OneNote not syncing: how to fix it on Windows 11

Applies to: OneNote for Microsoft 365, OneNote 2024, 2021 and 2016 on Windows 11 and Windows 10, plus the older OneNote for Windows 10 app where noted. This guide covers notebooks saved on OneDrive or SharePoint; a notebook kept only on your PC has no online copy to sync with.

Match your symptom

What you see	Possible cause	Go to
Changes on the PC don’t show on your phone or the web	Sync turned off or stuck	Fix 1, Fix 2
Sync error with no code, or offline warning	Network or service problem	Fix 3
Error 0xE0000024, or “server is busy”	Sign-in or authentication	Fix 4
Yellow warning triangle on one section	Damaged or misplaced section	Fix 5
“Not enough space” or 0xE00015E0	Local disk or OneNote cache full	Fix 6
“Another program is syncing these files” or 0xE4020045	Notebook moved outside OneNote	Fix 7
Duplicate pages with red highlights	Conflicting edits	Conflict pages section

How OneNote sync works

OneNote doesn’t sync notebooks the way OneDrive syncs ordinary files. According to Microsoft’s page Sync a notebook in OneNote, OneNote syncs shared notebooks automatically at regular intervals, keeps a local copy so you can keep editing offline, and uploads only the content that changed. Because OneNote merges those changes itself, Microsoft recommends that notebooks be synced and moved by OneNote, not by a file sync client such as the OneDrive or Dropbox desktop app, and not through Windows Offline Files.

As general guidance, that’s why the steps for a stuck OneDrive folder, covered in our guide to OneDrive not syncing in Windows 11, don’t always help here. A notebook can show as up to date in OneDrive while OneNote itself still has unsynced changes, and the fix then lives inside OneNote.

Fix 1: Force a sync and read the status

Start here, because the status dialog tells you which notebook or section is failing. Microsoft’s steps for OneNote on Windows:

1. Select File > Info > View Sync Status.
2. In the Shared Notebook Synchronization dialog, select Sync All, or Sync Now beside a single notebook.
3. Look for a yellow warning triangle or an error code next to any notebook, and note it for the later fixes.

The keyboard shortcut Shift+F9 also forces a sync; Microsoft’s troubleshooting page uses it for several error codes. In the OneNote for Windows 10 app, select the Navigation button, open the Notebooks list, right-click the notebook and choose Sync > Sync This Notebook.

If the latest edits were made on another PC, check the status dialog on that PC too. Changes that never left it won’t appear anywhere else.

Fix 2: Turn automatic sync back on

If notes only sync when you force them, automatic sync may be off. Microsoft’s pages give two places to check:

1. Select File > Options, open the Sync tab, and make sure Sync notebooks automatically is checked.
2. Open File > Info > View Sync Status and make sure Sync automatically whenever there are changes is selected rather than Sync manually. Then select Sync All and Close.

Microsoft warns that in manual mode OneNote doesn’t sync your changes, even after a restart, and other people can’t see them until automatic sync is back on.

Fix 3: Check the connection and the server

Microsoft’s OneNote sync troubleshooting page lists these checks when notes won’t sync:

1. Check your internet connection. If Windows shows Wi-Fi as connected but pages won’t load, see Wi-Fi connected but no internet in Windows 11.
2. For notebooks on OneDrive, check Microsoft’s service health page for an outage.
3. For notebooks on SharePoint, contact your administrator.
4. Open the notebook in a browser: select File > Info, right-click the web address under the notebook name, select Copy, then paste it into your browser.

If the notebook opens in OneNote for the web and shows your latest changes, the server side is fine and the problem is in the desktop app. If it won’t open there either, Microsoft says the issue lies with the server, so wait for the service or ask your administrator before changing anything on the PC.

Fix 4: Fix sign-in and permission errors

For error 0xE0000024 (account authentication), Microsoft’s steps start gently. Select the sync error message near the top of the window to refresh your session, or make sure you’re signed in with the same account that owns the notebook. You can also open the notebook in OneNote for the web, then use Open in OneNote from OneDrive.

If that doesn’t clear it, Microsoft’s next step on Windows is to sign out of all accounts in OneNote and sign back in. If you keep getting sign-in prompts, it suggests opening Credential Manager, selecting Windows Credentials, removing entries that begin with “MicrosoftAccount” and “MicrosoftOffice”, and restarting the PC.

Before you sign out: the same page says signing in or out isn’t recommended because it could cause data loss. Run Fix 1 first and make sure the status dialog shows no unsynced changes, or copy important recent pages into a notebook that does sync.

Two related messages:

• “Server is busy” on SharePoint or OneDrive for work or school: Microsoft describes this as an authentication problem. Sign out and back in, close and reopen the notebook, or confirm you can open it in OneNote for the web or SharePoint.
• 0xE4010071 or 0xE0190193 (403 Forbidden): you don’t have permission to change the section or notebook. Only the notebook owner or an administrator can fix the permissions.

Fix 5: One section or page won’t sync

When the rest of the notebook syncs but one section shows a yellow warning triangle in the status dialog, select Sync Now for it first. If the section still fails, Microsoft suggests rebuilding it:

1. Create a new section in the same notebook.
2. Right-click each page in the failing section, choose Move or Copy, and copy (don’t move) it to the new section.
3. Press Shift+F9 and wait for any progress bar to finish.
4. Delete the old section, then rename the new one to the old name.

Copying rather than moving keeps the original pages in place until you’ve confirmed the new section synced. Microsoft also notes that a damaged section can end up in the Notebook Recycle Bin on the History tab, where you can delete it if you don’t need it.

A Misplaced Sections entry in the notebook list means OneNote can’t find a section’s file while syncing. To keep the content, drag the section into another notebook. Deleting a misplaced section is permanent, so do that only if you’re sure you don’t need it.

Fix 6: Clear “not enough space” errors

For errors such as 0xE00015E0, Microsoft’s page points to the local OneNote files rather than your online storage:

1. Select File > Options > Save & Backup and choose Optimize All Files Now. You can also lower Number of backup copies to keep.
2. To remove old backups, type %localappdata% in the File Explorer address bar, open Microsoft, OneNote, 16.0, Backup, and delete backup files you don’t need.

Error 0xE0000796 (Quota Exceeded) is different: it relates to the space on the server. Microsoft has a separate article for it. As general guidance, if your OneDrive storage is full, every app that saves to it is affected; our guide to OneDrive error 0x8004def7 covers checking and freeing OneDrive space.

Fix 7: Notebook moved with File Explorer or another sync app

If you dragged a notebook folder into your OneDrive folder in File Explorer, or keep notebooks in a folder that another app syncs, OneNote can show “This notebook may not sync correctly because another program is syncing these files” or error 0xE4020045 (Unsupported Client).

Microsoft’s fix for 0xE4020045 is to copy the notebook folder to the root of your main drive, then open the Open Notebook.onetoc2 file in it. To put the notebook online properly, move it from inside OneNote: select File > Share, choose a web location such as OneDrive, and select Move Notebook. Microsoft notes that the old local copy is no longer synced after the move and should be deleted, so check that the online copy opens first.

Fix 8: Close and reopen the notebook

Warning: Microsoft says closing a notebook can cause data loss if it holds changes that haven’t synced. Back up unsynced notes first, for example by copying recent pages into another notebook that does sync.

1. Select File > Info, right-click the notebook’s web address and select Copy.
2. Select the notebook’s Settings button and choose Close.
3. Paste the address into your browser, and when the notebook opens in OneNote for the web, select Open in Desktop App.

If your latest changes are missing from the web version, Microsoft suggests copying the unsynced pages into an unaffected notebook before you close anything.

Fix 9: Update or repair OneNote

Microsoft tells you to install Office updates before other troubleshooting. Error 0xE40105F9 (Unsupported Client Build) points to an outdated app, and Microsoft’s fix is to update. In OneNote, select File > Account > Update Options > Update Now. The OneNote for Windows 10 app updates through the Microsoft Store.

If OneNote is up to date but still fails to sync, or crashes while syncing, a Quick Repair of Office is a reasonable next step. That’s general guidance rather than a step from the Microsoft pages cited here; see our guide to repairing Microsoft Office. Avoid uninstalling OneNote while notes are unsynced, since Microsoft’s page warns that reinstalling can lose them.

Conflict pages after editing on two devices

When two people, or two of your own devices, change the same part of a page at once, OneNote keeps both versions. Microsoft explains that it creates a copy of the page and shows a message on the yellow Information bar. Select the bar to see the conflicting changes highlighted in red, copy anything you need onto the main page, then right-click the conflict page’s tab and select Delete. Microsoft’s sync page also suggests a manual sync (Fix 1) when you need changes uploaded right away, such as before you shut down a laptop to board a plane.

OneNote sync error codes at a glance

Every code below appears on Microsoft’s sync troubleshooting page, with the fix it gives.

Code	Meaning	What to do
0xE000002E	Out of sync with store	Press Shift+F9 to force a full sync
0xE4010641	Network disconnected	Check the network, then Shift+F9 or Sync Now
0xE000005E	Referenced revision not found	Shift+F9; if it stays, rebuild the section (Fix 5)
0xE0000024	Account authentication	Fix 4
0xE0000007	Notebook not syncing	Test in OneNote for the web, then Fix 1 and Fix 8
0xE40105F9	Unsupported client build	Update OneNote (Fix 9)
0xE4020045	Unsupported client	Fix 7
0xE00015E0	Not enough space	Fix 6

Microsoft also lists 0xE0000025 (File Too Large), 0xE0000784 (Web DAV disabled), 0xE000078B (server timeout) and 0xE4020040 (store busy) with their own linked articles.

Known issues

As of November 2026, Microsoft’s page Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneNote for Windows lists one sync problem: errors 0xE40200B4, 0xE401065D, 0xE000145C or 0xE4010640 when syncing notes in OneNote 2016, marked with a workaround. It also lists a “Something Went Wrong [1001]” sign-in error in Microsoft 365 desktop apps as under investigation. If you see one of those codes, check that page for the current steps.

Related guides

• OneDrive not syncing in Windows 11: how to fix it
• OneDrive error 0x8004def7: storage full or account frozen (how to fix it)
• Wi-Fi connected but no internet in Windows 11: how to fix it
• How to repair Microsoft Office (Quick Repair and Online Repair)

Official sources

• Microsoft Support: Fix issues when you can’t sync OneNote
• Microsoft Support: Sync a notebook in OneNote
• Microsoft Support: Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneNote for Windows