This notebook may not sync correctly because another program is syncing these files. Click here to re-open this notebook from the correct location."

Question

This notebook may not sync correctly because another program is syncing these files.  Click here to re-open this notebook from the correct location."

Does anyone know how to make this message go away, fix it or whatever.  The Notebook address is showing up "CORRECTLY" in my Documents\OneNote notebooks folder within the Onedrive folder -- but when I click on the error message (like it says), it relocates the folder to some hyperlink address (like "https://onedrive.live.com/self.aspx?resid=AAAF2E62562C6E59%211161&id=documents").

1)  In the first place, I don't understand why the error appears.  I am using OneNote 2016 out of Office 365 (Windows 10) and I don't know why another program would be syncing with this Notebook (or the files in the Notebook).  Why is OneNote saying that.

2)  Why is the Notebook relocated when I "Click here".  It is "in/on" my PC where I want it, so why is it located to some cloud (I assume), and I can't get it back into my Onedrive folder although through the linkage magic, File Explorer seems to think (display) it is there in my Onedrive folder, but OneNote File>Info identifies the file location as a hyperlink address.

This is happening with NEW Notebooks that I am creating, as well as re-locating (has already relocated) some of my old Notebooks.

ron in round rock

Answer 1

Your fault is to place your OneNote notebooks folder within your computers OneDrive folder.

This is the local mirror of the OneDrive cloud and confuses OneNote creating the mentioned messages.

The right place is in the standard Documents folder under your user account, technically

seen: under C:\Users**<user>**\Documents\

The OneNote default folder for new notebooks can be set or seen in the Options:

Answer 2

I'm afraid you have a mix now of local notebooks and unintentionally moved ones to OneDrive.

You should start with moving back your notebooks from the local OneDrive folder to the empty Documents.

Then you should look in file explorer whether they are complete. If you are unsure about that, close all notebooks open in OneNote (right click ...) and open your local notebooks from now Documents to look at them.

If they are complete you have to make a decision: will you use locally stored notebooks or do you want to move them to the cloud ?

If you miss a notebook (OneNote may have moved it to OneNote as reaction to the error message you mentioned) it may be open in OneNote.

So you have to create an overview of all your notebooks and where they are stored actually.

I'll stop here to not create more confusion and await the result of your investigation of the status of your notebooks.

Bernd

Answer 3

Bernd,

Thanks for the help and your detailed response about the OneNote history.  And yes, in all my research trying to create a non-hyperlinked Notebook (which was the thing I was most worried about and thought was the source of my syncing problem), I did see references to opening OneNote in my browser, which I avoided like the plague because I thought they were talking about using the TOY OneNote (my name for OneNote online) -- and I really don't want anything to do with involving the Toy OneNote in my use.  And I even understood most of your explanation.

So if I am really understanding everything you are saying, if I move the OneNote folder back to the "currently empty" Documents folder (i.e. C:\Users\xxx\Documents), everything will start working again, in the manner OneNote used to operate, in the manner I am used to.

Is that all I have to do -- because I still got a little lost in the incompatible data structures explanation -- and am wondering if the data structures are resolved automatically.

In my simple way of looking at this situation is that OneNote already places copies of the Notebooks in Onedrive to facilitate the sharing of Notebooks between users -- and the syncing problem arose because Onedrive was trying to sync or back up data that was already in Onedrive.  Is that too simple of a way to look at it, because I did not understand exactly where the incompatible data structures took place (i.e. is there one structure on your computer and a different structure on the copy stored on Onedrive).

Sorry to be so anal about this, but really would like to pretty much fully understand what is happening.  And again, thanks for the help.

ron in round rock

Answer 4

Let me start with your 3rd question:

What I called a local mirror is the fact that for normal files you see in your local OneDrive folder what is mirrored to the OneDrive server(s). Where mirrored = backuped.

Normal files means: all files, except OneNote files. They need a special treatment.

Your idea to copy the Documents tree to the local OneDrive folder to get a backup on OneDrive was generally clever; not knowing the special treatment necessary for OneNote files.

OneNote, from the beginning, allowed live shared access to its notebooks by more than one user. This started with using standard Windows features as Shared Folders in a LAN or WiFi network at home.

Since OneNote 2010 they introduced sharing notebooks over the Internet. For that they changed the data structures of OneNote in an incompatible way and invented a new solution for shared access to these notebooks on SkyDrive, later renamed to OneDrive. The workaround for the incompatible data structures was to use the new file format only on OneDrive, while still using the old format for locally stored notebooks.

This is no problem when creating a new notebook on OneDrive, which is possible since OneNote 2010. But this is a problem if you want to move a locally created notebook to OneDrive. This step obviously makes necessary a format conversion. This missing format conversion created your problems.

There is only one way to make this conversion: use OneNote 201x and its File -> Share feature to move and convert an existing notebook to the right format on OneDrive. A side effect of this conversion is that such a notebook now appears in the local OneDrive folder (and in OneNote itself) as a hyperlink. Using such a hyperlink in your browser opens the notebook in your browser, in OneNote Online, to be exact.

As long as you use OneNote 201x, not the builtin OneNote for Windows (the OneNote without a File menu) you have a local backup. Where it is you can see in my screenshot.

More questions 😀 ?

Bernd

Answer 5

Bernd-

Thanks you very much for your response.  I have spend countless hours over the past 2 days trying to figure out what is going on.

Regarding the location of OneNote, I guess it got into the OneDrive folder because when I set things up initially to use Onedrive, I did so by Moving my entire Documents folder from the xxx\Users\Documents location into the Onedrive folder, which I thought was the right thing to do.

[Let me pause here and say I am on a new computer (lost the hard drive, crashed, on the old system), but had "not" been using Onedrive because I had been experimenting with Onedrive a couple of years ago and did not have anything in the Onedrive folder on the old system, but luckily had Documents backed up on Carbonite.  Anyway, I wanted to catch up and move into the real world and start having everything backed up on Onedrive -- and my first step was to move my Documents folder into the Onedrive folder on my PC -- so that is the history -- old Windows person and heavy OneNote user, but new to Onedrive.]

So let me now ask a couple of more questions.

1. If OneNote is moved back to the Users\Documents folder (currently located at C:Users\xxx\OneDrive\Documents\OneNote notebooks), will it not be backed up on OneDrive -- or just how does that work.  As I mentioned, I am a pretty heavy OneNote user, probably use it far more than any APP on my system.
2. I have been really anal with my attention of when I am on the Onenote File>Info screen, most (all except for the ones I have not clicked on the yellow warning that started this post) of the locations for the individual Notebooks are "https:\onedrive.live.com/self . . . ." hyperlinks.  I have been beyond-worry about what is going on there, where as everything else looks normal for these Notebooks as far as I can tell in File Explorer.   My latest thinking, as of literally midnight of last night, is that File>Info is just displaying the hyperlink address for the Notebooks in OneDrive, as opposed to the Notebooks just being located out there in some cloud, someplace, maybe not even associated with Onedrive (i.e. subject to being lost).   Could you tell me what is going on there. 

Thanks again, I really appreciate your response.

ron in round rock

[EDIT] And P.S.   3) Does your "local mirror" comment in your response somehow explain the reason that the Notebooks go "Not Syncing" once I click on the yellow warning and the Notebook address get changed into hyperlinks -- the REAL reason I am on this quest..