OneNote Common Issues and How to Troubleshoot Them

Quick Tips

• OneNote has many common problems that you can troubleshoot easily.
• Access errors require checking the location of your notebooks.
• If files won’t sync, try doing so manually or adjusting SharePoint settings.
• Clear your cache or repair the OneNote app if you can’t open it.

OneNote is an excellent tool for creating, storing, and sharing notes between devices and with others. That said, with any software with so much capability and reliance on the cloud, there are bound to be a few issues you encounter now and then. In this article, we’ll explore OneNote common issues and how to fix them.

Our OneNote Common Issues Troubleshoot Guide

Microsoft OneNote troubleshooting is a broad topic, so we’ve decided to cover major issues you might experience and provide fixes. Hopefully, yours is here:

Access Errors

If you’re working with an online Notebook file and are greeted with the “Notebook not found” message (or, worse yet, a blank notebook), this could likely be a sync, permission, or location issue. To fix this:

• Confirm the location of the Notebook you’re working with; if it has moved, open it from its new location.
• Check your internet connection.
• Move your notebooks to OneDrive to ensure that they sync reliably.

Files Won’t Sync

If you’re encountering sync issues, there are a few steps to take, right after ensuring your software is up to date, of course:

You can download the OneNote Diagnostics tool to analyze and send data to Microsoft. You can do so here.

To check the sync manually:

Step 1. Head to the “File” tab and then “Info.”

Step 2. Click the “View Sync Status” button.

Step 3. In the window that pops up, choose “Sync manually” and select your notebooks. Alternatively, click “Sync All.”

If you are accessing Notebooks via SharePoint, there are a few steps you can take:

• Turn off the “Require Check Out” option in the SharePoint Document Library.
• Choose “No Versioning” in the Document Version History section of the Document Library.
• Turn off any Required Properties while in there, too.

Trouble Starting OneNote

If OneNote won’t start on your Desktop, then you can try clearing the app’s cache:

Step 1. Open the Run Dialog (Win + R).

Step 2. Type “%localappdata%\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\cache” and press “Enter.”

Step 3. Go to the “Cache” folder and delete everything inside.

Step 4. Restart your PC and try opening the app again.

If the problems persist, you can try repairing your app:

Step 1. Open Settings (Win + I) and click on “Apps.”

Step 2. Click on “Installed apps” and find OneNote from the list that appears.

Step 3. Click the ellipsis menu (three dots) and click “Advanced options.”

Step 4. Scroll down to the “Reset” subsection and click “Repair.” If that doesn’t work, click “Reset.”

Step 5. After each, restart your machine and OneNote.

Opening Outdated Notes

OneNote can open notes from previous versions, but the further back you go, the trickier things get. Much like old Word documents, the format of old files (2003 and 2007) is the main issue. You’ll need to convert them. Here’s how:

Step 1. Open your old Notebook file in OneNote, then click the “File” tab.

Step 2. In the “Info” section, click the “Settings” button next to your notebook.

Step 3. Click “Properties.”

Step 4. In the new window, click “Upgrade Notebook” or “Convert to Modern Format,” and the Notebook format will be updated.