OneNote Not Syncing Windows 10/11 – a Step-by-Step Guide

Knowledge of OneNote

Microsoft OneNote, a digital note-taking app, is a member of Microsoft’s Office 365 family, capable of syncing your OneNote notebooks across multiple devices. This powerful feature can not only improve productivity but also always keep your information up to date. Indeed, OneNote boasts many advantages that you may not be aware of. It is much more than just a note-taking app.

• OneNote is able to integrate with other Microsoft Office applications seamlessly, which means you can create an integration hub by moving your files from Word, PowerPoint, or Excel into your notes. In this way, you can easily manage all your information in one place. Plus, it will sync your notes across all your devices so that you can always access the latest information.
• OneNote features tags, templates, and search capabilities, making it easy for you to find and organize your notes. These features can help you get organized and simplify your workflow. Additionally, it supports real-time editing and collaborative features for sharing notebooks, making it suitable for team projects or group learning sessions.

However, sometimes you may come across a OneNote sync error. Before fixing the OneNote sync issue, you should figure out the possible reasons behind it.

Why Is OneNote Not Syncing

The OneNote app not syncing could have happened under a number of circumstances.

• The OneNote will automatically store notebooks or files in OneDrive when the network is connected. Therefore, the internet connection problem could be the potential cause.
• When more than one person works on a notebook online, the syncing progress could be delayed.
• An outdated OneNote version may have an impact on syncing other Office members’ files to OneNote.
• There is too much data to save in OneNote without enough storage space.

Luckily, fixing the OneNote sync error is quite easy and next, we will discuss how to fix OneNote not syncing Windows 10/11.

How to Fix OneNote Not Syncing

Even though there are many causes for the OneNote notebook not syncing, don’t worry. By following the below-listed steps, you can troubleshoot the syncing problem rather quickly.

Also read: How to Fix OneNote Crashing & Recover Lost OneNote Data

Fix 1: Check for Updates

If you are experiencing the OneNote sync issue, your first need is to ensure the OneNote is up to date. As said above, the outdated OneNote version could cause a syncing problem. Take the following steps to check for updates.

Step 1: Open the OneNote app on your Windows 10/11.

Step 2: Sign in if you haven’t before. In the right corner of OneNote, click your account and choose the Office user info link from the pop-up window.

Step 3: Find the Update Options section and click it to choose Update Now from the drop-down menu.

When completing the update process, run the OneNote app again and see if the OneNote not syncing is fixed.

Fix 2: Try a Re-Login

Sometimes a re-login can fix OneNote syncing glitches or bugs. You can try to sign out the OneNote account and then log back in. Here’s a re-login tutorial.

Step 1: Launch the OneNote notebook app or any other Microsoft Office program.

Step 2: Click the File tab and click Account.

Step 3: Click on the Sign out option. Read the warning prompt carefully and then click Yes to confirm the process.

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Fix 3: Check Notebook on the Web

To check if OneNote works correctly on the Web is an optional way. It may help you determine whether the culprit of the problem is the server or the desktop OneNote itself. Follow the steps listed below.

Step 1: Open OneNote, select the File tab, and click the Info option.

Step 2: Right-click the link under Notebook Information and choose the Copy option.

Step 3: Open your Web browser, paste the link into the address bar, and press the Enter key to view this notebook online.

After entering your notebook on the Web, check if your information is the latest version. If yes, the OneNote notebook not syncing could be caused by the desktop version of this application. Therefore, try to close and open OneNote again to check if the issue works out. If not, check the syncing status by clicking the View Sync Status button to figure it out and resolve it.

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Fix 4: Sync Notebook Manually

In fact, the automatic syncing feature may not function as expected under the influence of a system bug or glitch. In such a case, you can try to sync the app manually to address the OneNote not syncing issue. This way is suitable for use especially when you are working on a shared notebook with others.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to manually sync a notebook in OneNote.

Step 1: Launch OneNote, click File and choose the Info tab.

Step 2: Find the View Sync Status button on the right side of the Information window and click it.

Step 3: Check the Sync manually option in the Shared Notebook Synchronization window to perform the manual syncing process.

After finishing all the above steps, your notes will be synchronized to OneDrive. If syncing manually cannot fix this issue, you can continue to read the following fixes.

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Fix 5: Free up Storage Space

If you encounter OneNote not syncing Windows 10/11, you should check the storage space to determine if any is available. When your device’s space is insufficient or the notebook you want to sync is too large to sync successfully, you will see an error code 0xE00015E0. In order to fix the OneNote sync error, you need to optimize files and manage your storage space. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Optimize files

1. Launch OneNote, choose the File option and then click the Options tab.

2. Select the Save & Backup section from the left panel.

3. Click the Optimize All Files Now button under the Optimizing files section. The optimizing process will take some time so you need to wait.

Step 2: Remove your unnecessary backup files.

1. Press the Win + R key simultaneously to open the Run dialog and type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneNote\ in the box and hit OK to continue.

2. Double-click the folder with the corresponding version number you have installed in the popup window.

3. Choose the Backup folder to delete the unnecessary files or folders.

Fix 6: Solve Content Sync Issues

The OneNote not syncing issue may be caused by a content sync conflict. If more than one user wants to edit the same section of one page at the same time, the version conflict messages will appear. In this case, OneNote will make multiple copies of his page so as to prevent data loss and an error message will pop up on the yellow information bar.

Follow the steps below to resolve the content sync issue resulting in OneNote not syncing.

Step 1: In the OneNote window, click the yellow information bar at the top of the page.

Step 2: Copy the content from the temporary page displaying the error and paste the content on the primary page.

Step 3: Right-click the error page and delete it.

After that, check whether the syncing problem is still here or not.

Fix 7: Adjust the Sync Settings

If your OneNote fails to sync, you should also check the sync settings for the program, ensuring the Sync notebooks automatically feature is enabled. The steps are very easy.

Step 1: Go to OneNote and click the File tab.

Step 2: Look for the Options section and click on it.

Step 3: Click the Sync option to make sure the Sync notebooks automatically option is ticked.

Fix 8: Use Third-Party File Sync Software

There are, of course, many benefits to the OneNote app. Syncing notes, files, or data to the Cloud such as OneDrive is a key feature. However, some issues can sometimes occur, such as OneNote not syncing. In such cases, to prevent OneNote from failing to sync and keep data safe, using a third-party file sync application is a great option.

We recommend you try MiniTool Shadowmaker, a professional and powerful file sync software. It supports you to sync files to hard drives, network, or shared folders.

In addition, MiniTool ShadowMaker is also regarded as a professional PC backup software, which is able to backup files and folders, disks and partitions, even the operating system. It also has the capability of cloning HDD to SSD. So having so many features, the best software is worth a try.

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MiniTool ShadowMaker allows you to sync files without limit and with a quick speed. You don’t worry about encountering the OneNote not syncing issue or other syncing errors.

Here’s a guide on how to sync files.

Step 1: Launch the MiniTool ShadowMaker and click Keep Trial to go on.

Step 2: Choose the Sync tab and click the SOURCE module to select the files you need to sync. Then click the OK button to continue.

Step 3: Click the DESTINATION module to select the target destination to save the synced files. The software supports four paths, including User, Libraries, Computer, and Shared folders. It is recommended you choose an external hard drive as the destination. Then click OK.

Step 4: Click Sync Now or Sync Later. If you want to perform the syncing immediately, just click the Sync Now option. If you want to delay the task, just click Sync Later but remember to restart it under the Manage section.

When the syncing process finishes, MiniTool ShadowMaker has successfully synced your files to the external hard drive. In this way, you will not encounter the OneNote sync issue.

Bottom Line

In summary, this post answers Why OneNote is not syncing in Windows 10/11 and how to fix this issue, with several helpful solutions and easy-to-follow steps. If you come across the same issue, just try to take advantage of the mentioned fixes above, which can help you get rid of it to a large extent.

Besides, we also recommend you try the best sync software – MiniTool ShadowMaker, which enables synchronization, backup, restoration, and so on.

If you have any suggestions or problems with MiniTool ShadowMaker, please send an email via [email protected] to contact us and we will reply to you as soon as possible.