Difficulties transferring notebooks between university accounts

Lachlan Rogers (25544951) 0 Reputation points
2026-09-07T23:24:00.0266667+00:00

Hello Microsoft,

I recently have changed Universities and need to transfer my OneNote (and other) contents from one university account to my new one. I have read your documents about how to do complete this but it has not worked. I have tried on Mac and Windows. There has been no way to download and export my notebooks regardless of what I try. I have spent considerable time trying to complete this with no luck.

The main issue is that I cannot download my notebooks, the best I can do is a get a link that appears to use my old account as a proxy to access the notebook. I am concerned that if my old university Microsoft account gets deactivated I will have no way of accessing my documents and notebooks.

Thank you!

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For education | MacOS
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  1. Jade Ng 15,485 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-08T00:54:37.43+00:00

    Dear Lachlan Rogers (25544951),

    If the notebook is stored in a school/work account, the recommended method is to copy the notebook content into a new notebook under the new account, because the standard OneNote export feature does not work for notebooks stored in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint.

    Since I understand that you also have access to a Windows device, I would recommend performing the migration from Windows, as it is generally the easiest method. The File > Save a Copy option available in OneNote for Windows is not currently available in OneNote for macOS. Instead, Mac users typically need to transfer notebook content by creating a new notebook under the destination account and then copying sections from the original notebook.

    Please follow these steps below:

    Option 1: Copy sections to a notebook in the new account

    1.Sign in to OneNote with your old university account and your new Microsoft account (Please make sure that both your old university account and your new account are signed in to the OneNote desktop application, as shown in the image below).

    Untitled

    2.Create a new notebook under the new account.

    3.Open the notebook in the old account.

    4.Right-click each section and select Move or Copy

    Untitled

    5.Select the notebook in the new account as the destination.

    6.Then click Move

    Untitled

    7.Repeat until all sections have been copied.

    Option 2: Save a Copy

    If you're using the OneNote desktop app for Windows:

    1. Open the notebook.
    2. Select File > Save a Copy.
    3. Choose OneDrive - Personal or another location (your university account).
    4. Save the notebook to your new account.

    Regarding "There has been no way to download and export my notebooks regardless of what I try. I have spent considerable time trying to complete this with no luck".

    User's image In that case, please try exporting the notebook again from the OneNote desktop.

    For more reference:

    Since access to your university account may be removed in the future, I recommend completing the migration and confirming that all notebook content is accessible from the new account before the old account is deactivated.

    If the issue persists, please let me know. Additionally, could you clarify which Microsoft article or instructions you have already followed when attempting the transfer? It would also be helpful to know whether you still have access to your university account and whether you are still able to open the notebook successfully in the OneNote desktop application.

    If possible, please share a screenshot of any error message and share it with me.

    Thank you for your patience and cooperation, and I look forward to your update.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-07T23:24:16.7433333+00:00

    For notebooks stored in a university Microsoft 365 account, exporting through OneNote for the web is not supported. Notebook export works only for notebooks stored on personal OneDrive accounts, and it does not work for notebooks stored on OneDrive for work or school or SharePoint. That matches the behavior being seen.

    The supported way to move OneNote content from one school/work account to another is to copy the content into a notebook in the destination account instead of trying to export the whole notebook.

    On Mac, use this method:

    1. Open OneNote on Mac.
    2. Sign in with both the old university account and the new university account.
    3. Open the notebook from the old account.
    4. In the notebook list at the top left, select the old notebook.
    5. Multi-select the sections to move with Shift+Click.
    6. Drag the selected sections into a notebook stored in the new account’s OneDrive.
    7. If preferred, right-click a section and use Copy Section To....

    On Windows, the documented built-in move option is File > Save a Copy, but the documented destination is OneDrive – Personal or This PC. Since export/download is not supported for work or school notebooks in OneNote for the web, using section-by-section copy is the supported path from the available guidance.

    For other files in OneDrive, copy them manually between accounts:

    1. Add both the old university OneDrive account and the new account on the same Mac or Windows device.
    2. In Finder or File Explorer, copy the files or folders to keep from the old account.
    3. Paste them into the new account’s OneDrive folder.

    Important:

    • Use copy/paste rather than drag/drop for OneDrive files, because it is less prone to mistakes.
    • Copied OneDrive files are treated as new files, so metadata such as Date created and Modified By is not retained.
    • Shared files must be re-shared after copying.
    • Only copy files that are permitted by the university’s policies.

    If the old account is at risk of deactivation, prioritize copying notebook sections and OneDrive files as soon as possible. Also note that the Notebooks folder in OneDrive is view-only, so saving notebook contents elsewhere requires the OneNote-specific methods above rather than copying directly from that folder.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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