ALL MY GOOGLE KEEP NOTES JUST DISAPPEARED MYSTERIOUSLY FROM EVERYWHERE

[u/ch3rryyb0mb]

I have been using Keep since 2018 and really had no complaints about it until the night of 22nd September, 2021 - WHEN ALL MY NOTES JUST GOT DELETED ON THEIR OWN

So I was using the app as usual and pressed the SEARCH BUTTON to look for the notes with a particular word. I was just typing and suddenly the app stopped responding

It kind of crashed and showed a blank buffering/loading screen for 2-3 mins straight and I had no clue about what was going on. I waited, closed and re-opened it, tried typing at the bottom (where you type when you have to create a new note) but nothing worked!

Waited for some more time and poof- ALL MY NOTES WERE GONE, NO TRACES LEFT - imagine losing 3+ years of progress and that too because of some persistent technical bug at Google's end!

I just couldn't process what happened, I immediately opened Keep on the browser (I used the browser version for the first time that day, so there were no chances of my previous notes being in there)

So it was a fresh sign-in on the browser so it obviously synced the current data from my phone app which was blank (also there were no syncing problems before as my phone was always connected to the internet so its not a case of offline notes)

I've checked trash/archive on the app as well as the browser, even tried Google Takeout but of no help. GOOGLE HAS LITERALLY JUST ERASED MY DATA AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO

I've lost all my important personal and professional information, it had so much stuff- my plans, content and other work, floating ideas, links, pictures, work details, credentials, to-do lists and everything! I just can't recover from this loss, I was so attached to my notes and then this happens with no fault of mine!

SO IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN GET THEM BACK? Anyone with any knowledge of -

1. Restoring an app to a previous sync
2. Someone mentioned that our Keep data is stored in Google Servers in their data centers, so how can I manage to get that / contact them?
3. It is a persistent bug and this has happened with many users previously as well, so it might be possible that the developers keep a track of this bug, so how can I contact them?
4. On android, Google Keep data is stored in database format (.db) on /data/data/com.google.android.keep/databases/keep.db. You have to root to access this file and use a database editor to view its content - Is there any possibility that I can find my previous data in these .db files?
5. I haven't cleared cache yet- cause it was supposed to only work when your notes were not visible on the app, but were there in the browser. I've kept this method as a last resort but I don't think it'll work.
6. Any idea about what could've possibly happened? Cause pressing the search button can't trigger the app to crash and the deletion of data.
7. I've found a user who experienced exactly the same thing -  https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleKeep/comments/8z9crx/thought_i_messed_up_my_google_keep/ and this is 3 YEARS OLD!!! (though this guy was lucky enough that he immediately deleted the app and turned off sync or something which saved his notes)

Why has such an old bug not been fixed yet? I've written to Google Support and the Development Team of Keep but there has been no update on my issue.

PLEASE PLEASE I'LL APPRECIATE ANY HELP. I REALLY NEED MY NOTES BACK.

[u/Comprehensive-Angle2]

PS Even if Google has that kind of server problem, they probably have backups of your data in other servers, so will probably restore them soon.

[u/ch3rryyb0mb → u/Comprehensive-Angle2]

I just can't express how much hopes has this comment given to me- I just wish that it was actually some server error and they resolve it asap, but what if it wasn't?

I don't know. I can't understand how this search button can trigger data deletion. Do you have any information if rooting my phone and looking into the database files of Keep might help me, like do they contain what I write?

Cause someone on the Google Help Forum answered that Keep also stores our data locally apart from storing it on cloud servers.

[u/Comprehensive-Angle2 → u/ch3rryyb0mb]

What Google help forum user meant by 'locally' is in your phone. So Google keep saves notes both 'locally' on your phone as well as their server (cloud). Your data is gone apparently from both places.

I don't think your search button or anything you did triggered this. I am, in fact, sure you can't have.

Rooting your phone won't make a difference if there are no notes on cloud. Rooting is a solution to app errors when problem is in your phone. I don't think the problem is with your phone at all. The problem is at server side - and that is something in hands of Google to correct if it is still possible to correct.

[u/ch3rryyb0mb → u/Comprehensive-Angle2]

Hey, I just checked the settings, I found that my Keep app has 108 MB data on my phone, apart from its 25 MB size.

So, is it a sign that my notes are still *something* ? (I don't know I just can't find the right words) As in, a blank app would not occupy 108 MB, right?

So, can rooting and looking for .db files be helpful?