In some rare cases, GoodNotes database may get corrupted which will cause some problems like blank pages, not being able to duplicate or copy pages, not being able to add new pages, pages added to the wrong position, not being able to add writing to your pages, import/export hangs, etc... When GoodNotes detects that a database is corrupted, you will see an alert with an error code ("E001-N", "E001-E"). Your database needs to be repaired by the following steps.
1. Copy the following link (depending on the error code you're encountering), paste it to the address bar in Safari app, and open it:
- For E001-E error, use this link: goodnotes5://x-callback-url/repair?f=1&id=D52BDF7C-CF3B-474A-A5AD-7366A7E6CEAF&src=event
- For E001-N error, use this link: goodnotes5://x-callback-url/repair?f=1&id=D52BDF7C-CF3B-474A-A5AD-7366A7E6CEAF&src=notes
2. When asked if you would like to open this page in GoodNotes, tap Open. If you tapped Cancel accidentally, please clear the Safari history and website data from Settings app and try again.
3. GoodNotes will open and an alert will ask if you would like to repair the database, tap OK.
4. Please wait until the repair is completed. There will be a progress bar that appears in the middle of the screen that will disappear once the repair is completed. If GoodNotes is restarted during the repairing process, please repeat the steps above to resume the repairing.
5. Please force quit the app and restart it. Once completed, the database is repaired and you should be able to use the app as usual.
If the problem doesn't help resolve this error code, please reinstall the app:
2. Delete and reinstall the app.
3. Restore from the backup by importing the .zip file.
Alternatively, our Support team can try to recover your database based on the files on your device.
How to export/retrieve your database and send to our team?
First make sure the device has enough storage space by looking in your device Settings > General > About. The "Available" capacity should ideally be a few times as large as GoodNotes' Documents & Data in General > iPad/iPhone Storage > GoodNotes.
Then, proceed as follows:
- Open the Settings app, go to GoodNotes (at the bottom of the left section), and enable Temporary Diagnostic Mode.
- Open GoodNotes again and a "Temporary Diagnostic Mode Enabled" dialog will show. Choose OK to export all data, then the app will close (not a crash).
- Connect your device to a computer via a USB cable.
- Launch iTunes (Windows or macOS) and locate GoodNotes' internal files in the File Sharing section. If you're on macOS Catalina or later, locate GoodNotes Files section instead.
- Select all_goodnotes_files.zip file from GoodNotes and drag it to your desktop.
- Send the file to us (you can use a free cloud service like WeTranser to upload your file and share us the link). If you have problems with uploading the files, let our team know so we can provide you a file request form for uploading the database directly.