Notes page disappeared

Question

two of my notes pages have disappeared. how can it get recovered?

Answer 1

Try the following recovery options, in order, depending on which OneNote app and storage location are used.

1. Check the Notebook Recycle Bin / Deleted Notes (up to 60 days)

• In OneNote for Microsoft 365 / 2024 / 2021 / 2016 on Windows:
  1. Open the notebook where the pages went missing.
  2. Select History > Notebook Recycle Bin.
  3. Look for the missing pages or sections.
  4. Right-click the page or section > Move or Copy and move it back to the desired section.
• In OneNote for Windows 10 or OneNote for the web:
  1. Open the notebook.
  2. Go to View > Deleted Notes.
  3. If the missing pages are there, right-click (or tap and hold) the page > Restore To, choose the destination section, then Restore.
• On Mac:
  1. In the notebook, go to View > arrow next to Deleted Notes > View Deleted Notes.
  2. Control‑click the deleted page/section > Restore To, choose the destination, then Restore.

OneNote typically keeps deleted notes for about 60 days before permanent removal.

2. If the notebook is on OneDrive

• Open the notebook where the pages disappeared.
• In desktop OneNote: View > Deleted Notes and restore as above.
• If the notebook is shared and stored in OneDrive, deleted pages from the last 60 days should appear in the Notebook Recycle Bin unless it was emptied.

3. Restore from OneNote backups (desktop OneNote) If the notebook is stored on the computer and backups are enabled:
4. Open the notebook.
5. Go to File > Info > Open Backups.
6. In Open Backup, open the notebook folder and select a section backup.
7. If the missing pages are in that backup, right‑click the section or page tab > Move or Copy to place it back in the active notebook.
8. Close the backup section when finished to avoid confusion.
9. If nothing appears in Deleted Notes / Recycle Bin

• For Windows desktop: use History > Notebook Recycle Bin and File > Open Backups as above.
• For Windows 10 / web / Mac: if the pages are not in Deleted Notes and no backup exists, they may not be recoverable from OneNote itself.

If the notebook is a Class Notebook and pages/sections were deleted and the OneNote Recycle Bin was emptied, check the OneDrive Recycle Bin for the class notebook content and restore from there if available.

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References:

• Recover deleted notes
• Recover deleted notes in OneNote for Mac
• Recover deleted Class Notebook files from the OneDrive Recycle bin
• Find OneNote notes, pages or tabs