Notepad question

[evennewerbie]

On notepad which came with my i-pad it is very easy to delete a note inadvertently. Once deleted is there any way to get it back? At least during the same session.

 

[scifan57]

On notepad which came with my i-pad it is very easy to delete a note inadvertently. Once deleted is there any way to get it back? At least during the same session.

Immediately after inadvertently deleting the note, shake the iPad and a pop up will appear in the centre of the screen that says undo delete, with two buttons, undo and cancel. Tap the undo button and the deleted note will reappear. This has to be done as soon as possible after the deletion for it to work.

Edit: I just checked this in notes and it doesn't work. It works in mail, though.

 

[evennewerbie]

Thank you. I can confirm that it didnt work; it is several hours since I lost this note anyway.

Thinking was on an ordinary computer files you delete, one is told, aren't really deleted, and can be recovered somehow unless they are specially washed.

 

[scifan57]

Thank you. I can confirm that it didnt work; it is several hours since I lost this note anyway.

Thinking was on an ordinary computer files you delete, one is told, aren't really deleted, and can be recovered somehow unless they are specially washed.

Depending on how long the now missing note was in the notes app before it was deleted, it may have been included in a previous backup. To find out, you'd have to restore your iPad with that backup. Make sure to backup your iPad just before the restore, that way you can use that backup to the way it is now.

 

[twerppoet]

On a computer, when a file is deleted only the file index updated. This means that only the little bit of information that pointed to the where the file is located is deleted. If you use special recovery tools quickly enough it is sometimes possible to recover the file.

While this is probably still 'technically' true on an iPad, there are no tools available. Apple does not give developer's the kind of low level access needed for this kind of recovery tool. Mostly because the same kind of low level access would undermine sandboxing, the main malware deterrent on iPads.

So I'm afraid that if you delete a Note, it's gone. Even if you are syncing it with an online service like iCloud or Google, it will update those sites almost immediately.

All in all, Notes isn't a very good app for keeping long term records. I only use it to jot a few things down, temporarily past from the clipboard so I can edit and recopy, or for a few things I want to copy and paste from quickly. In all cases, if it is important it goes into a more robust note app almost immediately. My favorite is Evernote. There are lots of others.

Note: You need a premium account to recover deleted/trashed notes from Evernote. At least you did the last time I checked. The good news is that you don't need the premium account until you have a note you need to recover.