OneNote update has completely messed up handwritten notes and ink annotations

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OneNote update has completely messed up handwritten notes and ink annotations

Pedro Bandeira 5

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OneNote update has completely messed up handwritten notes and ink annotations

Once again, a OneNote update has caused serious problems with handwritten content.

After the latest update, many of the annotations and notes I made using the pen have been shifted from their original positions, misaligned, or completely disorganized. Ink that was previously correctly positioned in relation to typed text, images, PDFs, or other content is no longer where it was supposed to be.

This is particularly frustrating because these are not cosmetic changes. The position of handwritten annotations is part of the information itself. When OneNote moves ink strokes or changes their alignment after an update, it can make carefully organized notes extremely difficult to understand and, in some cases, practically unusable.

Everything was properly organized before the update. I did not intentionally move, resize, or modify this content. The problem appeared after OneNote was updated.

This is also not the first time I have experienced this kind of issue following a OneNote update. It is extremely concerning that an application designed specifically for note-taking can receive updates that compromise the integrity and layout of existing handwritten notes.

I would like to know:

Is this a known issue with the latest version of OneNote?
Is there any way to restore the original positioning and layout of the ink without manually reorganizing every page?
Is there a way to roll back to a previous version without losing or further altering my notes?
Are the original ink coordinates/layout preserved somewhere in the notebook history or previous page versions?
What can I do to prevent OneNote from modifying the positioning of existing handwritten content after future updates?

I have a significant amount of handwritten material in OneNote, so manually correcting every affected page is not a realistic solution.

Any guidance on recovering the original layout would be greatly appreciated.

[Tag moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | MacOS]

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Answer 1

Norah-L 10,490 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

PII caution: Please note that this is a public forum for users. I have redacted some private information from your screenshot to protect your privacy and security.

Hello Pedro Bandeira,

I’m sorry this happened. I understand that after the latest OneNote update, your handwritten notes and annotations shifted from their original positions, leaving previously organized pages misaligned and difficult to use.

So far, there has been no official confirmation that this is a known issue with the latest OneNote update.

First, open the notebook in OneNote for the web and, if possible, on another device without editing it. If the ink appears correctly there, the issue may be limited to the Mac app. If it is misaligned everywhere, check File > Open Backups on the Mac for an earlier copy.

Is there a way to roll back to a previous version without losing or further altering my notes?

OneNote for Mac does not provide a built-in option to roll back the app. However, you can recover the layout by checking an earlier version of the affected page in OneNote for the web (open the notebook in OneNote for the web, right-click the affected page, and select Show Versions). Please note that rolling back the app may not restore ink positions already saved to the synced notebook.

Are the original ink coordinates/layout preserved somewhere in the notebook history or previous page versions?

Possibly. An earlier page version or backup may retain the page’s previous layout, but there is no guarantee that the ink will render in its original position. Check an earlier version before making further edits and copy it to a new page if correct.

What can I do to prevent OneNote from modifying the positioning of existing handwritten content after future updates?

There is no guaranteed way to lock ink to surrounding text on Mac. To reduce the risk, avoid adding content above annotated areas, use the same OneNote version across devices, let notebooks fully sync before switching devices, and keep regular backups.

I hope this helps clarify your concerns. Thank you so much for your patience and your understanding!

Pedro Bandeira 5 Reputation points

2026-08-24T00:57:13.4833333+00:00
Thank you for your response. However, I would like to clarify an important point: I am not using OneNote for Mac. The issue is occurring specifically on my iPad.

I have now been able to compare the exact same notebook and pages across different devices, and the results strongly suggest that the problem is related to the latest OneNote version for iPad:

iPad — OneNote version 16.113: handwritten notes and ink annotations are misaligned and shifted from their original positions.

iPhone — OneNote version 16.106: the exact same pages and annotations are displayed correctly and remain in their original positions.

Windows — OneNote: the exact same pages are also displayed correctly, with all handwritten content properly aligned.

This is particularly important because it indicates that the underlying notebook data and ink positions do not appear to be corrupted. The same synchronized notebook renders correctly on both my iPhone and Windows PC. The problem appears only when those pages are rendered in OneNote 16.113 on my iPad.

For this reason, I do not believe restoring backups or previous page versions would address the actual issue. In fact, I am reluctant to restore or modify anything because the notebook itself appears to be intact, and I do not want to risk overwriting correctly stored data.

Could you please advise whether there is any workaround specifically for OneNote 16.113 on iPadOS?

More importantly, could this issue please be escalated to the OneNote/iPadOS development team responsible for version 16.113? The fact that version 16.106 on my iPhone and the Windows application render the same ink correctly, while version 16.113 on the iPad does not, seems to provide a fairly clear reproduction scenario for investigating a possible regression introduced in the latest iPad version.

I rely heavily on OneNote for handwritten notes, so this is a serious usability issue. I also want to avoid making unnecessary changes to my notebooks while the correctly stored ink data still appears to be intact.

If necessary, I can provide screenshots showing the same page on the iPad (16.113), iPhone (16.106), and Windows, so the differences in ink positioning can be directly compared.

Thank you. I would appreciate it if this could be forwarded to the appropriate technical team for investigation.
Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-24T08:06:08.1466667+00:00
Dear Pedro,

I really appreciate you taking the time to share these details.

However, I would like to clarify an important point: I am not using OneNote for Mac. The issue is occurring specifically on my iPad.

Thank you for clarifying. Since the question was tagged macOS, I initially answered based on OneNote for Mac. I apologize for the misunderstanding.

Your comparison is important. Since the same synchronized pages remain correctly aligned on the iPhone and Windows, this points more toward an iPad-specific rendering issue in OneNote 16.113 than damaged notebook data. I agree that restoring page versions or backups is not appropriate at this stage.

Could you please advise whether there is any workaround specifically for OneNote 16.113 on iPadOS? More importantly, could this issue please be escalated to the OneNote/iPadOS development team responsible for version 16.113?

Unfortunately, I could not find any confirmed fixes or workarounds specifically for this ink misalignment in version 16.113. As this is a user-to-user forum, I’m unable to forward the case directly to the development team on your behalf. However, you can follow the steps below to contact Microsoft Support and request that the issue be investigated and escalated.

Here's how to reach out to the Support Team (live chat or callback request):

Go to: https://support.microsoft.com/home/contact

In the search box, enter a short description of your issue. Then hit "Get Help"

Scroll down and select Sign in to contact support (please sign in using a personal Microsoft account). Then follow the on-screen prompts to reach Support Team.

Once you reach a Microsoft Support agent, ask them to investigate the issue as a possible OneNote 16.113 iPad rendering regression and escalate the case to the appropriate technical team.

Tip: Support chat availability may vary by country/region, product, and support hours. If you can't get in touch with a chat agent right away, trying again later or at a different time may help.

Hopefully this issue will be sorted out soon Thank you so much for your patience and your understanding!

Best regards.
Richard Renfro 0 Reputation points

2026-08-30T18:19:15.68+00:00

Same here, second time this year Microsoft update to iPad completely messed up notes with drawings over text. Stop messing things up Microsoft! It took three updates to fix the mess last time.
Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-31T07:20:29.0433333+00:00

Dear Richard Renfro

I’m sorry you’re experiencing the same issue. Since this is a user-to-user forum, reports posted here may not reach the product team directly. Please submit feedback through OneNote > Settings > Send Feedback and describe your experience with the ink misalignment. This will bring the issue directly to the relevant product team for review.

Thank you so much for your patience and your understanding!

Best regards.
Matthias Wang 0 Reputation points

2026-09-01T09:04:25.6533333+00:00

I am also encountering this same issue ever since the update. Notes render correctly on Windows, but are misaligned with text annotations on iPad. Please fix this as soon as possible.
Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-03T07:17:42.0766667+00:00

Hi Matthias Wang,

I’m sorry you’re also experiencing this.

Please avoid manually repositioning the annotations for now. Submit your details through OneNote > Settings > Send Feedback or via Microsoft Feedback Portal(You can create a new feedback report or vote for an existing report describing the same issue) including screenshots and your OneNote and iPadOS versions, so the product team can investigate.