OneNote making my text invisible!

Anonymous
2017-03-08T20:19:19+00:00

I imagine this is some sort of bug...

OneNote in Office 365 on Windows 10 

I use OneNote for a lot of notes, including one section that is password protected. All of a sudden a few days ago, it has this very annoying glitch where the text I type is invisible.

It basically allows me to type / click check boxes, etc., but it is all invisible. As in, it creates space for the words but there is nothing there. I mostly have been using the password protected section, so I notice it there. If I close OneNote and open it back up, the previously invisible words then show up. Sometimes it lets me type regularly again, or sometimes it just makes any new text I type invisible also. 

If I press backspace, for example, the cursor moves backwards but the deleted words are still visible (until I close the program, for example).

If I switch to a non-password protected section the words are usually invisible while typing also- but if I keep typing gibberish then after a few seconds, this seems to reset and do the same thing as closing / reopening the program.

Any ideas? This is quite annoying!

Thanks!

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2017-03-10T02:24:31+00:00

Hello,

This issue is also occurring for me. I will type text and the cursor will move as if it is typing but the text does not appear. A short-term solution I have found is that switching to another section and then switching back to the "trouble" section then displays the text when typing.

I have tried both Quick and Full Repair.

The version is Office 365 Home Edition OneNote 2016 desktop app on Windows 10.

Help appreciated!

Thanks,

Jeff

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-03-15T18:28:15+00:00

    Hi,

    I had the exact problem described by ECEcoMel asked on  March 9, 2017. I have "Microsoft OneNote Home and Student 2016 - en-us" desktop version. Below is what I tried with NO LUCK:

    1. Both Partial and Full Repaired by right-clicking the "Microsoft OneNote Home and Student 2016 - en-us" at Control Panel->Programs and Features and select change. It notified that my Office application is successfully repaired. But alas! same problem exist
    2. This problem happens in a password-protected 'page' within password-protected 'section'. Other pages within that password-protected section don't have this issue. I tried removing and adding the password again. Same problem persists.
    3. I'm planning to run Windows Update and see if that resolves the issue. I'll let you know once I get success by this step.
    4. Several times closed and opened the OneNote application, still problem persists
    5. As somebody mentions, if you toggle between other sections and this problematic section, it would work normally for sometime, but not permanently. Copying and pasting from other application to this OneNote page works

    I suggest Microsoft to release a fix for this ASAP as I'm an avid OneNote user and this issue is killing my productivity big time. Hope, the MSFT Tech Community is listening. If I don't get the solution is soon, I need to rope in MS Office Leadership team via Twitter and Facebook to get some traction on the resolution.

    Thanks in anticipation!

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-03-13T17:18:47+00:00

    I've uninstalled and reinstalled Office and am still having the same issues as those reported above. When I type in OneNote, the cursor moves as if I'm typing, but there's no visible font. I've tried to change the font to make sure it wasn't a white font on a white background ("We ain't gonna fall for no banana in the tailpipe.") and that's not it. If I copy anything from another application and paste it into OneNote, that seems to get it working again, but it will fail 1-2 times daily.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-04-02T04:00:28+00:00

    I have the suspicion that this is a definite bug and one that's probably impacting a lot more people than this thread would indicate (because it took me a bunch of creative Googling just to find this thread).  I'm also having this exact same issue and I've tried everything short of scrapping my existing OneNote notebooks and completely reinstalling Windows 10.

    Microsoft needs more eyes on this issue.  A recent update most definitely created this problem.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-03-12T16:40:25+00:00

    That's great that it works. Hopefully Microsoft can resolve this bug soon. I am not using a password-protected section. Our OneNote file that is having issues is stored on OneDrive.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

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