How to edit the notes in your inbox folder in Outlook 365 Classic (Outlook 16) Desktop?

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How to edit the notes in your inbox folder in Outlook 365 Classic (Outlook 16) Desktop?

ChrisD 40

I use Outlook Classic from my 365 subscription on my Windows 10 Desktop. My iPhone notes automatically sync with the notes folder in my inbox, which is a great, easy way to take notes on the fly and have them be available on my computer later. But I'm finding that I'm unable to edit them or otherwise interact with them other than as an email. I've been searching all morning for information on how to use this feature, but everything I find is about the separate "Notes App" in Outlook and not this other notes feature. Honestly I'm surprised they aren't the same feature/app that appears in two places, but when I go into the app, it just shows notes "on this system only" and none of the notes that sync through my email server.

Can anyone shed some light on how this feature works, and maybe tell me where Microsoft talks about it that isn't the other notes app feature?

Here's a couple of pics of what I am talking about if it helps, one showing the notes subfolder in my inbox with numerous notes, but no ability to edit them, and one showing the notes app which has no notes in it at all. ps [Moderator note : PII removed]

PII : Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.

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Alice-N 4,200 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear ChrisD

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Community. I understand you are having a problem editing notes that appear in the “Notes” folder under your Inbox in Outlook 365 Classic. These notes sync from your iPhone but show as email items and cannot be edited in Outlook desktop. Please kindly try these workarounds:

Understand the Limitation Notes synced from iPhone via your email account are stored as mail items in the Inbox Notes folder. Outlook desktop treats them as read-only messages, not as Outlook Notes objects. There is no supported way to edit these items directly in that folder.
Edit Notes on iPhone Open the Notes app on your iPhone under the Outlook account folder. Any changes made there will sync back to Outlook automatically.
Use Outlook’s Native Notes Module Press Ctrl+5 in Outlook desktop to open the Notes view. Notes created here are fully editable and can sync with Exchange/Outlook.com. iPhone-synced notes will not appear here because they are email-based.
Migrate Synced Notes to Editable Format
- Open each note in the Inbox Notes folder.
- Copy the content and create a new Outlook Note (Ctrl+Shift+N) or paste into OneNote for full editing and cross-device sync.
- This is the only way to make those items editable on desktop.
Alternative: Use OneNote for Cross-Platform Editing
- Install OneNote and sign in with your Microsoft account. Copy your notes into OneNote for better editing and syncing across devices.
- See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-to-download-onenote-146efaac-d372-4412-abde-e00151ac202d

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ChrisD 40 Reputation points

2025-12-10T07:30:16.5933333+00:00

Hi Alice, this makes sense to me. I did send a reply to the note, which landed in my regular inbox for the email account. But then I moved the reply back to that notes folder and for some reason it doesn't update to show up in my iPhone notes. I can understand that this functionality isn't there, but this notes syncing feature is about halfway to a very useful feature and it's sad that MS would have it work this way and not just take the added step of letting you edit and sync back and forth.

I had posted this to Reddit also and someone asked me to check the right click on notes > properties > When posting to this folder use: > dropdown menu, and it is there as the IPM.Post form. When I click the Forms... option also in the dropdown menu it gives a list of forms Appointment, Contact, Distribution List, Journal Entry, Meeting Request, Message, Note, Post, Standard Default, Task, and Task Request. I've tried switching the form to Note (IPM.StickyNote) and Journal Entry (IPM.Activity) which I thought might be forms that would offer more functionality, but both times I got the error "You cannot create an item of this type in this folder."

It seems that IPM.StickyNote, the form that the notes app uses allows the exact functionality I'm looking for, it seems like it would be so simple to allow switching to this form for this subfolder. It also doesn't make sense why a whole list of options that cannot be used is even offered as a choice in that dropdown menu.
Alice-N 4,200 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-11T07:42:01.8033333+00:00

Dear ChrisD

I completely understand how frustrating this is for you, especially when you’ve been trying to make this feature work the way you expect. I truly apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Unfortunately, Outlook treats iPhone-synced notes as email items, which is why editing isn’t possible. As a forum moderator, I’m unable to change this behavior or access your account, but I want to make sure you get the best possible help.

The next step is to escalate this to Microsoft Support, where specialized teams can review your case and confirm if any advanced options exist.

You can also submit feedback at https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com so the product team knows this is important to you.

I know this isn’t the answer you hoped for, but these steps connect you with the highest level of support and give your feedback visibility for future improvements. Thank you for your understanding—I truly appreciate your patience while we work within resolving the case.

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How to edit the notes in your inbox folder in Outlook 365 Classic (Outlook 16) Desktop?

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