Onenote 2016 MSO (64) stops syncing a few times a day, requiring Sign Out, And signing in again

Question

Onenote 2016 MSO (64) stops syncing a few times a day, requiring Sign Out, And signing in again

Bill X 0

This issue is getting really old. Its seems to be happening more often after installing 24H2 Windows 11 SP. I tried to download the Diagnostics tool, but it only comes back with a 502 gateway error.

Once I do sign it back in it works for anywhere from a few hours to a few days and then goes back to a Status of "1 not connected" in the status page where you can click on Sync Now. If it shows that 1 not connected, no sync will work, not All or the Sync Now button on the lower part of that dialog box.

Network is fine (350mb up and down AT&T Fiber) Speed test confirm its still working well when ON indicates its not connected.

Is there another link for the diag tool, one that works?

I haven't seen logs in the event viewer, but maybe I don't know where to look.

Thanks, Bill

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,056 Microsoft External Staff

Hi,

Did you insert any files or external links in OneNote?

According to your description, this issue appeared randomly before the update, and became more frequent after the update.

I suggest try these methods

Make sure OneNote have been fully synchronized, after syncing completely, close OneNote and re-open it.
Try to change the Network environment to test whether the issue you described occurs frequently in a different network as well.

Please test these suggestions and then troubleshoot the issue. Please let us know if you would like further assistance, I'm glad to help you.

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Bill X 0 Reputation points

2025-01-23T13:32:27.8366667+00:00

I have many .pdf files in my notebook. And many web links. Have had them for many years. I have fully sync'd and shut down onenote, even rebooted after doing that many times while troubleshooting this. I have also had it directly connected via an MR1100 Hotspot to see if my home network could be the issue. The problem always comes back and almost always the same day. Are there debug logs I could turn on? Are there any logs? I have looked in the eventviewer (EV) Application logs and using the filters, Onenote isn't listed there. I was able to use Find in there and the only Onenote references are about Outlook Addin's
Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,056 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-01-24T02:19:42.82+00:00

Hi,

As the problem is unfortunately intermittent and repeatedly, it is true that more professional personnel are needed to help troubleshoot the problem through logs, it would be best to open a paid support ticket with Microsoft Support to help review your problem and help you test remotely. Paid Support Information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4051701/global-customer-service-phone-numbers
Bill X 0 Reputation points

2025-01-25T11:27:51.4866667+00:00

Emi, Where are the logs? And how do I turn on the debug logging? Not sure I need help to read the logs, I've been doing that forever as I supported huge eCommerce systems for the last twenty years.
Emi Zhang-MSFT 30,056 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-01-27T09:42:13.9633333+00:00

Hi Bill X,

I can't confirm the exact location of the log. Because your problem can be multifaceted, there are many aspects to examine. I can understand your desire to solve the problem urgently, as I said your problem is a random problem, and the resources on the forum side are limited, your question may need to use specific tools to help you crawl the log, some logs are not generated directly when the problem occurs, otherwise the computer will be more stuck, computer memory will be occupied, we have to use tools, turn on the grabbing function, and close the log immediately after grabbing the log. These tools forum really can't provide directly, you should contact a professional to help you test remotely.
Bill X 0 Reputation points

2025-01-27T12:59:39.9633333+00:00

Can you send this to someone that knows where the logs reside? Yours was a very odd answer to a logs question. There are either logs or not. Professional help should not be needed to view the logs. Unless OneNote doesn't log anything. And that would be another issue completely.
Jiajing Hua 18,065 Reputation points Moderator

2025-01-30T09:18:11.3266667+00:00

Hi @bill xiang

Thanks for letting us know your concerns.

You may go to %temp%\Diagnostics for a check.

But like Emi suggested, to get more targeted logs, you need to install additional tools, and these logs also require more professional personnel to help review them.

Answer 2

Hi，

As you siad you get a 502 gateway error, if your notebook is stored on OneDrive, check Microsoft Service Health status page for any outages.

Are you using any proxy and VPN？

If the Microsoft Service is OK, you do not connect any proxy or VPN, please delete the OneNote cache files to check this issue.

Please make sure your notebooks are all already synced successfully first. Otherwise, before doing following steps, for notebooks that aren't fully synced across all your devices, make sure you copy and back up any unsynced recent notes on the originating PC or device.)
Close OneNote, go to File > Options > Save & Backup > Scroll down, check the "Cach File Location".
Locate to the path that you find, open "16.0" folder, open "cache" folder, and empty this folder.

If this step does not work, I also suggest you copy all sections to a new one. (Please make sure your notebooks are all already synced successfully first.)

Export the Notebooks as .onepkg format files to local computer, we may call it "Backup".
Open the local Backup.onepkg in OneNote, close the previous one.
Then go to the notebook online storage, such as OneDrive, create a new notebook, we may call it "New".
Find Backup notebook in OneNote, right - click one each section tab, click "Move or Copy".

User's image

Copy each section to the "New".
After all the sections have been copied to the "New" notebook, close the "Backup". Then check the sync issues.

If nothing helps, have you tried reinstalling the OneNote or Office suite before?

If re-installing Office does not work, I suggest you open a ticket like Emi suggested.

The references you may have a look:

Fix issues when you can't sync OneNote

OneNote syncing best practices

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Bill X 0 Reputation points

2025-01-31T18:28:42.2766667+00:00

The 502 Error was only trying to download the Diagnostics tool, probably an old link. I get no errors in Onenote.. that is the perplexing part. I did the credential removal, that did Not fix it. Moving on to your suggestions. I did try to delete the onenote cache and that lost me all my notes which was a bit disturbing.

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Onenote 2016 MSO (64) stops syncing a few times a day, requiring Sign Out, And signing in again

2 answers

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