Synch problems, Chrome, windows 11
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Hi, I’m having synch problems – on two notes the refresh/sync icon is going round all the time and these two notes are not being synchronised with SimpleNote on my phone. This is using Google Chrome on a Win11 laptop. I’ve tried using MS Edge instead: Edge doesn’t show the Sync icon and doesn’t show the updates to the two new notes. But if I create a new note in Edge it syncs with my moble phone app. Oddly the new test note also appears in Chrome, but one of the previous notes still has the sync icon on it, and this notes is still not synching with mobile or Edge. Hope this makes sense.
HELP please! Thank you.
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Just to add to this, in Chrome if I close the page (with the sync icon still going round on one of the notes) I get the message: “Leave site? Changes that you have made may not be saved”.
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OK, an update to this. I’ve solved the problem for now by deleting the cookies for the site. I lost the changes I’d made (but I’d copied these across to somewhere else before deleting the cookies).
(NB this is how to clear cookies on just one site only: Go to the website.Click the lock icon or settings icon on the left side of the address bar.Select Cookies and site data > Manage on-device site data.Click the trash can icon (Remove) next to the site name.Click Done.)
Now the sync icon has gone and it’s synching with my phone and with Edge. All good. But is anyone else having these problems? Any ideas why? thanks.
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Ignore my email below saying I’ve fixed it, because I’m still having the problem in spite of delete the Simplenote cookies. Are other people having this problem? Is there an issue with Simplenote at the moment? Help please!
NB In Chrome if I close the page (with the sync icon still going round on one of the notes) I get the message: “Leave site? Changes that you have made may not be saved”, if I do close the page I lose the changes I’ve just made.
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Hi. There are no known issues with Simplenote; been normal for me all day.
Since Edge works, this sounds like some security protection issue in Chrome itself. The Simplenote cloud server is at simperium.com, and the web app accesses it directly to view and update notes. This is how sync works. Chrome may be preventing you from sending data to the cloud.
You could also install the Simplenote app from the MS Store and use it on the computer. That gives you a local copy of your notes, and should sync reliably.
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Are you using NoScript in Chrome? Check this thread, https://forums.simplenote.com/forums/topic/all-my-notes-have-disappeared-2/.
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I’m having the same issue, constant sync arrows circling around on my chrome browser on chromebook, and notes not syncing to my phone. It’s been happening for a few days now. I came here looking for a solution. Any solutions you have found?
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Hi there,
Thanks for the detailed write up. The Chrome versus Edge comparison is genuinely helpful for narrowing this down.
First, the reassuring part: since new notes sync fine and everything works in Edge, your account and the Simplenote service itself are healthy. When a note keeps spinning the sync icon in one browser while the same account syncs normally elsewhere, the usual cause is something on that browser or network blocking the connection the web app needs to the sync server.
- Ad blockers, firewalls, or network filtering. Our sync guide calls these out directly: a firewall, VPN, or ad blocker on your device, or filtering software on your network such as PiHole or AdGuard, can interrupt the connection. If you use any of these, allowlist these three addresses:
app.simplenote.com
api.simperium.com
auth.simperium.comA quick way to test whether a browser extension (such as an ad or script blocker) is involved is to open app.simplenote.com in a Chrome Incognito window, since Chrome does not run extensions there by default. If the note syncs in Incognito, an extension is the cause, and you can disable it for app.simplenote.com. One thing to note: Incognito only rules out extensions, so if a VPN or network filter is in play, it would still apply there.
- A note stuck in the browser’s local copy. If Incognito does not help, that specific note may be wedged in Chrome’s stored data for the site. Before you touch anything, please copy the text of any note still showing the spinner into a safe place first, such as a plain text file, because unsynced changes live only in that browser. Our guide puts it plainly: “Please do not log out from the app or clear the app data before making sure the notes are backed up or synced to the web app. Doing so will cause permanent data loss.” Once the text is safe, clearing the site data for app.simplenote.com (which you already found works) makes the app pull a fresh, clean copy from the server.
You can find the full sync checklist here: ttps://simplenote.com/help/#sync
One extra tip for day-to-day reliability: the Simplenote desktop app keeps a full local copy of your notes and tends to sync more steadily than a long-lived browser tab. On Windows, you can install it from the Microsoft Store.
To @4nnalise, the same checks apply to a Chromebook since it is also Chrome-based, so start with an Incognito window and the ad blocker check. If your Chromebook supports Android apps, you can also install the Simplenote app from the Play Store, which runs outside the browser.
If the spinner returns after all of this, reply here and let us know which extensions you have enabled and roughly how large the stuck note is, and we will take it from there.
Warm regards,
Simplenote Support Forums 