Introduction
Thanks to iCloud, Apple Notes for iPhone, iPad, and Mac easily syncs material between devices for free. But what if you don’t want your data to sync across all of your devices? What if you wish to keep certain notes on a specific device?
Stop your notes from being uploaded to iCloud
Apple enables iCloud upload for everything by default on all devices. All of your files are saved in iCloud, and you can be sure that every new note you make will appear on all of your other devices soon enough.
There was a time when you could keep notes “On My iPhone” or “On My Mac” on your device. This was a little perplexing because it was simple to misplace items and hence lose access to them. However, if you want to retain notes on a local device, you may re-enable this option.
On an iPhone, go to Settings > Notes and turn the “‘On My iPhone’ Account” option to on. If you’d want to save notes locally by default, adjust the “Default Account” setting to “On My iPhone.”
Launch Apple Notes on a Mac, then go to Notes > Preferences and tick the “Enable the On My Mac Account” button. If you’d prefer keep notes offline by default, you may set which account is default using the “Default Account” drop-down choice.
After that, a new option will appear on the Notes home screen (iPhone or iPad) or sidebar (Mac). You can move a note between the two by dragging and dropping it on a Mac or using the “Move Note” button in the note’s settings (iPhone and iPad).
Why are you bothering to do this?
If you’re looking for a reason to activate this setting, you should probably disable it. One of the finest aspects of the Notes app is its ability to sync effortlessly between devices, yet other note-taking apps charge a fee to utilize this capability.
However, there are a few compelling reasons to do so. If you share your Mac’s user account with others but have items you wish to keep private and out of iCloud, storing them on your iPhone (in addition to locking your notes) is one possibility.
You may also have device-specific items that do not require syncing. Keeping a backup of specific items under the “On My Mac” area, for example, is one option if you don’t want to clutter up your notes collection or have those items appear in Spotlight on an iPhone.
Simply set a “Default Account” and keep track of the locations of files and folders. This will prevent you from ever being unable to locate anything when away from one of your devices.
Another Justification for Using Apple Notes
Apple Notes has developed significantly over the last several years, including capabilities like as note tagging and note sharing that rival Evernote. Apple Notes is also available for Windows and Android. If you haven’t already, have a look at those features.
