Cannot sign into OneNote with my Organization Account and Cannot Update to Bugfixed Version on iPad 6th Gen iOS 17.7.11

Question

Cannot sign into OneNote with my Organization Account and Cannot Update to Bugfixed Version on iPad 6th Gen iOS 17.7.11

Maddie 0

I had previously been using OneNote on my iPad without issue approximately 3 months ago. My semester started again and the app had updated over the summer to version 16.101.3. This is apparently the latest version my iPad 6th Generation can receive, which had been working without issue previously. My problem is that I can no longer sign in to OneNote through my Organization Account, something which is necessary for me because I keep all my notes in my Organization Account for use on my laptop as well. When I try to sign in, it gets stuck on my organization's two-factor authentication screen.

I did some cursory searching and saw that other users were having this issue too. They said that they updated to version 16.112.2 and beyond and it fixed the issue. The issue I have is that I cannot update to this version because my iPad is too old to work with iOS 18. OneNote version 16.112.2 requires iOS 18 to download. My iPad 6th gen only supports up to iOS 17.7.11. This means my iPad is too old to get the bugfix to ensure that I can continue to use OneNote in any capacity, functionally bricking the entire app for me. A bugfix I need to have is being gatekept behind better hardware which I cannot afford as a student.

Is there any other way to sign into my Organization Account and to use the app? Are there workarounds available for those who are unable to update past 16.101.3? I've tried logging into Powerpoint as well but I have the same issue on that app. Please let me know.

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Answer 1

Jade Ng 15,860 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear Maddie,

Since you mentioned that the same organizational sign-in issue also occurs in PowerPoint, I would first like to determine whether the problem is specific to the Office apps or to the authentication process itself.

Could you please try signing in to your organizational account through Safari and opening your notebook in OneNote for the web?

If browser sign-in works, you can also try resetting the locally stored OneNote sign-in credentials:

Make sure any important recent notes have already synchronized, as unsynchronized offline changes could be lost.
Close OneNote.
Open iPad Settings > OneNote > Reset OneNote.
In the Reset OneNote options on the right, tap to enable the Delete All Notebooks option, and then also tap to enable the Delete Login Credentials option.
Enable Delete Login Credentials.
Restart OneNote and try signing in with your organizational account again.

Delete All Notebooks as part of the full OneNote reset process. However, this removes the offline copies of notebooks from the device, so I recommend confirming that your notes are safely synchronized before using that option.

Regarding OneNote 16.112.2, I could not find Microsoft documentation in the available support information that specifically confirms this version as the fix for the authentication behavior you described.

If the issue appears to be related to authentication, could you please share a screenshot of what you see when attempting to sign in to OneNote?

Thank you for your valuable time and cooperation. I am looking forward to your update!

Maddie 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T07:33:35.9766667+00:00

I've done what you suggested (signing in from browser and attempting to open in app; resetting OneNote) and unfortunately none of them fixed my issue. Signing into my account in Safari functioned fine and I could view my notebooks from there, however the interface was laggy and not ideal for notetaking.

Before resetting OneNote, I noticed in Safari that my device remembered my account name, presumably from when authentication was working properly on my device. I have Microsoft Whiteboard downloaded on my iPad, and it has not received updates in some time. Authentication and signing in still works perfectly in Whiteboard and it recognizes my account from my browser. However, this is not the case inside both PowerPoint and OneNote, as each time I go to sign into those apps, I have to provide them with my full account details even after I've already tried a few times. They don't recognize the saved credentials on my device, while Whiteboard does.

I've included images below of what it looks like when I try to sign in. The first image is from OneNote and the second image is from PowerPoint, which you can tell the difference between by the text accent color (purple vs orange). After I've gone through my organization's two-factor authentication (Duo), it just stays there and doesn't actually log me in.
Jade Ng 15,860 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-24T03:20:08.8333333+00:00
Dear Maddie,

Thank you for the detailed update.

At this stage, I am still unable to determine whether the behavior is primarily related to the older iPad/iOS and Office app versions, or whether the issue occurs during the third-party Duo authentication process. Since Duo reports that authentication was successful, but OneNote and PowerPoint do not complete the sign-in, I would like to isolate these two possibilities.

If possible, please try the following:

Sign in to the OneNote app on another supported device using the same organizational account and confirm whether the sign-in completes successfully.

If your organization allows you to manage your own authentication methods, check your Security info for the organizational account and see whether a Microsoft authentication method, such as Microsoft Authenticator, can be added.

If an alternative Microsoft authentication method is available and permitted by your organization, try signing in to OneNote again on the affected iPad using that method instead of Duo.

If OneNote signs in successfully on the affected iPad when using the alternative authentication method, that suggests the issue is associated with the third-party authentication flow rather than OneNote itself.

If the affected iPad still cannot complete the OneNote sign-in even with another permitted authentication method, while the same account works correctly in the OneNote app on a newer device, the older iPad/iOS combination would become a stronger suspect.

Please let me know what happens with these checks.
Jade Ng 15,860 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-25T04:26:58.35+00:00

Dear Maddie,

I hope this message finds you well!

I just wanted to check in and see if you have any updates or additional information you’d like to share regarding your situation.

Looking forward to your response!