Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneNote for Windows

Last updated: Sep 28, 2017

ISSUE

If you're using OneNote app version 17.6868.57981.0 on Windows, you may encounter a crash when attempting to open a notebook.

STATUS: FIXED

This issue is fixed in version 17.8568.57561.0. Please go to the Windows Store to obtain the latest version of OneNote.

ISSUE

When you try to open your notebook in OneNote 2016 (or in OneNote 2013 or 2010) on Windows 10, you see no content in your notebook, only a gray background. In addition, you may see the following error message:

This notebook may not sync correctly because another program is syncing these files. Click here to re-open this notebook from the correct location.

BACKGROUND

This issue can occur after the following has taken place:

• A locally stored notebook was dragged (or otherwise added) to OneDrive for the purpose of backing it up, syncing it, or sharing it. While this may give the appearance that the notebook is now a cloud-based notebook, OneNote will continue to treat it as a locally stored notebook unless the notebook is properly moved to OneDrive.

• The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update was installed on the same computer from which a locally stored notebook was dragged to OneDrive, as described in the previous bullet. Changes in this new edition of Windows can make local notebooks that were backed up to OneDrive in this way appear to have no sections.

WORKAROUND

You can attempt to resolve this issue by following these steps:

1. Exit OneNote, if it is still running.

2. On your computer’s hard drive, navigate to the folder in which the affected notebook is stored.

   Tip: Typically, the default location for locally stored OneNote for Windows notebook folders is C:\Users\<username>\Documents\OneNote Notebooks.

3. Copy the folder with the same name as the affected notebook to the root folder of your main hard drive.

   Doing this effectively removes the copy of the notebook out of OneDrive’s sync scope.

4. In Windows File Explorer, click This PC, double-click to open the hard drive root location to which you just copied the notebook in the previous step, and then double-click the folder with the name of the copied notebook.

5. In the copied notebook folder, double-click the Open Notebook.onetoc2 file.

   If this file is not present, double-click any other available *.onetoc2 file in this folder.

6. When OneNote 2016 for Windows opens, the notes from the copied notebook folder should now be displayed properly.

To prevent this issue from happening again, we strongly recommend that you follow the required procedure for properly moving the original affected notebook to your OneDrive account, which will convert it from a locally stored notebook to a true cloud-based notebook. Your cloud-based notes will still be private, but you’ll enjoy more reliable syncing and you’ll be able to access your notes from any mobile device or any Web browser that you use.

For more information, see Move a OneNote for Windows notebook to OneDrive. The instructions in this article also apply if you’re using older versions of OneNote for Windows, such as OneNote 2013 or 2010.