One Note Crash

Question

OneNotes keeps crashing my iPad. I’m not sure what the issue is but I already updated my iPad, the app itself, clear storage, delete large files but it keeps stalling and closing itself. I’m not sure what to do.

Answer 1

Hi @Fabian,

Sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue with OneNote on your iPad.

Since you've already updated iPadOS, updated OneNote, cleared storage, and removed large files, I'd like to ask a few questions to help narrow down the cause:

• What model of iPad are you using?
• Which version of iPadOS is currently installed?
• Does OneNote crash immediately when opening the app, or only when opening a specific notebook, section, or page?
• Are your notebooks stored in a personal Microsoft account or a school account?
• Does the issue occur with all notebooks, or only one particular notebook?
• If you sign in with a different account (if available), does OneNote still crash?
• Approximately how large is the notebook that you're working with, and does it contain many PDFs, images, or attachments?

As an additional troubleshooting step, please try:

1. Force-close OneNote and restart the iPad.
2. From Settings > OneNote, check whether Reset OneNote options are available. If so, try Reset Sign-In Credentials and then sign in again. You could refer to this article : Reset Microsoft OneNote between users on a shared iPad or iPhone | Microsoft Support
3. Open OneNote while connected to a different network (for example, mobile hotspot instead of Wi-Fi).
4. If the crash occurs when opening a specific notebook, try accessing the same notebook through OneNote on the web to see whether the notebook itself may be contributing to the issue.

Please let me know the answers to the questions above. That will help me provide more targeted troubleshooting steps.

Thank you, and I look forward to your update. If the steps above don't help, please tell me the results and I'll continue troubleshooting with you.

Answer 2

Try this in order:

1. Wait for notebook sync to finish before using OneNote heavily. Initial or delayed sync can make OneNote on iPad or iPhone feel slow or unstable.
2. Reduce notebook load further:
   • Split very large sections into a separate notebook.
   • Reduce the number of sections in a notebook.
   • Reduce the number of pages in a section.
   • Reduce the amount of content on each page.
3. Close notebooks that are not currently needed:
   • In OneNote for iOS, tap Show Notebooks until the notebook list appears.
   • Tap and hold the notebook name.
   • Tap Close Notebook.
   • Exit and restart OneNote.
4. Check device storage used by OneNote:
   • Open Settings on the iPad.
   • Tap General > iPad Storage.
   • Find OneNote in the apps list to see how much space it is using.
   • Check how much local storage remains on the device.
5. If the iPad is shared or OneNote’s local data may be corrupted, reset OneNote. Warning: unsynced offline changes will be lost.
   • Force close OneNote.
   • Open Settings on the iPad.
   • Scroll to the installed apps list and tap OneNote.
   • Under Reset, tap Reset OneNote.
   • Enable Delete All Notebooks and Delete Login Credentials.
   • Restart OneNote and sign in again.
6. If notebooks are not syncing correctly, first verify whether the notebook opens in OneNote for the web. If it does not open there, the issue is likely server-side. For notebooks stored on SharePoint, contact the administrator.
7. If the problem continues even after update, storage cleanup, closing notebooks, and reset, use OneNote’s in-app feedback path: Settings > Send Feedback. A recent Microsoft Q&A answer also notes a known iPad-specific issue where OneNote can show a black screen and require force closing.

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• Improve the performance of OneNote for iPad or iPhone
• Manage notebook storage in OneNote
• Reset Microsoft OneNote between users on a shared iPad or iPhone
• Fix issues when you can't sync OneNote
• OneNote App on iPadOS is Glitching - Microsoft Q&A