Use this guide if Goodnotes is not syncing through iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Common symptoms include iCloud error messages, grayed-out documents, or cloud icons with an exclamation mark.
Important: iCloud Sync keeps your library synchronized across Apple devices; it is not a separate backup. Do not delete or uninstall Goodnotes while troubleshooting because doing so can remove locally stored data. If you already deleted the app and lost data, see Recover notebooks after deleting and reinstalling Goodnotes.
Check your iCloud Sync setup first
- Check your connection at Fast.com. Use a stable Wi-Fi connection while troubleshooting.
- Confirm that your device date, time, and region are correct and that Set Automatically is enabled.
- Check that you have enough available iCloud storage.
- Check Apple's System Status and Downdetector for an active iCloud outage.
- Update Goodnotes on every device.
- Update iOS or iPadOS and macOS.
- Confirm that you have set up iCloud Sync on every device using the same Apple Account.
- Restart each device.
Additional checks
- Force-quit and reopen Goodnotes on iPhone or iPad or Mac.
- Leave Goodnotes open in the foreground while syncing. Large libraries or PDF textbooks can take several minutes to appear on another device.
- After typing, exit text input mode by selecting outside the text box so the latest change can sync.
- Temporarily turn off iCloud Private Relay.
- Temporarily disable Background App Refresh for Goodnotes in device Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
- Allow Goodnotes through content-blocking or network-security tools such as AdGuard, Eero Secure, or Netskope.
- If other apps also fail to sync, contact Apple Support because the issue might affect iCloud rather than Goodnotes.
If none of these checks help, use the matching symptom below.
A new device is missing documents
After enabling “Use iCloud to Sync Documents” on a second device, a large library can take several hours to finish downloading.
Keep Goodnotes open in the foreground and connected to stable Wi-Fi. If documents are still missing after the library has had time to sync, send Diagnostic Data from every affected device.
Documents are grayed out in the library
If a grayed-out document shows a cloud icon, it is still downloading from iCloud. Keep Goodnotes open until the icon disappears.
If the documents remain unavailable:
- Open Goodnotes menu > Cloud & Backup and disable “Use iCloud to Sync Documents”.
- Quit Goodnotes completely. On iPhone or iPad, long-press the app icon, select Show All Windows, then swipe up on every window. On Mac, right-click Goodnotes in the Dock and select Quit.
- Reopen Goodnotes.
- Return to Cloud & Backup and enable “Use iCloud to Sync Documents”.
- Keep Goodnotes open until the cloud icons disappear.
If you have enough iCloud storage but documents remain grayed out without cloud icons, interrupted syncing might have damaged those documents.
If a device backup from before the incident is available, review Apple's instructions to restore from an iCloud backup. Restoring a device can replace newer data, so review the backup date and Apple's guidance before proceeding. If you use Auto Backup, also check its destination folder for copies of the missing files.
Cloud icons show an exclamation mark
An exclamation mark can indicate that specific documents are not syncing.
- Open each affected document and check whether the icon disappears.
- If it remains, duplicate the document.
- Open the duplicate and confirm that its pages and latest content are present.
- Wait to see whether the duplicate syncs successfully.
- Only after verifying the duplicate, delete the original and remove it from the Trash Bin.
If the issue still occurs, send Diagnostic Data from all affected devices.
“App version out of date. Please upgrade to the latest version.”
Update Goodnotes on all your devices to the latest available version.
“There's a problem with the server.” or “HTTP code 503”
This usually indicates a temporary iCloud service issue. Check Apple System Status. If cloud icons also show an exclamation mark, follow the steps in Cloud icons show an exclamation mark.
If the issue still occurs after the iCloud service recovers, send Diagnostic Data.
Goodnotes shows another iCloud alert
Send Diagnostic Data from every affected device and include a screenshot showing the complete alert.
Send Diagnostic Data
Export Diagnostic Data from every affected device. For example, if an iPad is not syncing with a Mac and iPhone, send files from all three devices.
- If you are signed in, open Goodnotes menu > View Account > Account Settings > Export Diagnostic Data.
- If you are on the sign-in screen, select the “?” icon in the top-right corner, then select Download diagnostics file to device.
- Send the files to Technical Support and describe which devices are not syncing.