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5 Ways - How to Recover Deleted/Lost/Disappeared Notes on Mac

"Yesterday I deleted some important Notes files from my Mac. I have emptied the trash since I deleted them. How can I recover deleted Notes?"

"I was on a hurry to update My MacBook to the latest version - macOS Mojave 10.14. I just thought I could copy the files manually and restore them later. Now, even if I copy the file back to the original location and reopen the Notes application, it won't show up."

Apple offers an excellent note-taking app that allows Mac users to quickly record content. These Notes can be synced to any Apple device, such as an iPhone or iPad. However, most users will inevitably accidentally delete Notes files that they think are not needed. When we immediately realize the error deletion, we can restore them from the trash. Other situations can also cause Notes loss on Mac computers, such as comments or text file corruption, deletion, formatting, RAW disk problems or accidentally shutting down the Mac without saving settings, being hidden, system crashes, operating errors, Mac system upgrade to macOS High Sierra 10.13 or macOS Mojave 10.14 and so on.

Method 1: Recover Mac Notes from Recently Deleted Folders

By default, the Mac Notes program will retain content for 30 days after deletion. If you are looking for an item that may have been accidentally deleted, check it in the "Recently deleted" folder.

1. Follow the path of Sidebar > View > Show Folders.

2. Locate the "Recently deleted" folder, check the deleted notes and restore them to a folder.

Method 2: Recover Disappeared Mac notes from Storage

To recover deleted or missing comments from the storage on your Mac, you need to find the comment store located in ~/Library/Containers/Com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes/. Once the file is found, copy and save the missing comment to a separate location.

Method 3: Recover Deleted Notes from Trash bin on Mac

If you put a document in the trash on your MacBook but don't empty the trash, you can easily restore Notes. When you become aware of your mistakes immediately after deleting the project, you can undo it by pressing Command-Z or by clicking the Edit menu and selecting undo from the options. If the undo doesn't work, click the trash can icon to open it. Then click the note you want to restore and drag it to your desktop.

Method 4: Recover Lost or Disappeared Notes from Time Machine Backup

If you empty the trash, if you use Time Machine, Apple's backup system allows users to restore their Mac to a specific date, and you can still recover your notes. If you have previously set up Time Machine using Time Capsule or an external drive, connect to the backup and open the Time Machine program. Click Enter Time Machine and select a date from the right side of the screen, or type the name of the file you want to restore in the Spotlight field to find it. Click Restore to restore the comments.

Method 5: Recover Deleted Notes with Mac Data Recovery Software

If you don't use Time Machine to back up your Mac often, it means you may not be able to recover Notes from Time Machine. This also means that you must use third-party Mac data recovery software to recover lost notes on your Mac.

Mac Any Data Recovery Pro can safely and quickly recover deleted notes on your MacBook and iMac. After downloading this software, you can restore the deleted text file by following the steps below.

Free Download For macOS 10.6 and above

Step1: Select "Recover Document"

Uncheck the unneeded file types, leave only the selected "Recover Document" option, and then click "Starting" to recover deleted or lost Notes on Mac.

Step 2: Select the Drive to scan

Select the storage disk where you deleted or lost the Notes file. Then click "Scanning".

Step 3: Recover Mac Notes

Once the scan is complete, you can see all the files found in the results window. Find the Notes you need and click "Restore" to save the Notes to your Mac.