirm Notes is on there too.
4. Confirm both devices show the same Apple Account email at the top of that screen. Two different accounts will never sync with each other.

The "On My Mac" trap

Notes groups everything by account, and the folder list in the sidebar shows a header for each one: iCloud, On My Mac (or On My iPhone), and any mail accounts like Gmail. Only notes under the iCloud header sync through iCloud. Anything under On My Mac lives on that machine alone and never leaves it — by design.

To fix a stranded note, drag it from the On My Mac folder onto a folder under the iCloud header (or select several and drag them together). Once moved, the notes upload and appear on your other devices. If you want to stop new notes landing there, open Notes → Settings and untick Enable the On My Mac account — and while you're in that window, check Default account is set to iCloud.

Notes hiding in a Gmail or other mail account

If you added a Google or other mail account with Notes enabled, notes filed under that header sync through that service, not iCloud — and Gmail notes are limited (no attachments, checklists, or folders). Check System Settings → Internet Accounts on the Mac to see which accounts have Notes switched on, and scroll the sidebar in Notes to make sure you're looking under the right header on both devices. A note filed under Gmail on the iPhone won't appear under iCloud on the Mac.

Force a refresh

If the accounts and folders check out, give sync a nudge:

• Quit Notes on the Mac (⌘Q) and reopen it. It reconciles with iCloud on launch.
• Create a throwaway test note on each device and watch for it on the other. This tells you which direction is failing.
• Confirm both devices are actually online, and that iCloud itself isn't having a moment — Apple's System Status page lists Notes separately.
• As a last resort, sign out of iCloud and back in on the affected device. Notes stored in iCloud are safe on the server; they re-download after you sign back in.

Use iCloud.com to find which side is broken

When you can't tell whether the Mac isn't uploading or the iPhone isn't downloading, go to the referee: sign in at icloud.com in a browser and open Notes. That's the server's copy. If the missing note is there, the writing device is fine and the reading device has the sync problem — recheck its iCloud settings and network. If the note isn't there either, the device you wrote it on never uploaded it, which almost always means it's filed under On My Mac, On My iPhone, or a mail account rather than iCloud. Also check Apple's System Status page — Notes has its own line, and a server-side outage looks identical to a local problem.

Still stuck?

If Notes syncs but other iCloud data doesn't, the problem is bigger than one app — work through the full iCloud sync checklist to rule out account and network issues.