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
    2017-06-08T15:44:24+00:00

    @sydsho if you like you can try the solution I posted yesterday.  It has been working for me for nearly a full day now.  TLDR: uninstall OneDrive client from your Windows 10 machine (https://techjourney.net/disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-completely-in-windows-10/)

    EDIT: My sections disappeared again after 24 hours. This workaround seems to not be an effective solution. :(

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-08T15:10:18+00:00

    This didn't work for me. I ended up just switching to the Windows 10 App instead of the 2010 installed version I was used to. That may not be an option for a lot of people but it saved me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-06-08T14:01:41+00:00

    this issue just started yesterday for me on a Win7 desktop using OneNote 2010.  I tried this which re-sync'ed online notebks immediately and so far so good.

    Go to Services then find each of these and re-start: MS Shadow copy, offline files, office software protection, webclient.

    not sure which did the trick but I'll take it

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-06-07T21:45:57+00:00

    Upgrade to OneNote 2016 worked for me

    I have been having so many delays with OneNote 2010 losing the notebooks on my Windows 7 desktop that I decided to try the upgrade.  The button was "Free Download" in the Notebooks display of my OneNote notebooks online.

    The download file was called: "setuponenotefreeretail.x86.en-us_.exe".

    I ran through the download and install process, and it installed OneNote 2016.  I also have OneNote 2010, as part of a Office Professional 2010 boxed set.  This seems to be a good version, and I have access to my notebooks from OneNote (personal edition via Outlook.com).

    I can't guarantee that it will work for everyone; it may depend what version of OneNote 2010 you have.  I still have OneNote 2010 installed, though I haven't wanted to or tried to open it since I did the upgrade.

    I hope that helps others.

    Here's where I saw the upgrade "Free Download" link.

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