OneNote: iPad files are OK but won't sync to PC

Hi alancsears,

The error that you’ve encountered can be due to the cached version of the password. As the initial troubleshooting step, I’d suggest that you install any available Office updates. If the issue persists, then I’d recommend that you try signing out your account first to the OneNote app and sign in back after. Once you’re done, check if the error will still appear.

Just in case that you’ll get the same error, you may delete the cached Office credentials by following the steps below:

1. Click Start.

2. Type Credential Manager.

3. Press Enter.

4. Click Windows Credentials.

5. Under Generic Credentials, look for MicrosoftOffice16_Data:live:cid=.

6. Click Remove.

7. Restart your computer.

8. Launch OneNote and enter your credentials.

Let us know how it goes after trying the steps.

Office updating is automatic for me.

Signing out of OneNote then signing in makes no difference.

Deleting cached Credentials made no difference.

I still have all my notebooks on the iPad, but my PC and Android tablet are still at the "using OneNote for the first time" point.  It seems the PC and Android are linked to one web location, which I can see: these files are in File\Documents\   The iPad files, i.e. the ones I want, must be somewhere, but I can't find them (except by opening OneNote on the iPad in the normal way)

I have found my MacAir shows some of the notebook names, but won't open them: I have to get permission from the owner (how?)

We appreciate the information that you’ve provided. Can you confirm if you’ve already tried uninstalling and reinstalling the OneNote app on your iPad? This will help us isolate if the issue is with the syncing process of notebooks saved on your device to the server. If you haven’t done it yet, then we’d suggest to try performing the steps. Before you uninstall the app, make sure to back it up first to avoid any data loss. Can you verify how many OneNote account do you have? Also, are your notebooks password protected?

We’ll wait for your response on this thread.

Thank you for your help.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled OneNote several times and the iPad is backed up.  I  only want one account, although when I use the PC a notebook is there as the OneNote startup/default file, so I wondered whether there are now two accounts, the ipad using one and all other devices using the other.  However, I only use one id and one password to sign in.

Just one notebook is password protected.

Thanks for getting back to us. Since you’ve already tried uninstalling and reinstalling OneNote and it was already backed up, we’d like to know if you’ve tried creating a new Notebook or Section in the same OneNote account. This will help us isolate if the issue is with the Notebooks saved on your iPad or even when you’ll create a new Notebook. If you haven’t done it yet, then we’d suggest that you add a new Notebook and see if the changes will also reflect on your PC and Android tablet. You can also try to do it in reverse wherein you'll create a new Notebook using your PC or Android tablet and check if the changes will appear on your iPad.


Just in case that you’ll get the same result even with the new Notebooks that you’ve created, we’d recommend posting a feedback here on our OneNote UserVoice website. This will help our engineers and developers to figure out what seems to be causing the issue and come up with a fix on our future updates.



Let us know if you have other concerns that we can assist you with.

The Notebook titles from the iPad appear on my PC (File>Open), but if I try to open one I get this prize message:

I am the owner.....

I get this useful message when I try to sync NoteBooks on the iPad:

Researching the error code got me nowhere, but I have passwords I could offer if I knew where. 

There was an empty notebook on the PC call Alan's Notebook and one with the same name, but with lots of data, on the iPad.  I tweaked a page on the iPad and the Notebook was replaced via the sync process with the empty PC version, which is a bit upsetting, so I shan't play around with the existing iPad notebooks any more until I've copied them into EverNote, if I ever find a way doing that easily.

I shall carry on experimenting for a while, but it looks as though OneNote data isn't as secure as I would like.  Until I find otherwise I will abandon OneNote as my notekeeping method.  I've spent far too much time on it already.  To think, twenty years ago I was using a Filofax and it never went wrong...….