"To sync this notebook, sign in to OneNote."

Anonymous
2020-02-26T18:45:21+00:00

When I open one particular notebook in OneNote 2016, OneNote displays the message:

"To sync this notebook, sign in to OneNote"

and the Shared Notebook Synchronization window shows this error:

"We need the password to sync this notebook. (Error code: 0x803D0005) There was an error communicating with the endpoint at [my OneDrive]; The server returned HTTP status code '401 (0x191)' with text 'Unauthorized'.; The requested resource requires user authentication.; The operation identifier is not valid."

Error code 0x803D0005 means that OneNote is unable to communicate with the OneDrive server where my notebooks are stored, and the reason is HTTP status code 401, which means that OneNote's request to my OneDrive lacks valid authentication credentials - my password. The error message does not reference any Section in particular.

According to File > Account > User Information in OneNote 2016, I am in fact signed in to my Microsoft account. Nevertheless, if I open the affected notebook in OneNote for the web (with the notebook's URL) I can see that recent changes have not synced.

Manually syncing my notebook solves the problem (and I'm not asked to enter my password.) I want to know why this one notebook won't sync automatically - why I must sync it manually?

It's not an issue with OneDrive, since according to Microsoft's Service Status web page OneDrive is up and running.

***************

To anyone who likes to answer by copying URLs for me to read: I have already read and performed the steps in Troubleshoot synchronization errors in OneNote 2016 for Windows and Fix issues when you can't sync OneNote. In addition, please know that my OneNote notebooks are not stored on Sharepoint and no one else collaborates on any of my Notebooks. Also, please know that I have already uninstalled and re-installed OneNote 2016.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-04-16T03:04:22+00:00

    Following this advice fixed it for me too: I just closed OneNote, then deleted the cache folder at C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0.

    Restarted OneNote and presto, fixo, no more sync message! Thank you!

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-02-27T04:37:52+00:00

    Greetings Regile Reb,

    Have you tried recreating/copying the contents of the notebook to a new notebook?

    Yes, I actually did: That was one of the troubleshooting procedures recommended in Fix issues when you can't sync OneNote.

    'Your' representative suggested that I try to identify the page or pages in my notebook that cause the error to happen. I think it's unlikely that individual pages cause the problem, since OneNote 2016 syncs notebooks, not pages. Nevertheless, I'll give the suggestion a try.

    Should you have any other concern, don't hesitate to post back in the Community.

    Sounds like you're done with me, so have a good day.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-05-31T20:36:09+00:00

    Clark Wang MSFT's answer at https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/onenote-always-asks-to-sign-in/ worked for me. I did both steps, so not sure if only one was necessary.

    Deleting all the entries in C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\cache\ worked for me. Wow, i've been trying to resolve this issue for a while. In fact, it's been a recurring problem for me for a few years. This is the only solution that i found that mentions deleting the cache. Thank you very much.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-01T19:47:57+00:00

    Clark Wang MSFT's answer at https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/onenote-always-asks-to-sign-in/ worked for me. I did both steps, so not sure if only one was necessary.

    This link no longer exists? So what is the fix? Can it be posted here?

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-04-02T11:14:54+00:00

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