Shared OneNote Notebook successfully with external user outside of organization, but external user cannot open it with OneNote app

Question

Hello,

As the title says, I have created a OneNote notebook on my OneDrive and have shared it with another client outside my work organization (i.e. different email address domain). It says it successfully shared with him, however, he can only open the page on the web client and not with the actual OneNote app itself. This is problematic as it is much easier to collaborate together within the app simultaneously, and the app has much more user friendly functionalities than the webpage.

Please advise on the steps he or I should take in order to allow both of us to use the shared OneNote notebook within the app itself.

Answer 1

Dear Riku543,

Good day! Thanks for posting in the community. We are happy to help you.

Regarding your query, the situation is caused by your client's account being outside your organization. To meet your needs, you need to contact your organization admin/IT department and let the admin add his account as a guest user in Microsoft 365 admin center, then his account should also be added as a guest user in Azure AD. After he accepts the invitation, he will be able to open the notebook in the application.

For your reference:

Guest users in Microsoft 365 admin center

Quickstart: Add a guest user and send an invitation

External users can't open documents in desktop application

We look forward to your response. Thanks for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

George | Microsoft Community Moderator