Why is Recently Deleted empty in Apple Notes?
By Caner Kaya, Kayabyte · Last updated 17 October 2026
You deleted a note, or it vanished on its own, and the Recently Deleted folder in Notes is empty or missing. There are a handful of reasons, and most have something you can check.
1. You’re looking at the wrong account
Each Notes account has its own Recently Deleted folder: one for iCloud, one for On My iPhone (or On My Mac). The folder only appears when it has something in it.
- iPhone or iPad: in Notes, tap back until you see the Folders list and scroll through every account.
- Mac: choose View, Show Folders and look under each account in the sidebar.
- Web: sign in at icloud.com/notes and check Recently Deleted there. It sometimes shows notes a device hasn’t caught up with yet.
2. The note was in a Gmail, Outlook or other mail account
Notes in a mail account (for example under a “Gmail” heading in your folder list) don’t use Notes’ Recently Deleted folder. They’re stored as messages in that mail account, so a deleted note goes to the account’s own trash:
- Gmail: notes are kept under the Notes label. Deleted ones go to Gmail’s Trash, where Gmail keeps them for 30 days. Check on the web at mail.google.com.
- Outlook, Exchange and others: look in Deleted Items or Trash for that account.
If you removed the mail account from the device, or turned off Notes for it, the notes disappear from Notes but usually remain in the mailbox. Add the account back, or turn Notes on again for it.
3. More than about 30 days have passed
Notes keeps deleted notes in Recently Deleted for about 30 days, then removes them on every synced device. After that only backups have them. See Recover deleted Apple Notes after 30 days.
4. Someone emptied it, or deleted it from Recently Deleted
Deleting a note from Recently Deleted, or using Delete All there, removes it at once on all devices signed in to the same account. On a shared Apple Account, or on a family member’s device, someone else may have done this.
5. The note wasn’t deleted, it’s elsewhere
- It may have been moved to another folder or account. Use the search field at the top of the Folders list; it searches all accounts.
- It may be locked. Locked notes show their title but not their text in search results.
- A shared note or shared folder that someone stopped sharing with you, or removed you from, disappears without going to your Recently Deleted.
- Notes that are turned off for an account (in iCloud or mail account settings) disappear without being deleted. See Apple Notes disappeared: what to check first.
6. Notes stored on the device were wiped
If notes were stored On My iPhone or On My Mac and the device was erased, reset or replaced, Recently Deleted went with them. Those notes were never in iCloud. The only copies are in backups: a Time Machine backup of your Mac, or an iPhone backup made in Finder on your Mac.
What to do next
If none of the above finds the note, a backup from before it disappeared is your best chance:
NoteRescue, the Mac app we make, scans your Time Machine and iPhone backups, including each backup’s own Recently Deleted folder, and lists every note that isn’t in Notes today. The scan is free and only reads your backups.