Getting files back

Notes: where they live and how they come back

Updated 2026-07-31 · 4 min read

Notes are not files you can search for — they live inside a database. That changes how recovery works.

Where notes actually are

~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes/

The notes themselves are rows in NoteStore.sqlite, and attachments live under Accounts/…/Media. There is no .txt file per note anywhere, which is why searching for a note's text with file tools finds nothing.

Recently Deleted

Notes keeps deleted notes for 30 days in the Recently Deleted folder in the sidebar. This is the recovery route for almost every lost-note case. Right-click → Move To to restore.

Notes that vanished without being deleted

Usually an account visibility problem rather than data loss:

• The account is hidden. Notes → Settings → Accounts, and check each account's sidebar

toggle. Notes on an iCloud account you signed out of disappear with it — sign back in and they return.

• "On My Mac" versus iCloud. Notes can exist locally or in iCloud; disabling one hides

its notes. Notes → Settings → Enable the On My Mac account to see local ones.

• A folder collapsed in the sidebar — trivial, and it happens.

Searching inside Notes

Notes' own search (⌘F in the app, or Spotlight — notes are indexed as items) searches text and attachments including scanned documents.

Attachments as files

Attachments are real files inside the Group Container. To pull one out, right-click it in Notes → Save Attachment, rather than digging into the container — the database references break if you move things by hand.

Backing notes up

Time Machine covers the Group Container, so the whole database is in your backups. Restoring an individual note from a backup means restoring the entire container, which replaces all notes — export important notes as PDF (File → Export as PDF) for anything that must survive independently.

Common questions

Where are Apple Notes stored on a Mac?

In a database at ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.notes — not as individual files.

How long does Recently Deleted keep notes?

30 days, in the sidebar folder of the same name.