Where does OneNote store the notebooks data (not the backup)?

Question

I'm using OneNote app on on my PC with Windows 11 Pro. In the following screenshot, you see the Default Notebook Location is C:\Users\user\OneDrive\Documents\OneNote Notebooks

But that folder is always empty.

What's the point of this folder if it's always empty? Where does it save the notebooks data?

Answer 1

Hi RustyDawn,

For the modern OneNote app, notebook data is not stored locally as a primary file like in old versions. On your local machine, OneNote only keeps a temporary cache, not the full source notebook files.

Local cache location: C:\Users\<YourUser>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\cache

Some notes you might be interested:

• Files in this folder are cache files (.onecache) used for syncing.
• They are not intended to be accessed, edited, or used as backups.
• If deleted, OneNote will re-download the data from the cloud automatically.

I hope that above information is helpful to you.