Unable to restore deleted notes from iCloud

When you attempt to recover notes by restoring a full iCloud backup, you are limited to the specific "snapshot" of data captured at the time that backup was created. If your device backed up recently—for example, a few days ago—restoring that backup will only bring back the notes that existed at that exact moment, which explains why you cannot see notes from three weeks ago.

The first place you should look is the "Recently Deleted" folder within the Notes app, which acts as a safety net for items removed within the last 30 days. If your notes were deleted within the three-week window you mentioned, they may still be sitting in this folder waiting to be permanently erased. To check this, open the Notes app, tap the back arrow until you see your Folders list, and look for "Recently Deleted".

If the notes are not in that folder and your recent iCloud restore failed to bring them back, it is likely because "Notes"was toggled ON in your iCloud Sync settings. When this setting is active, notes are synced in real-time rather than being included in a traditional "static" iCloud backup. This means that once a note is deleted from the app and then cleared from the "Recently Deleted" folder, the deletion is instantly pushed to the cloud and all other devices, making it unrecoverable through a standard device restore.

Another possibility is that the notes were originally associated with a different email account, such as Gmail or Outlook, rather than iCloud. If you recently removed an email account from your phone, the notes linked to that account would disappear from the app but would still exist on the email provider's server. You can check this by going to your device settings, selecting "Mail" or "Accounts," and ensuring all previous accounts are active and that the "Notes" toggle is turned on for each one.