The server couldn't complete this action. Error Code: 0x803d0014 / Can I still use and synch with Onenote 2016?

Question

In the last few days I've noticed that my windows desktop version of this app (2016) can't synchronise pages. Looking more closely the Synch progress message says "not connected" as the reason the synch is failing.

This has worked problem free until now. I also have Onenote on an Android device and that is still able to synch with Onedrive where my old remote file resides. I can see this via Onedrive and open the Note file online.

I read a Community thread which suggested to close and reopen the Onenote file locally to reestablish the Windows version connection. But having done that I cannot seem to be able to open the file at all locally now!

The same thread suggested creating a new Onenote file to see if this is a local issue. I have created a new Onenote file locally - the setup process then says that I have to share the new file via Onedrive (which I expected) when I do this however I get the error message above - error code 0x803d0014. The new Onenote file appears initially synch'd in Onedrive Documents directory, but the test pages created locally are missing, the file is just a shell.

I hope these are not all symptoms of Onenote 2016 now being unusable? Until the last few days I've had no synching issues at all. Thanks for any feedback

Answer 1

Hi Soli,

Thanks for posting back.

Regarding your question, there is no official article explaining this error code. It typically indicates a problem with syncing or opening online notebooks. Based on your reply, I suggest you try the following suggestions to troubleshoot further.

1. Since your system is Windows 7, I recommend you run the Easy Fix Tool to add TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 Secure Protocol registry keys. After that, please restart your computer and check again.
2. I suggest you switch to another Windows user profile, run OneNote, and check again. This can help us to troubleshoot whether the issue is caused by the local environment in your original Windows user profile.

If the issue still occurs after trying the above suggestions, I think it may be related to your Windows system. Would you be willing to upgrade your system to Windows 10 or Windows 11?

Appreciate your understanding and patience.

Sincerely,

George | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Hello,

Thanks for the feedback. However

1.

The online account / subscriptions at Microsoft is confusing. It does show that I have an active subscription, but I'm confused why I have a different product key on paperwork to that on shown on screen.

2.

I ran the Cleanup / Uninstaller package you quoted,. This showed it was finding various Office versions on the machine including a reference to 2016. However downloading the setup.exe from my MS online account anew, selecting the default option I am still getting the Entry Point Not found ...Kernel32.dll error screenshotted above.

My Office Professional Plus 2016 purchase was via a third party and the product was successfully registered at the time - a date that's probably the same as the online account detail. The medium for the initial install was via a flash drive which I don't seem to have any longer. Not sure what next, as there was previously no other issue with the machine? Why can't I reinstall - is there another source of the software for this version? Do I need to ask elsewhere?

Answer 3

Hi Soli_gooner,

Thanks for posting back.

In general, Online Repair automatically removes the existing Office components and reinstalls them from the server. According to the error message, it seems that there is a problem with your Windows system that prevents Online Repair from reinstalling Office components. Also, Online Repair should reinstall the same OneNote components, i.e. OneNote 2016, not OneNote for Microsoft 365. This is abnormal.

Since the whole Office suite has been reinstalled, I recommend you reinstall Office 2016 and check again. If other errors are reported during the reinstallation of Office, I suggest you download and run the uninstall support tool to scan your local environment and completely remove its cache files. After that, you can try to reinstall Office 2016 again.

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

Sincerely,

George | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 4

I know it's now not initially a Onenote issue, but having never reinstalled the Office suite, as it appears to have been uninstalled and not reinstalled at all - can you advise am I going to have to start from scratch to install again, or is there some way to roll back the repair process? Thanks

Answer 5

Hi,

Yes I was using Windows 7 with Office 2016 Professional and the Onenote version within that. Didn't realise the repair process would try to install Office 365. I don't want that!