Resolved Notes on MacBook now blank

[Rustyxx]

All of a sudden new notes via iOS devices didn't appear on my MacBook Notes app. I turned Notes icon off in iCloud settings on mac, then when I turned Notes on again all the Notes disappeared. I've turned iCloud on and off again, and deleted containers/com.apple.Notes, restarted etc. None of these have made a difference. Notes on Mac remains still blank. iCloud web Notes and iOS Notes continue to sync, but Mac stubbornly won't sync. Are there exact sync files in a Library somewhere I need to look at or some other process?

OS High Sierra. 10.13.6

 

[NoBoMac]

Try editing an existing note on an iOS device, that might trigger a sync.

I've noticed that Notes syncing has been wonky on the Mac side of things (Monterey). Most Notes sync, but in a very specific case for me, they don't: Shortcut to create a Note to act as a timestamp, those won't sync over unless I go into the note and modify (even if just add a space character somewhere), then gets pulled over to Mac.

Also, lots of Notes folders in Library, can't recall how it work in HS but in Monterey, the notes are in an SQLite database under ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes, so that would be one thing that would need to be toasted for a clean slate.

 

[Rustyxx]

I tried updating an iOS Note previously but no change. I've deleted the group containers but that hasn't changed anything. Reminders continues to sync OK but Notes seems to have lost its connection to my iCloud account as it remains blank. The update animated circle still works on launch so it seems its connecting to something.

Try editing an existing note on an iOS device, that might trigger a sync.

Also, lots of Notes folders in Library, can't recall how it work in HS but in Monterey, the notes are in an SQLite database under ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes, so that would be one thing that would need to be toasted for a clean slate.

 

[Rustyxx]

I found a workaround. I created a new temporary account, entered my Apple ID into iCloud, Notes synced OK, then copied the following folders which had updated when iCloud synced:

com.apple.CloudDocs.MobileDocumentsFileProvider
com.apple.Notes
com.apple.Notes.datastore

I then overwrote the old files in my primary account.

Just some cautions - make sure you backup your system and user Library before updating in case of an issue
If you have locally stored Notes they will be overwritten
I'd try overwriting one of the above at a time to work out which one restores the links, the first folder may not be needed as its not restricted to Notes