One Note delete

Question

One Note delete

Sheri Nystrom 0

I have One Note on my laptop and IPad…..I have a number of notebooks that I no longer need. How can delete those old notebooks along with their pages, across all my devices

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Sheri Nystrom 0

I opened one note, and see word, PowerPoint, excel and OneNote. (It says, level up your notes). I do not see my files/documents

Sheri Nystrom 0 Reputation points

2026-11-04T23:43:30.39+00:00

Need answer
Jeronimo Fuerte 48,525 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-11-05T00:14:41.18+00:00

Based on your description, it sounds like you are seeing the Microsoft 365 home page rather than the location where your OneNote notebooks are stored. If you still see the screen displaying Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote instead of your files, could you share a screenshot of that screen and confirm whether it appears when you open OneNote on your laptop or when you visit OneDrive in your browser? Also, when you open OneNote on your iPad, can you still see and access the notebooks you want to delete? This will help identify whether you are accessing the wrong application, signing in with a different Microsoft account, or having difficulty locating the notebooks in OneDrive. Please hide your email address and any personal information in the screenshot.

Answer 2

Delete each notebook from OneDrive, then close it in OneNote on both the laptop and iPad so obsolete entries do not remain or produce synchronization errors.

Warning: Deleting a notebook removes all its sections, pages, notes, images, files, and attachments. Copy anything needed before proceeding. ^1^

Delete the notebook at its source

Repeat these steps for each unwanted notebook:

In a browser, open OneDrive and sign in with the same Microsoft account used by OneNote.
Open My files > Documents.
- Look for a Notebooks or OneNote Notebooks folder.
- If the notebook was saved elsewhere, navigate to that folder.
Select the circle beside the notebook without opening it.
Choose Manage > Delete, or Delete on the OneDrive toolbar. This deletes the cloud copy used by your synchronized devices. ^2^

Do not merely delete the individual pages or close the notebook: closing only removes it from the app’s list; it does not delete the notebook or its contents.

Remove the old entry from both devices

After deleting it from OneDrive:

Windows laptop: Open OneNote, right-click the deleted notebook’s name, and select Close This Notebook. This prevents OneNote from continuing to synchronize with a notebook that no longer exists. ^2^
iPad: In OneNote, tap Show Notebooks, press and hold the notebook, tap the Close Notebook icon at the bottom, and select Close. ^1^

Repeat this closing step on any other device where the notebook remains listed.

Permanently erase it immediately

Deleting from OneDrive initially moves the notebook to the OneDrive Recycle bin. If recovery is not needed:

In OneDrive, open Recycle bin.
Select the deleted notebooks.
Choose Delete or Empty recycle bin.
Confirm the permanent deletion.

If there is any possibility that the notebooks may be needed later, leave them in the Recycle bin until certain.

If Delete is unavailable

Make sure the notebook is selected from My files > Documents rather than from Recent or Shared. If it belongs to someone else and appears under Shared, only its owner can delete the original; remove it from the shared list or ask the owner to delete it.

References