Section groups won't populate in the iPad app

Nicholson, Laura 0 Reputation points
2026-09-14T15:38:37.08+00:00

I am experiencing some bizarre behavior in the OneNote iPad app. My section groups will not populate with sections or pages.

I'm using Class Notebook and I can access everything on the desktop app (with my laptop) or in a web browser. But when I open the notebook in the iPad app, I only see section groups. The Content Library is there, but I can't expand it to see any of the content inside; it acts like it's blank. Same with the section groups corresponding to student notebooks.

The Welcome tab loads fine and behaves as expected. I can add a page in the desktop app and have it immediately appear in the iPad, and edits made in iPad sync back up to the cloud no problem. It's just the section groups (which is of course 99% of the notebook). I can even see that the pages exist when I use "Review Student Work," it shows me the sections and pages within to choose from, but won't load the pages when I tap them from the student list.

I've tried syncing, signing out and back in to the app, choosing the "reset OneNote" options from the iPad settings menu, and fixing permissions at https://www.onenote.com/classnotebook/notebook-fixbut none of those worked.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | Other | iOS
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  1. Kai-H 26,665 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-15T09:24:54.2533333+00:00

    Hi, Nicholson, Laura

    This appears to be a local notebook-cache problem in the iPad app rather than missing content, since the sections remain available in OneNote for the web and changes still sync.

    Here are some suggestions you can try:

    First, confirm that all recent changes appear in OneNote for the web. In the iPad app, return to the notebook list, press and hold the affected notebook, then tap Close. Restart OneNote, select More Notebooks, and reopen the Class Notebook. Closing a cloud notebook removes its locally cached copy without deleting the online content.

    Update OneNote from the App Store and install any available iPadOS update. Then test the notebook again using a stable Wi-Fi connection.

    If it remains blank, delete and reinstall OneNote only after confirming that everything is visible online. Then sign in with the same school account and reopen the notebook.

    Since the permission repair has already been run and the web version works, avoid changing or deleting the Content Library or student section groups. Default Class Notebook section groups should not be renamed or deleted.

    If the issue continues, the school’s Microsoft 365 administrator should open a support case because this is likely an iPad-specific rendering or cache issue.

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

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