Onenote and Onedrive - OnePITA

[yd]

Howdy,

Years back, OneNote 2007 stopped working correctly for me. I managed to transition the notebook to the Windows App that you can use on desktop pc.

All worked ok'ish. I managed to put the notebook in a directory on my desktops main drive in C/yd/Onenote/MasterFiles and could see the sub tabs individually, their sizes and when they were last modified. I was able to share that folder via reserved address and getting my notebook to open the same files and things did indeed sync back and forth.

However, I went away on vacay, came back and.....sync no workey. I had done this via Onedrive at one point long ago but it shit the bed so I was using this share drive trick.

So I went back to trying Onedrive. Got it working and notebook syncing back and forth no drama. However, I am not really sure how I pulled it off. At one point I almost lost my primary tab but found it in 'deleted' tabs. Restored that but somehow needed to get everything back in a whole new notebook.

Catch is, I have no idea where the notebook is really located or the subtabs aka every now and then I would like to copy them to another location as a back up. I can see the notebook is in - https onedrive yd notebook etc. But I can't see that folder to then copy/backup.

What I can do is 'save a copy' to a directory OUTSIDE of Onedrive and then I can see that and the subfolders but then OneNote seems to basically switch me to that location (not JUST save a copy like a backup). I can then copy that as a backup but if I want it on Onedrive to see on the notebook I need to save another copy on Onedrive (and that goes to onedrivelive again which I can't see subtabs or folder) in order to have the notebook open that again.

Dafuq is it with Onedrive....

It also borked my Quicken files on that vacation losing a bunch of data for price histories, fortunately I had a back up and only had to re enter every transaction from that trip.

 

[TheNewShiny]

I don't have any answers, but reading your post I realized that at some point in the past decade I gave up on trying to synchronize notebooks on OneDrive, and basically on using OneNote entirely. It's great when it works, but I couldn't keep putting time in what felt like a house of cards.

 

[yd]

I don't have any answers, but reading your post I realized that at some point in the past decade I gave up on trying to synchronize notebooks on OneDrive, and basically on using OneNote entirely. It's great when it works, but I couldn't keep putting time in what felt like a house of cards.

Indeed, I am not sure if its OneNote or OneDrive but it seems OneDrive is great for a backup for a static file - your favorite picture. But once you start with a file you want to access a lot and definitely when you want to access from other computers, things can go to shit.

I will say, the 'version' history' can save you but not before you have a brown pant moment or two.

 

[continuum]

But once you start with a file you want to access a lot and definitely when you want to access from other computers, things can go to shit.

Could I ask for a brief clarification-- are you trying to open and modify the same file simultaneously from multiple computers?

 

[yd]

Could I ask for a brief clarification-- are you trying to open and modify the same file simultaneously from multiple computers?

Yes but mostly no.

I use the desktop app call it 70% of the time and my notebook 30% of the time - because I am usually away from home at least 20% of the year if not 30%. But I don't usually touch the notebook when at home and 'do stuff' on it that impacts the desktop and when I am away and on notebook I can't as the desktop is off.

When I notice these issues is the cross over times - I went to Fukuoka a week and change back, I opened the notebook to make sure all the tabs sync'd with the desktop; in particular things like the Bookings tab (aka where the hotel details are, flight details are etc etc). That was fine 10 days back. Got home and turn on the desktop and then have the notebook running to make sure any changes I did while away reflect back onto the desktop and....shit went wonky. Thats when I commenced the doom cycle of trying to figure out who was who, who was where and then inadvertently almost lost the most important tab (To Do).

Got that 'repaired' but with this odd onedrivelive link as the notebook but that notebook was working on both (so maaaaaybe thats stable going forward) but as mentioned, I like to see the tabs and make a manual back up which led to the whole save issue and it moving and renaming the 'main' notebook.

I did get it working on my phone and just now knew it was going to be 'wrong' (after having saved outside onedrive, backed up and then saved back to onedrive with a different name) by opening the newly named onedrive one on the phone.

Its that critical handoff that has historically caused drama.

 

[continuum]

Yes but mostly no.

I know the newer cloud-hosted OneNote should handle, but I don't think the locally-stored desktop app (by local I mean a local file stored wherever, be it locally or OneNote) works that way. Unfortunately that has me suspecting your pain here is self-inflicted, unless I am fundamentally misremembering how OneNote 2007's desktop version works.

 

[yd]

I know the newer cloud-hosted OneNote should handle, but I don't think the locally-stored desktop app (by local I mean a local file stored wherever, be it locally or OneNote) works that way. Unfortunately that has me suspecting your pain here is self-inflicted, unless I am fundamentally misremembering how OneNote 2007's desktop version works.

2007 is long gone now; this one is the free app from the MIcrosoft Store, just so we are talking about the same product. 2007 I swapped out/off probably 5 years ago

 

[Skoop]

Indeed, I am not sure if its OneNote or OneDrive but it seems OneDrive is great for a backup for a static file - your favorite picture. But once you start with a file you want to access a lot and definitely when you want to access from other computers, things can go to shit.

Put the online version of OneNote into that category, too. I was using that one for a while because I couldn't get my 2010 Home/Student copy of Office to install on a newly-built desktop--it won't verify online anymore.

I found the syncing to be slow and often paused for long periods. And moving around between folders and notebooks was too wonky and too many clicks.

My solution: I ditched OneDrive AND OneNote online and bought a standalone copy of Office Home 2024. Moved everything off of MS' cloud to my preferred syncing app (sync.com). Been using Sync for years, and OneNote was the only app I still used in conjunction with OneDrive. (I had some archived file stuff saved on OneDrive, too.) I don't know why I didn't move it all off earlier.

Sync works without fail. My OneDrive folder is empty. And Office 2024 is a nice upgrade from the 2010 version. With a standalone app, I don't have subscription or upgrade NOW! nags.

 

[yd]

Put the online version of OneNote into that category, too. I was using that one for a while because I couldn't get my 2010 Home/Student copy of Office to install on a newly-built desktop--it won't verify online anymore.

I found the syncing to be slow and often paused for long periods. And moving around between folders and notebooks was too wonky and too many clicks.

My solution: I ditched OneDrive AND OneNote online and bought a standalone copy of Office Home 2024. Moved everything off of MS' cloud to my preferred syncing app (sync.com). Been using Sync for years, and OneNote was the only app I still used in conjunction with OneDrive. (I had some archived file stuff saved on OneDrive, too.) I don't know why I didn't move it all off earlier.

Sync works without fail. My OneDrive folder is empty. And Office 2024 is a nice upgrade from the 2010 version. With a standalone app, I don't have subscription or upgrade NOW! nags.

Interesting, lemme look into it.

I was thinking this morning, just go local while at home and maybe copy/paste every end of month kinda thing and then copy the most up to date to the notebook when going on a trip and stay on local notebook while away, then copy back to local on desktop. Or maybe copy the backups from local (which are static) to OneDrive. OneDrive has fucked me, checks notes, at least 2 if not 3 or 4 times and OneNote has come along for the ride on every one of those occasions except one where it fucked me on Quicken. Oddly, it has never screwed up on my excel 'master spreadsheet'.

 

[Neill78]

I had to use the online/MS Teams version of OneNote for teaching university classes and it fucked up syncing just as much as the old desktop version. Things would just... Not be there. Pages would just get corrupted and not open. Assignments would only get distributed to 85% of the students unless I manually re-pushed multiple times. (Not fun when you have 500 students).

I honestly don't know how people use that as their trusted note taking app.

I know the paradigm is quite different but I prefer Confluence Cloud (free for up to 10 users) or Notion these days.

 

[Skoop]

I was thinking this morning, just go local while at home and maybe copy/paste every end of month kinda thing and then copy the most up to date to the notebook when going on a trip and stay on local notebook while away, then copy back to local on desktop. Or maybe copy the backups from local (which are static) to OneDrive.

So much manual copying just injects another error source into your process.

OneDrive has fucked me, checks notes, at least 2 if not 3 or 4 times and OneNote has come along for the ride on every one of those occasions except one where it fucked me on Quicken.

I think you're answering your own question about how to proceed.

 

[continuum]

Let us know what you decide on? There are a metric ton of note taking solutions available.

 

[Penforhire]

I tried many note apps over the years, on both Win and Mac (and iOS). But my uses were always mission-critical on a single PC. I stayed with OneNote and for that use it never “screwed” me (yet, lol). I was able to export older OneNote files to a 3rd party iOS app (Outline+ at the time). Have not tried the Outline app in years but I see it still in the App Store.

 

[Entegy]

Dunno what to say. My OneNote notebooks have been hosted on OneDrive without issue for years. Open on multiple devices at the same time, syncs just fine. It's designed for that. Sections added/modified offline, no issue to resync it later. It's honestly the most solid product in the Office suite in terms of syncing.

I also don't know why anyone would bother with older OneNote versions. OneNote has been free for years. You wanna keep your Office 2007/2010, fine, I get it. But you can just download the latest version of OneNote at any time.

 

[Penforhire]

Free OneNote had issues with local storage. It was not possible on earlier MacOS versions. MS wants you to keep your files in their cloud. But current versions allow local storage with a Microsoft log-in. Some people don't like that requirement.