Locked Quick Notes OneNote

Anonymous
2023-06-12T00:58:19+00:00

About 2 years ago I decided it was a good idea to use quick notes in OneNote 2016 and then lock it with a password. I tried multiple passwords, including the ones I use often, and none of them worked. I just completely forgot the password. I know within notebooks you can just delete the section and the password will go away with it (but you'll lose all the stuff in that section), but with quick notes, I don't have that luxury. So, I just have my quick notes password protected and I don't remember the password. Is it in any way possible to ever use my quick notes ever again?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | Other | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

2 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-06-12T15:30:03+00:00

    Just create a new dedicated section for Quick Notes with a different name or in a different notebook.

    Then change the destination for Quick Notes on all your devices (and in the Web Clipper).

    In OneNote 2016 the setting is here:

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-06-12T03:56:24+00:00

    Hello Poké G,

    I’m Gunasekar and I will be happy to help you with your question, I am a Microsoft consumer like you.

    Forgetting the password to your password-protected Quick Notes in OneNote 2016 can indeed be a frustrating situation. Unfortunately, if you have exhausted all possible passwords and cannot remember the correct one, there is no official way to recover or bypass the password within OneNote itself.

    The password is not stored at any place on the computer or within the application. So, there is no way in which it can be recovered. This feature is specially designed so that even if you lose your computer the data can be secure. The OneNote section password is used (not stored) for encrypting the section. So, you need it again for decryption. This is a really secure solution.

    So, if you cannot remember the password, there is no way to recover the files. Unfortunately, Microsoft did not give any recovery option to recover the forgotten password for OneNote notes. However, on the brighter side, you can make unlimited attempts to recover the password and still don’t get locked out of the system for multiple failed attempts at opening the password-protected file.

    I hope this information helps. If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll be glad to assist you further.

    Best regards,

    Gunasekar N

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments