OneNote 2010 can't connect to Windows Live

Anonymous
2011-02-03T05:25:54+00:00

I have Office 2010 which is updated on my Windows 7 {64bit} on my computer. The OS is updated too.

I bought a Windows 7 phone {Samsung Focus} and I created a Windows Live account plus I installed Live Essentials on my computer. If I'm correct, I need to use Skydrive to sync OneNote between my computer and phone.

The problem is that OneNote can't connect to Live. I've been trying for days. I have 6 notebooks in OneNote. I choose to share on the web, the web location is Windows Live. After the pop up of contacting server comes up I get the message " Unable to connect to Windows live. Below this there is just the icon "Share Notebook" which is grayed out.  I've tried this with all of the notebooks. I have tried this while my Live account is open on the browser. As I understand a login window should pop up, however this never pops up. OneNote on its own is deciding to locate and log on with the credentials.

I'm going crazy over this, any help is appreciated!

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-04-02T15:07:51+00:00

I have figured this out, after trying all the things above.  It came down to one thing, two-factor authentication.  If you have this enabled, to sign into OneNote on your PC you have to use your App Password, not your actual password to your Live account.  So log into your Live account, Click on Security Info, and then click create a new app password.  It will then display the current, or new, app password.  Now use that password that it gives you in OneNote and everything should sign right in.  Now I am able to sync all my files from OneNote to my phone without any issues, without messing with IE settings, and all that other stuff.

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2011-09-04T00:42:34+00:00

Hi There,

Not sure if you have resolved this issue yet!

I recently had the same issue on my Windows 7 64-bit pc, when I tried to connect to my Sky Drive account through One Note I was experiencing 'Can't Connect Error', Tried restarting WebClient and cached credentials this did'nt work, found out this was not related to any services but related to IE settings, by performing a reset of all settings and advanced settings this corrected the issue, I am now able to connect Sky Drive via One Note with out any problems

Martin

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

77 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-27T02:28:21+00:00

    Hi guys, I found the easy solution to this issue. After reading a lot of the different suggestions from various people who had successful attempts with the IE security settings and all, it never worked for me.

    So basically, to resolve this issue, click the link https://skydrive.live.com, and from there, you should have the main page (once signed in), click on Personal, select to open the file with OneNote, and from there, OneNote will automatically download the add-in that is needed for it to connect to your SkyDrive folder.

    Good luck, and let me know if it works.

    I have Office 2010 which is updated on my Windows 7 {64bit} on my computer. The OS is updated too.

    I bought a Windows 7 phone {Samsung Focus} and I created a Windows Live account plus I installed Live Essentials on my computer. If I'm correct, I need to use Skydrive to sync OneNote between my computer and phone.

    The problem is that OneNote can't connect to Live. I've been trying for days. I have 6 notebooks in OneNote. I choose to share on the web, the web location is Windows Live. After the pop up of contacting server comes up I get the message " Unable to connect to Windows live. Below this there is just the icon "Share Notebook" which is grayed out.  I've tried this with all of the notebooks. I have tried this while my Live account is open on the browser. As I understand a login window should pop up, however this never pops up. OneNote on its own is deciding to locate and log on with the credentials.

    I'm going crazy over this, any help is appreciated!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2012-10-24T03:02:29+00:00

    I'm very sorry that some of you are still having Auth/sync issues. We have made available several public updates to improve compatibility with firewalls, changes in the services, third party software, etc... and will continue to do so as needed. OneNote 2013 also has a lot of improvements to support an even broader range of network topologies.

    But I am very surprised when it doesn't work in a simple home environment since it tends to be a very straightforward network...

    1. Make sure you have the latest version/updates. Under File->Help, the Version should be 14.0.612x.xxxx
    2. Make sure you have Windows Live Essentials installed
    3. Make sure that the WebClient Service is not disabled.

    If you have all this and it still doesn't work, try...

    File->Open. Click "Not <yourname>", which will enable you to sign-in again.

    Does your list of notebook on SkyDrive now shows? Can you now download them?

    Hope this helps,

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2012-10-24T01:59:00+00:00

    I tried this and still to no result. This is extremely frustrating as it actually works perfectly on a computer at my university but not on any office application on my pc at home. 

    it still keeps on asking me to sign in and after 3 repeat entries it just says unable to connect.

    Help?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments