OneNote Android Broken Notebooks Persistence

Ric Wozniak 5 Reputation points
2026-08-31T03:41:41.03+00:00

OneNote on Android shows broken notebooks with the error 'They may have been moved or deleted.' These notebooks do not appear on OneDrive.com, in OneNote on PC, or in OneNote Online, and are not present in any Google or Samsung backup. I have cleared cache, cleared data, uninstalled and reinstalled the app repeatedly — the notebooks persist and are restored on first sync after reinstall. I believe these are orphaned entries in my account's notebook list, likely from a failed import a long time ago, and need them removed server-side from my account's sync record.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Android
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  1. Kai-H 25,945 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-08-31T09:02:07.25+00:00

    Hi, Ric Wozniak

    This sounds like stale notebook references tied to the Microsoft account rather than files stored locally on the Android device. OneNote can close a notebook from the visible list, but closing it is different from deleting its data.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    In OneNote for Android, open Notebooks, press and hold each broken notebook, then select Close. Restart OneNote afterward.

    On the PC, open the OneNote desktop app and check File > Open or More Notebooks. If the broken notebook appears there, right-click it and choose Remove from list or Close This Notebook. This can clear the account’s recent notebook reference, which Android may be downloading again during sign-in.

    If it still returns, also remove or hide the notebook from the recent-items list at Microsoft365.com, then sign out of OneNote on Android, restart the phone, and sign back in.

    Since reinstalling and clearing data have already failed, further reinstalls are unlikely to help. There is no user-accessible server-side notebook-list editor. Contact Microsoft Support for OneNote and request an account-level investigation of persistent orphaned notebook references. Include screenshots, the notebook names, your Android and OneNote versions, and clearly state that the entries return immediately after a clean reinstall.

    Please be advised that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, are not allowed to directly interfere with Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited solely to providing technical guidance on reported incidents, requests, or ideas.   

    Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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