OneNote not functioning, 'Read-only mode'

Question

"This notebook is in read-only mode because it is broken. A backup has been created. To continue editing, please copy the content into a new notebook and close this one"

Why?

Answer 1

The solution for me in OneNote on Windows 11 with Microsoft 365 was:

File > Account > Under "Account Privacy" click "Manage Settings" button > under "Connected Experiences" check the box that says "Turn on all connected experiences" under "All connected experiences".

I must have turned it off when trouble-shooting another Microsoft product.

Answer 2

I don't know why the notebook is broken or who broke it, but I pressed Shift + F9 to manually sync and the error simply disappeared.

Answer 3

The message indicates that OneNote has detected corruption or another serious issue in that notebook, so it has automatically switched it to read-only to prevent further damage and created a backup copy. When a notebook or page is broken or corrupted, OneNote can no longer safely sync or edit it, so it protects the data by:

1. Marking the notebook as read-only (“because it is broken”).
2. Creating a backup so existing content is not lost.
3. Requiring content to be copied into a new, healthy notebook for continued editing.

Similar behavior occurs when OneNote encounters problems that prevent normal editing (for example, corrupted pages or unsupported content), in which case the affected content cannot be edited directly and must be recovered or copied elsewhere.

To continue working, follow the prompt: create a new notebook, copy the pages/sections from the broken notebook into the new one, verify everything is present, and then close the broken notebook.

---

References:

• Trouble editing a notebook or page in OneNote for Android
• Fix issues when you can't sync OneNote