Issues with newly acquired onenote on mac

Follow these steps to troubleshoot OneNote on macOS in this scenario:

1. Confirm that other Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook/Teams) are fully updated and working, because they share the same Office identity and credentials. If any are outdated, update all Office apps first.
2. Check whether the issue is sync/location related:
   • In OneNote for Mac, try creating a notebook in a different location (for example, if saving to OneDrive fails, try a local folder or vice versa) and with a very simple name (e.g., Test1).
   • If the notebook is stored on OneDrive or SharePoint, open OneNote for the web at www.onenote.com and try creating/opening a notebook there. If that works, use Open in OneNote from the web to open it in the Mac app. If the notebook opens and syncs from the web but not when created directly in the app, the problem is likely with the Mac client configuration.
3. If notebooks on OneDrive/SharePoint open and sync correctly in OneNote for the web but not in OneNote for Mac, reset the connection by closing and reopening the notebook in the Mac app:
   • On the menu bar in OneNote for Mac, select Notebooks > Notebooks > Close This Notebook.
   • In your browser, in OneNote for the web, select Open in OneNote to reopen it in the Mac app and let it fully sync.
4. If OneNote continues to show setup or permission errors, clear corrupted Office credentials on macOS and sign in again:
   • Quit all Mac Office applications except OneNote.
   • In OneNote, sign out of the account (this only logs out; notebooks remain listed).
   • Quit OneNote.
   • Open Keychain Access and search for items containing Office15. The names are long alphanumeric codes and the Kind starts with MicrosoftOffice15….
   • Delete these MicrosoftOffice15… items (this removes only authentication credentials, not data).
   • Restart OneNote and sign in again when prompted, then try creating/opening a notebook.
5. If the error persists when saving to cloud locations, verify that the storage service is available and that the account has permission to create files there. If the notebook cannot be opened or created in OneNote for the web either, the issue is likely with the server or service, and the service status or administrator should be checked.

If, after these steps, OneNote still cannot create notebooks while other Office apps work, a full uninstall/reinstall of Office for Mac (removing the OneNote-related containers and group containers, then reinstalling from the Microsoft account subscriptions page) is the next step, as this clears corrupted app data that can block setup.

References:

• Fix issues when you can't sync OneNote
• Notes won't sync
• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in OneNote for Mac, iPhone, and iPad
• Frequently Asked Questions about OneNote for Mac
• Microsoft Office apps for Mac quit unexpectedly - Microsoft Q&A
• 365 apps crash - Microsoft Q&A