I wanted to delete a few paragraphs in the iPad notes. I highlighted it then pressed delete! I ended up deleting the entire 10 pages! i went into the trash folder hopping that it will be there, (like in windows) but to my surprise, it was not. I quickly turned off iCloud backup immediately hoping to be able to retrieve it from there. Also, I have notes synced to my email account in settings.
I logged into iCloud - for the first time - on my PC through iCloud.com. To my surprise or shock, there was no data in my account and I've been backing up for months with confirmation. Then, I searched yahoo email account but do not see where to locate the notes backup to email account.
Thanks for the help
how do I retrieve the note from iCloud? Why is my iCloud account empty? I have it set since the 1st day to backup whenever the iPad is connected to power?
what is the location of the notes in the email account?
Could turning off backup, cleared-out months of backup?

It kind of depends on where the notes were, but chance are they are gone. The iPad does not waste time when syncing.

If you were syncing with your Yahoo account (and the notes were going there) then there will be a Notes folder in your Yahoo email. You may have to go tot he website to see it. This is also true of GMail. iCloud used to be that way before the iOS 6 and Mountain Lion (OS X) updates. Now they go to the Notes app at iCloud.com and the new Notes app in OS X (if it is present and set to sync to iCloud).

If you were syncing with iCloud, go to iCloud.com (on a computer) and sign in. Check the notes app.

If it was stored locally or those places are empty (or just missing that note) then your note is gone. There is no way (that I know of) to recover it. Though if you were syncing with Yahoo I suppose it would not hurt to look in that trash folder; but I'm pretty sure it won't be there.


For the future.

Undo. While not obvious (I wish it were) you can undo editing in a note, as long as you do it before leaving that note. There are two methods, that I know of.

One, tap the ?123 key. An undo key will appear where the Z and X key usually show (near the bottom left of the keyboard).

Two, shake the iPad. An Undo Typing option will appear in the middle of the screen. Only happens if you actually did some typing (or deleting). Yes, I know that's weird. It makes more sense with the iPhone, which is where it probably started.

Make sure you know where your notes are syncing.

At the top left of the notes list (in the Notes app) You may see see an Accounts button. If it is not there you are either syncing with only one service, or you only have a local folder. It is also possible to have both local and a synced account, if you started creating notes before you started syncing.

A new note will always be saved in whatever account/folder you have selected under Accounts, or the default account if All Notes is selected.

The default account is set in Settings > Notes. It only appears if there is more than one account to select from.



Personally I prefer to keep all but my more trivial notes in Evernote. While you can certainly accidentally delete a note there too, you can upgrade your account to Premium (for $5/mo or less for a full year), and retrieve it from the archive.

This is actually what prompted me to finally upgrade my account. Then after thinking over the extra features, and how much I loved (and there for should support) the product, I decided to keep it. If my budget gets tight enough to make it an issue, I'll just give up a couple snacks a month.

I rarely use the Notes app these days, except as a scratch pad or a kind of editable text clipboard.

Twerppoet,thanks for helpful and thoughtful tips.
I checked the notes app and it shows accounts on the top left corner, there are three accounts: gmail, yahoo and iCloud. It is the yahoo that has all the notes in them. I just checked the yahoo email again, and can't find the notes anywhere, do you have any suggestions where I should look?

If your notes are syncing to Yahoo there will be a Notes folder. You can not write notes to it, at least not any that will sync back to the iPad, but you can retrieve the text of notes that are present.

This is what I see when I look at my Yahoo account on the computer.




You can also get to the Notes folder in Mail on the iPad.

Tap the Mailboxes button at the top left of the email list. It might say something else, depending, but it's pointy on the left side.

Keep tapping it until you see two lists. One for Inboxes and one for Accounts below that.

Choose your Yahoo account from that list.

You should see a Notes folder. Choose it to see your notes.

If you happen to find your lost note here (unlikely, I'm afraid), double tap the body of the email, choose Select all, Copy, then go Paste it back into a new note in the Notes app.

Do not try adding or deleting notes directly from this folder. It will only confuse things.

Originally Posted by twerppoet

If your notes are syncing to Yahoo there will be a Notes folder. You can not write notes to it, at least not any that will sync back to the iPad, but you can retrieve the text of notes that are present.

This is what I see when I look at my Yahoo account on the computer.

<img src="http://www.ipadforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=31280"/>

You can also get to the Notes folder in Mail on the iPad.

Tap the Mailboxes button at the top left of the email list. It might say something else, depending, but it's pointy on the left side.

Keep tapping it until you see two lists. One for Inboxes and one for Accounts below that.

Choose your Yahoo account from that list.

You should see a Notes folder. Choose it to see your notes.

If you happen to find your lost note here (unlikely, I'm afraid), double tap the body of the email, choose Select all, Copy, then go Paste it back into a new note in the Notes app.

Do not try adding or deleting notes directly from this folder. It will only confuse things.

Hy.
thanks for your reply. I am still amazed at this solution.
one would expect that the notes in iCloud really there to be found, not so.
what is actually the meaning of that folder in icloud?

The Notes folder in iCloud (well, in any cloud, to be precise) is there solely for syncing; so you can access any notes in your Notes app from any iDevice and your computer. Think of it more as a mirror that reflects your data on your device in your Notes app versus an actual storage location (folder). It just shows you what is actively on your iPad and immediately reflects any changes to it. Nothing is permanently saved in any Notes that are synched with any cloud (including Yahoo!, Gmail or any of the others). It's a snapshot.

Hard to describe, I know. And, that's the way Apple designed it. If you want something more permanent, you'll need to do as twerppoet suggested - use Evernote (or some other syncing storage) that truly is storage.

Marilyn

Hy.

Thanks for your explination about the meaning of icloud.
in my home network with a Window7 Pc I have NAs of synologic. thereon i store my music and video files.
For those who are interested,I use a Rasberry Py (like the NANOBOX)as media player.
The ipad is the remote controll for the PI, also for the NAS.
Now I wonder if i can use the NAS To make backup of my iPad.

Only one normal iPad backup is kept by iTunes, it's actually an incremental backup in that only data that has changed is actually backed up. The other backups you see listed for your iPad, that are time/date stamped, are backups from restore points. These backups are not overwritten. Unless you regularly backup your computer, and thus would be able to restore your iPad backup from one of your computer backups.
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