OneNote Sync ERROR: We couldn't sync your notes because the server is busy. We'll try again later. (Error code: 0xE40200B4)

Question

I have been seeing this on my OneNote Windows 11 app for some time now. I have OneNote on both my iPad Pro and iPhone in addition to my Windows11. What could be holding up the sync.

This probably started about a week ago. Any pointers or help will be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hello Arun Mirchandani

I can see that you have encounter the error 0xE40200B4 in OneNote

This error code usually indicates that OneNote is having trouble syncing with the cloud location of the notebook, often because the server is busy or the app connection needs to be refreshed. Your notes are generally kept locally while OneNote continues trying to sync.

You can read more about this error here: Error 0xE40200B4, 0xE401065D, 0xE000145C, or 0xE4010640 when syncing notes in OneNote 2016

Here are what you can try:

• Open the same notebook in OneNote for the web at https://onenote.cloud.microsoft/and confirm whether your latest notes appear there. This helps identify whether the issue is with the notebook/cloud copy or only the Windows app.
• In OneNote for Windows, go to File > Info > View Sync Status, then select Sync Now beside the affected notebook.
• If only one section is affected, create a new section in the same notebook, copy the pages from the old section into it, then press Shift + F9 to force a full sync.
• If the notebook opens correctly online but still fails in the Windows app, close and reopen the affected notebook, then sign out and sign back in to OneNote.
• Also make sure OneNote is updated on your Windows 11 PC, iPad, and iPhone.

Before signing out or closing the notebook, please copy any unsynced recent notes somewhere safe, such as a temporary document or email draft.

I hope this helps you get the notebook syncing again smoothly. Feel free reply back to this post and update me on this issue, I'll be happy to help.