onenote audio issues

Question

hello need some help. So I record my lectures on onenote audio on my surface pro 6 (not using the desktop). it works fine, it plays on the speakers and on the earphone but after minutes or one hour of playing on the earphones, it does not work anymore, I get a message every time I click play and it says " cannot start audio playback " or  " sorry, onenote is having trouble playing this audio file" . but if I remove my earphones, it plays but if I put them back on it wont and I get the same message. If I restart my surface it works but after a couple minutes or one hour, I get the same message. I thought it was my earphones so I bought new ones and it worked but ended up getting the same message. 

I used 3.5mm headset and wireless earphones, both gave me the same message.

also when I open my Onenote desktop, my audio wont play but if I right click and open it plays through groove music.

can anyone help please ?

Answer 1

I have the same issue and the rest of my teammate have it as well. Let me explain how we reproduce it:

• We record and audio note with the OneNote App on the iPhone.
• On the iPhone app the audio play perfectly.
• But if you try to play the same audio file on the Windows computer (normal oneNote, not the app), it doesn't work. Showing the error "Sorry, OneNote is having trouble playing this audio file."
• The only way to make it work is by right clicking the attachment and selecting "Open" this will open the mp4 file outside of the OneNote app, and it will actually play.

If we record the audio from the computer, the audio file will work fine on both, the Windows Machine and the iPhone.

And while I'm writing this, I think I found what could be the cause of all of this:

The computer saves the audio file as .wma, while the iPhone saves the file as .mp4. I'm guessing the mp4 is not supported by OneNote. Could you guys from MS confirm this theory.

Is there a way to make the iPhone app to save the audio as wma? or to make the OneNote on the machine to open .mp4 without the workaround I found.

Answer 2

I had the same problem. I was able to resolve this by following the below steps

1. Make sure you are using latest version of the app from the app store
2. I turned OFF microphone access to one note in Settings > Privacy and turn it back ON.
3. Clicking on the repair button in Settings > Apps > One note > Advanced options.
4. Restart your PC.

 I also reinstalled office 365 using Repair Office from the Control Panel (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/repair-an-office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b) but I am not sure to what extent that helped.

PC details:

OS: Windows 10 Pro build: 1903

OneNote: Onenote app for Windows 10 build: 16001.11727.20076.0

Office: Office 365 Pro Plus

Let me know if that helps.

Answer 3

• I believe I am using Onenote windows 10
• I have the 2013 version installed on my surface pro 6 ( I do not use that version )
• experiencing issues with all of my Onenote audio 

I am using OneNote windows 10. 

Your screen looks different because you are not using Onenote windows 10. 

My audio works. 

let me explain this again. 

My audio files work, everything works. The problem Is when I decide to listen to my Audio with "earphones", at a certain time, It wont work and I get a notification saying "cannot start audio playback", but if I disconnect the "earphones" the file works, but not on my earphones. I need to restart my surface so I can listen to the audio files " on my earphones " but it happens again.

Answer 4

Hi buddy323,

We recorded an audio file using OneNote 2019 in a Surface device available here on our end. After some minutes of playing the audio file, we can still play it without any error.

We'd like to know more about the issue you are experiencing with OneNote. Kindly answer the following questions:

• Are you using OneNote for Windows 10 or OneNote 2016?
• Which build and version of OneNote is installed on your Surface Pro 6?
• Are you experiencing the same issue with all of your OneNote audio files or is the issue isolated with a specific file?
• What changes were made to your account before the issue occurred?

In the meantime, it will be best to make sure that your OneNote app is up to date. 

To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.

Answer 5

We appreciate you clarifying your concern. When we replicated the issue, we also used earphones. We also tried to unplug and replug the earphones and we did not encounter the same error. 

We'd need to know the version of your OneNote app. To view what version of OneNote is installed on your device, click on the Ellipsis button at the upper-right corner of OneNote, click Settings and then select About.

If the What's New button is clickable, it means that your OneNote app is outdated. Click the button and then update OneNote. Once done, restart your computer and then check if the same issue persists.

We're looking forward to your response.