How to Recover Deleted Notes on Mac: 5 Effective Methods

Mac Notes is a built-in popular application, similar to the Notes app on iPhones, used for storing and managing text, bookmarks, saved links, lists of notes, and to-do lists.

Many users rely on Mac Notes for both work and personal life, with some using it to jot down significant moments. Unfortunately, notes can get accidentally deleted, resulting in the loss of crucial information. If this has happened to you, this article will guide you through 5 effective ways to recover deleted notes on your Mac!

Where did my deleted notes go?

Before learning how to recover deleted notes on Mac, you should know where the deleted notes go. If you have the same question, this part will give you the answer. By default, your notes are stored in the ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes/ location.

Deleted notes are stored in the Recently Deleted folder for up to 30 days before they're permanently gone. Here are some common scenarios where you might lose a note on a Mac:

• Accidentally deleted notes on Mac, or uninstalled the Note app from your Mac
• Notes vanished due to a crash or malfunction of the Note application
• Deleted notes on a device that was synced with your Mac

If your notes are synced to iCloud, there's a 40-day recovery period in the Recently Deleted folder. After that, you can't restore deleted files. In this case, data recovery software is the most effective way to retrieve permanently deleted files on Mac, including notes.

Solution 1: Recover Deleted Notes on Mac with Software

As mentioned above, you can use the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool to retrieve important notes that you accidentally deleted from your Mac.

It is a powerful file recovery tool capable of recovering unsaved Word documents on Mac. With its user-friendly interface, you can retrieve deleted notes on your Mac in just 3 steps. It swiftly locates and recovers lost or deleted notes even if they vanish from your Mac.

Please refer to the steps below to learn how to recover deleted files on Mac without Time Machine:

Step 1: Select the disk to scan

On the main interface of the Data Recovery Wizard, all drives connected to your Mac will be listed. Select the drive from which you want to recover lost/deleted files and click on the “Search for Lost Files” button.

Note: It's recommended that you click “Disk Backup” on the left sidebar to create a backup for your Mac before data recovery, in case of further data loss. After the backup, the software can recover data from the Mac backup, and your computer will be able to write new data.

Step 2: Select the data/files that you have lost

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will scan the disk volume you select immediately and show the scan results in the left pane. If you're looking for specific files, you can sort the results to locate the ones you need.

Select the type of data/files you've lost:

Step 3: Recover Lost/Deleted Data

Once you find the desired files, preview them and click “Recover” to start retrieving your deleted/lost files from Mac.

Fix 2: Look for the deleted note in the Recently Deleted folder

Deleted notes don't go to the Trash on your Mac, but they do get moved to the "Recently Deleted" folder. They remain there for 30 days before being permanently erased. This means you can recover deleted notes from the "Recently Deleted" folder if the deletion occurred within the last month.

To restore notes from the Recently Deleted folder, follow these steps:

Step 1. Find “Notes” by using Spotlight or the Finder on your Mac.

Step 2: From the left menu, select “Recently Deleted,” then find the note you want to restore.

Step 3: Click "Edit" at the top menu bar, then click "Undo Trash Note." Or, after clicking "Edit," press "Command+Z."

This will return the note to its original location on your Mac. If you can't find your recently deleted notes on your Mac, try the methods below.

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Solution 3: Recover Deleted Notes from iCloud on Mac

Cloud storage services provide users with the convenience of safely storing files without having to worry about physical storage devices. If you use any Apple device, you're likely familiar with iCloud.

It stores and syncs your notes, so you can easily find them on any Apple device using the same Apple ID with iCloud. So, if you had your notes synced with iCloud, you can retrieve them by following these steps:

Step 1: Go to System Preferences > iCloud and uncheck Notes.

Step 2: In the iCloud window, open Notes and find the deleted note.

Step 3. Click “Restore” to put them back on your Mac.

Step 4: Go to System Preferences > iCloud and turn on Notes.

In addition to recovering deleted notes, you can also recover deleted photos from iCloud. Read the linked article for details.

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How to Recover Deleted Photos from iCloud on Mac

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Fix 4: Recover Deleted Notes with Time Machine

Similar to iCloud, Time Machine is a built-in backup feature on your Mac that can easily back up your important files, including your notes. So, if your deleted notes were backed up with Time Machine, you can restore them from the backup.

After saving your recent notes to a secure location, you can follow these steps to recover deleted notes:

Step 1. Open Finder, and from the menu bar choose Go > Go to Folder, and enter the path ~/Library/Group Containers.

Step 2: Select the “group.com.apple.notes” folder, and then click the clock icon in the top menu bar.

Step 3: Choose Browse Time Machine backups.

Step 4: Select the “group.com.apple.notes” folder with the deleted notes, and click “Restore.”

When using Time Machine to create backups, you might encounter issues like failed backups. Don't worry – this article will guide you through resolving such problems.

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Solved: Time Machine Unable to Finish First Backup

This article will guide you on how to fix the issue of Time Machine waiting to complete the initial backup. Read More >>

Fix 5: Recover Deleted Notes from .staoredata File on Mac

The .storedata file contains temporary information about important data on your Mac. To find and recover deleted notes, follow these steps:

Step one: Open Finder, then navigate to ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.notes/Data/Library/Notes to find the .storedata folder.

Step 2: Change the extension to .html, and open the files with Chrome or another browser.

Step 3. Cut and paste the files on your Mac, and store them in a safe location.

The bottom line?

This article outlines how to recover deleted notes on a Mac, including using the tool "Data Recovery Wizard for Mac," retrieving them from the "Recently Deleted" folder on your Mac, restoring from iCloud or Time Machine backups, and recovering through .storedata files.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Recover Deleted Notes from Mac

Here are some common questions people ask when searching how to recover deleted notes on a Mac:

1. Where did all my deleted notes go on my Mac?

On a Mac, deleted notes are stored in a folder called Recently Deleted for 30 days before they're gone for good. You can access it by:

Step 1: Find the “Notes” app using the Finder or Spotlight search bar on your Mac.

Step 2: Choose “Recently Deleted” from the left-hand menu.

Yes, if you delete a note within a month, you can find it in the "Recently Deleted" folder within Notes. If you've deleted a note on your Mac more than 30 days ago, you can use tools like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to retrieve them.

How do I undo deleting in the Notes app on my Mac?

You can open the "Notes" app on your Mac, then select "Recently Deleted" from the left sidebar. Find the deleted note you want to recover and click "Edit" > "Undo Delete Note" to restore it.