one note not responding

Question

This issue has happened before but resolved Itself when updated my windows. I've updated everything and one note won't work at all, it just comes up with the not responding pop-up.

Answer 1

Hello (s) Keira Wootten,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community. I understand the inconvenience of OneNote not responding, this can be due to a variety of reasons such as third party application conflicts, corrupted user configuration environment etc. I suggest you try the following troubleshooting to see if it helps.

Please consider visiting OneNote.com from your browser temporarily to minimize the impact until the issue is resolved. If you ensure that you can access all your notes correctly from the web side, then they have been synchronized to the OneDrive cloud and you can safely try the following troubleshooting.

1. Safe Mode

Safe Mode may be helpful when opening an app that crashes or is unresponsive.

• Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
• Type onenote /safeboot and press Enter.
• See if you can boot normally in Safe Mode

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2. Repair Office

If Microsoft 365 or an Office application (such as Word or Excel) isn't working properly, you can try to fix it. Try the “Quick Fix” first, if that doesn't work try the older and more thorough “Online Fix”.You may need to restart your computer after you're done.  

For more information, see: Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support

3. Update Office

Open any other Office application, such as Excel, and create a new document.  

Go to File> Account.  

Under Product Information, select Update Options >Update Now. 

4. Reinstall Office

If none of the above methods work, try reinstalling Office.  

Download, install, or reinstall Microsoft 365, Office 2024, or Office 2021 on a PC or Mac - Microsoft Support

5. Clean boot

A “clean boot” starts Windows by launching a minimal set of drivers and startup programs to determine if background programs are interfering with games or programs. These steps may seem complicated at first, but performing them step-by-step in order will help you get back on track.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

6. Create a new local account

If the problem persists, please refer to this link to create a new local account to double check the situation.

Please refer to this link to create a new local account to attempt a fresh install and logon, this will generate a new user profile to resolve issues in the current user's environment.

Manage user accounts in Windows - Microsoft Support

I hope this is useful and please feel free to ask any questions.

Best regards,

Ian - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist