How to use the Apple Notes app on iCloud and sync your notes across all of your devices

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  • You can use Notes on iCloud through your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, or in a browser using iCloud's website, to create, edit, and view synced notes.
  • To see your notes on the iCloud website, you need to enable note syncing using the Settings app on each of your Apple devices. 
  • To view, create, and edit Notes in iCloud, open the iCloud website and start the Notes web app. 

Apple includes a convenient Notes app on all its devices, so you can leave yourself messages and reminders as well as take notes in meetings or class. 

If you enable Notes in iCloud, those notes will automatically stay in sync across all your devices, and you can read or edit those notes in the Notes app on any of your devices or in a web browser. 

How to sync Notes using iCloud on an iPhone or iPad

1. You should start by making sure you're syncing Notes with all your Apple devices.

2. On each iPhone and iPad using the same Apple ID, start the Settings app and tap your name at the top of the screen.  

3. Tap "iCloud."

4. In the list of apps using iCloud, make sure that Notes is on by swiping the button to the right. 

Enable Notes in the iCloud list in Settings by toggling the switch to the "on" position. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to sync Notes using iCloud on a Mac

1. Open the System Preferences app on your Mac computer. 

2. At the top of the System Preferences window, click on the "Apple ID" icon beside your name.

3. Click on iCloud from the menu at the left side of the Apple ID screen.

4. On the right side, scroll down until you see Notes, and click the checkbox beside it. This will sync the Notes app on your Mac to iCloud and to all your other devices.

Note: If you don't want to sync notes with a particular device, swipe the button to the left. You'll need to confirm you want to do this, and then all notes will be deleted from this device. After that, you can create notes on that device, but they won't sync with the iCloud service or any of your other devices. To start syncing, you can simply turn Notes on again. 

If you turn off Notes syncing on a device, all the notes currently on the device will be deleted. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

How to use Notes on the iCloud website

You aren't limited to writing, editing, and reading notes in the Notes app on your Apple devices; you can do it in a browser on any computer as well. 

1. Open iCloud.com in a web browser and sign in with your Apple ID if necessary.

2. Click "Notes."

Start the Notes web app to see all your notes. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

3. You should now see a list of all the notes that are syncing from your devices. Click a note from the list and you can start adding text or editing that note. 

The iCloud Notes app in action: Use the icons at the top of the screen to edit your notes in iCloud. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

You can use the toolbar at the top of the Notes webpage to edit your notes as well. The first icon lets you create a new note, while the other three icons let you edit a note by adding a table, adding a checkbox, and formatting text. In addition, there's a trash icon to delete the current note at the far right of the toolbar.

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Dave Johnson Freelance Writer Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider. Read more Read less

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