Share via

OneNote Highlighting Problem…

Gary Satterly 0 Reputation points
2026-02-09T12:46:35.3333333+00:00

On my iPad…OneNote won’t let me highlight anything anymore. I’ve used this program everyday for 5 years and now it just stopped letting me highlight my text to cut and paste text somewhere else. It’s crazy… can someone help me with this? Thanks Gary

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | iOS
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Jhun Buala 5,240 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-02-09T13:37:31.76+00:00

    Hi Gary Satterly,

    Good day. I'm Jhun an independent advisor. In regards with your Onenote issue, let's try these fixes from quickest to advance options. Try these in order.

    A. Make sure you’re in Text mode, not Draw mode.

    1. Open the notebook/page.
    2. Tap the Draw tab.
    3. If Apple Pencil / Draw mode is ON > turn it OFF.
    4. Switch back to Home.
    5. If Draw mode is on, OneNote won’t let you select/highlight text at all.

    B. Long-press with your finger, not the Pencil. Even if Draw mode is off.

    1. Try long-pressing with your finger.
    2. Sometimes text selection is disabled for Pencil input only.
    3. If finger works but Pencil doesn’t > it’s an input-mode issue, not your notes.

    C. Check “Only Draw with Apple Pencil”. This setting can silently break text selection.

    1. Open iPad Settings.
    2. Go to Apple Pencil.
    3. Turn OFF > Only Draw with Apple Pencil.
    4. Restart OneNote.

    D. Restart OneNote. Not just closing it, but force restart.

    1. Swipe up > App Switcher.
    2. Swipe OneNote away.
    3. Reopen OneNote and test highlighting.

    E. Update OneNote AND iPadOS. A recent update caused selection bugs for some users.

    1. App Store > OneNote > Update.
    2. Settings > General > Software Update.
    3. Even minor iPadOS updates can fix this.

    F. Test on a new page. This helps isolate corruption.

    1. Create a brand new page.
    2. Type a few words.
    3. Try to highlight them.
    4. If it works on a new page but not old ones, the page itself is glitched.

    G. Sign out & back into OneNote. This is annoying, but effective.

    1. OneNote > Profile icon > Sign out.
    2. Close the app.
    3. Reopen > Sign back in.
    4. Your notebooks will resync.

    I hope this helps.

    Regards,
    Jhun

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

  2. AI answer

    2026-02-09T12:46:43.7+00:00

    If you're experiencing issues with highlighting text in OneNote on your iPad, here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

    1. Restart the App: Close OneNote completely and reopen it. This can sometimes resolve temporary glitches.
    2. Update OneNote: Ensure that you have the latest version of OneNote installed. Check the App Store for any available updates.
    3. Check for iOS Updates: Make sure your iPad is running the latest version of iOS. Sometimes, compatibility issues can arise with older versions.
    4. Reinstall OneNote: If the problem persists, you might want to uninstall OneNote and then reinstall it from the App Store. This can help fix any corrupted files.
    5. Check Settings: Ensure that there are no settings or restrictions that might be affecting the app's functionality.

    If none of these steps work, you may want to reach out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  3. Gary Satterly 0 Reputation points
    2026-02-09T13:37:53.51+00:00

    I uninstalled the app and reinstalled it and it fixed the problem!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.