OneNote: why does this message keep coming up: There are no sections open in this notebook or section group

Anonymous
2017-05-31T20:12:42+00:00

Hello,

I have OneNote 2010 downloaded from a CD onto an upgraded Windows 10 pro -- from Windows 8.1 pro -- and it's been working okay, but for the past two weeks I've been seeing a message that states, "There are no sections open in this notebook or section group," regarding all three of my Notebooks, which in fact contain many sections, and have for years. The first time I saw the message I became scared because I thought it meant that my OneNote Notebooks' sections were all missing, with all my work and research gone, but then -- lo and behold -- the sections reappeared, usually after I synced -- sometimes, however, the syncing didn't work right away, and so I would repeatedly try it and anything else that came to mind.

This "disappearance" has happened over and over, but, again, only for the past two weeks. I don't know what's going on, and I'm a bit concerned that one day my Notebook sections might never reappear again.

I might add that I've also been seeing a message repeatedly pop up up asking if I want to upgrade my OneNote 2010, but I always decline; I don't know if this has anything to do with the "disappearance" problem.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2017-06-07T22:00:39+00:00

**Update 6/9 6PM PDT:**According to the OneDrive team they've fixed this issue. Please let me know if it recurs.

OneNote Engineer here: We're aware of this problem and working to get it resolved ASAP. Thanks for letting us know!

6/9: We've narrowed it down to a problem with receiving an updated authentication token from OneDrive. This results in OneNote believing you don't have permission to the sections and removing them from display.

Update 6/8: As mentioned above, if you open the notebook in Edge and restart all processes, OneNote 2010 appears to properly get the auth token and sync properly.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-06-09T18:14:17+00:00

    this appears to be getting worse. My Notebooks won't stay open for more than 5 minutes.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-09T18:20:48+00:00

    The free 2016 version online is the updated version of 2010. The only restriction on the free Office 2016 version is that it doesn't open local notebooks.

    The Windows 10 app is the significantly different one.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-06-09T20:54:18+00:00

    How do I update to the FREE 2016 version. I have Office 2010 and all the other 2010 versions. Does OneNote 2016 have all the same features as 2010? Can I create an Outlook task in a OneNote and send emails to 2016?

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-06-09T21:02:13+00:00

    You can download OneNote 2016 here.  Look for the text that reads "Windows Desktop" or "Other Download Options" based on your setup.

    You're asking a rather controversial question in regards to whether OneNote 2016 has all the same features as OneNote 2010.  In my personal opinion (which is shared by many that use OneNote for their business) OneNote 2010 was the last good version of OneNote.  I won't go into dept as to why but you should be able to find a massive list of search results online about people who are not happy with the direction OneNote has gone since version 2010.  This is why many people continue to use and are loyal to this version today.

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