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Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | Other | Windows
A family of Microsoft products that enable users to capture, organize, and reuse notes electronically.
To protect recent unsynced content in OneNote, use the safest path first: preserve the content before doing anything that could reset sync.
- Do not close the notebook, sign out, reinstall OneNote, or clear app data/cache yet. If notes have not synced to OneDrive or SharePoint, those actions can remove the only local copy.
- Check whether the latest notes are already in the cloud. Open the notebook in OneNote for the web or in a browser. If the recent pages are missing there, they are likely only on the current device.
- Manually copy unsynced pages. In OneNote for Windows 10 migration scenarios, pages with unsynced content usually show a warning icon. Copy the page content and paste it into the correct notebook section in the latest OneNote app.
- If using the Windows desktop version of OneNote, run a manual backup of notebooks:
- Go to File > Options
- Select Save & Backup
- Select Back Up All Notebooks Now
- Select OK when the backup completes
- If needed, set or verify the backup location in the Windows desktop app:
- Go to File > Options > Save & Backup
- Under Backup Folder, select Modify
- Choose a folder such as a private network folder or USB drive
- Select Select, then OK
- If sync is stuck, avoid risky reset steps until backup is complete. Microsoft guidance warns to copy and back up unsynced recent notes before closing and reopening a notebook.
- If migrating from OneNote for Windows 10 and backup fails:
- First sync notebooks by right-clicking the notebook and choosing Sync This Notebook or Sync All Notebooks
- Free up local storage space, because migration backups are stored locally
- If backup still fails, manually copy each unsynced page into the latest OneNote app
- For OneNote for the web: automatic and manual notebook backup is not currently available there. Use the Windows desktop app if backup features are required.
If the notebook later syncs successfully, the desktop app can also be used to restore or recover content from backup files or from the backup folder during migration scenarios.
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