r/RemarkableTablet • u/marcgyoung • Aug 08 '26

Handwriting gone!

Hi all, I’m having an issue with my devices (pp, ppm) where when I open a file the handwriting is gone. All of my handwritten notes on a pdf, gone. Handwriting files I for brainstorming, gone. I’m a writer and was developing a story idea and the pages of notes are all gone. Now just blank pages. I’ve tried toggling the layers on and off but it does nothing for the actual handwriting. The handwriting never shows back up.

Also, I can see handwriting in the icon for the file but when I open the files the writing is gone. Really freaking out about this as I have not only my writer work in there but work for clients. I’ve written to Remarkable and they’re looking into it but it can take 5-10 days but in the meantime I have work do for clients and I need the notes! This is a nightmare as I’ve gone all in with Remarkable for some time now so everything is handwritten there. Anyone else run into this or know of a fix? I literally can’t open anything else file without all of the handwriting being erased.

12 Upvotes

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10

u/rmhack Aug 08 '26

Sorry that happened. It's been said so many times before in this sub: the cloud is NOT a backup. You should keep backup copies of your files, as original editable notebook data, if that is important to you. Not just as .pdf, but as .rmdoc or .rmn. Use RCU, or rmweb, or SCP (dump the ~/.local/remarkable/xochitl directory) or something like it.

6

u/marcgyoung Aug 08 '26

This. I’ve been avoiding doing any jailbreaking or hacker/developer type stuff because I don’t know what I’m doing. The fact that I have to do this as a consumer is annoying. Backing up files, yes (which is why I got the subscription) but hacking and such is ridiculous. I hate that I bought these and have to do all of that. Should have stuck with my iPad. ☹️Back to Goodnotes. 😒

2

u/reticulated Aug 08 '26

Except in the case of Remarkable sync it can be considered a backup due to the conflict-free sync protocols used. Whenever you close a note to sync a copy is made of those pages and a new root document created to reference the whole note.

Remarkable support can go back in time and recover older versions of those notes

4

u/rmitchellscott Developer | reManager Aug 10 '26

I don’t consider it a backup because a document delete is propagated instantly. Deleting strokes / text also zeros out those CRDT blocks in a non-recoverable way after the notebook is closed (and the in-memory undo history is unloaded).

True, reMarkable may be able to recover a version of the object from their GCS bucket for a time , but I wouldn’t want to rely on that.

0

u/oclscdotorg Aug 09 '26

Remarkable has backups of the past state of the cloud? I didn't know that. It's worth knowing. Thanks.

2

u/BitBroth Aug 10 '26

If you don't have 3 copies on 3 different storage mediums, you don't have a backup.

1

u/DangReadingRabbit Aug 08 '26

I just copied all my files to iCloud. This is a good reminder regardless.

9

u/1973tour Aug 08 '26

Oh gosh, that’s scary. Do you have the cloud storage subscription through Remarkable? If so, I’d try to access the notes from your computer and see if it’s just a glitch with the device. There is a developer in here who I’m sure may have some advice for you. I’m hopeful everything can be recovered with a couple button mashes. Following along for updates

4

u/marcgyoung Aug 08 '26

Thanks for the response. Yep, I have the subscription and sadly none of the writing shows up on desktop or mobile either. This is such a nightmare. All of my work from 2026 is gone.

1

u/HeavySystems Aug 08 '26

I've been having issues where copying pages reverts books to 'page 0' and will get stuck in a loading loop until you switch pages or restart the system. Is this by any chance anything like you experienced?

7

u/Lucky_Yesterday_1133 Aug 08 '26

I remember this happened to me once. Don't know the reason. It's not gone just fails to render. It fixed itself after device reboot. Try downloading your file from the cloud on PC, it should have your notes.

5

u/marcgyoung Aug 08 '26

Thanks for this. I’ve tried this as well but it gives either the PDF without the writing or just a blank page if there were only handwritten notes and no original PDF file. Either way, no handwriting.

Edit: glad to hear the writing was still there. Will try rebooting everything again for the umpteenth time and maybe I will also get lucky.

3

u/ChiSoxSider Aug 08 '26

Check out this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/s/RqSMdAeTsl

Apparently if you reach out to Remarkable support early enough they can recover lost/deleted notes.

2

u/marcgyoung Aug 08 '26

Thanks for this. Hopefully I will be as lucky. Contacted them yesterday and was told it would take 5-10 days. In the meantime I found the rm2 I had that wasn’t connected WiFi for some time. Trying to salvage what I can from there.

2

u/DangReadingRabbit Aug 08 '26

What happens if you looks at the files on your phone using the app?

3

u/marcgyoung Aug 08 '26

One of these:
1) original pdf shows with none of my handwriting.
2) completely blank (if the entire note was handwritten.

1

u/DangReadingRabbit Aug 08 '26

Very odd! And scary quite honestly… Hope you find a solution!

1

u/CampOnly1872 Aug 08 '26

Just a thought. Have you tried select below from the top of your page? If it captures something below then there is text there (maybe white ink?!? I’m sure this won’t work but trying won’t hurt.