Newsletter Archives

• Why sharing in OneNote isn’t easy, and how to fix it

  Posted on February 20, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  It will get simpler eventually, but for now you must plan ahead and double-check which account you’re using.

  OneNote automatically syncs all the notes you create between all the devices you use it on — and those don’t have to be only your own devices. You can share notebooks with other people and — as long as they’re stored somewhere they can connect to — they can see and update the information in OneNote. The same goes for your own multiple Microsoft accounts, such as work and personal; you can get access to your notes from both.

  But there are a few quirks to the way sharing works in OneNote that can trip you up if you’re not clear about how it works. There are also some long-standing frustrations and limitations that we’re still waiting to see fixed.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.08.0, 2023-02-20).

  OneNote Microsoft Account, Newsletters, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, OneNote, sharing

• Changes to Outlook and OneDrive have fallout

  Posted on February 6, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Last week there were two big — and related — changes to Outlook.com and OneDrive.

  One is a way for Microsoft to gobble up more of your OneDrive quota. The other is a new Microsoft 365 plan, which might interest people with a perpetual license to Office 2021, 2019, and earlier.

  I’ll explain these changes in detail; in particular, I’ll explain why these two changes are related and how to deal with the fallout.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.06.0, 2023-02-06).

  Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Newsletters, OneDrive, Outlook.com, outlook.com attachments

• How to fix the most common OneNote sync problems

  Posted on October 24, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  If OneNote stops moving your notes around properly, you can usually get it unstuck with these steps.

  Last time, we looked at how OneNote sync works and how to fix basic problems (What to do when OneNote won’t sync, 2022-09-19). However, there are some common sync problems where you need to dig a little deeper or do some extra work yourself.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.43.0, 2022-10-24).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneNote AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, OneNote, Synchronization

• What to do when OneNote won’t sync

  Posted on September 19, 2022 at 02:44 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  The Windows desktop OneNote app has tools to help you understand and troubleshoot sync issues, but don’t rush into anything.

  The beauty of OneNote is that when you drop information into it, you have it at your fingertips on every device you use without the effort of copying files back and forth. That’s great until the sync system that makes that happen hits a snag and your notes stop showing up everywhere.

  There are some common problems that you may run into with OneNote and fixing them is often simpler than the cryptic error messages would suggest, especially once you understand how sync works.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.38.0, 2022-09-19).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneNote AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneDrive, OneNote, Synchronization

• Where to store your OneNote notebooks

  Posted on August 22, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.34 • 2022-08-22

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  OneNote is meant to be one place for all your notes, but even though it’s great to have one location to look at all your notes, you might want to have a bit more control about where those notes are actually stored.

  For many users, it might seem as if you didn’t have a choice: unless you’re using the Windows desktop version of OneNote and you paid for a license, your notebooks must be stored in OneDrive. That’s what allows them to sync onto any device you use — PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, or anything with a suitable Web browser.

  But even though your notebooks must be stored in OneDrive, they don’t need to be stored in the same OneDrive account you use for other things on that device. You can even open notebooks that are stored in someone else’s account, if they share them with you.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.34.0, 2022-08-22).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneNote AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Collaboration, Microsoft Accounts, OneDrive, OneNote, Synchronization

• Why there isn’t just one OneNote

  Posted on June 13, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.24 • 2022-06-13

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  OneNote started out on Windows, and it’s been a sleeper success — but getting the full set of features has been confusing.

  OneNote was always intended to be the one place that you put your notes — and all the other information you need to hang on to — “Things to do, important stuff to remember, things to review, and a bunch of stuff you think you might need some day but can’t be sure,” as Chris Pratley put it when describing his original idea for OneNote back in 2000.

  It’s supremely useful for that.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.24.0, 2022-06-13).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneNote AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, OneNote

• Get more OneDrive with these tips

  Posted on April 25, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  There are a few tricky ways to beat the 365 plan quota, to get more than one terabyte of OneDrive space for nothing and save local disk space by pushing files to OneDrive.

  Most Microsoft 365 plans, including Family, Personal, and most Business plans, include one terabyte of OneDrive storage. That’s 1,000 GB, more than enough for most people. But if you need more, there are cheaper – or even free – options available that are legitimate, inside the bounds of Microsoft’s rules.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.17.0, 2022-04-25).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, tips

• Wide-ranging reader questions

  Posted on February 21, 2022 at 02:44 CST by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  The AskWoody email servers have been busy! This week’s column features three interesting questions and tips submitted by your fellow subscribers.

  First up: We look at several potential workarounds for OneDrive backup issues.

  Second: A reader encounters the one time when an unexpected reboot doesn’t necessarily signify trouble.

  And last: A malfunctioning copy of File Explorer resists all repair attempts!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.08.0 (2022-02-21).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, File Explorer, LangaList, OneDrive, reboot

• OneDrive app support ending on older Windows

  Posted on December 6, 2021 at 02:45 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 18.47 • 2021-12-06

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Microsoft dropped a minor bombshell with the announcement that the OneDrive app would stop working for some Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users beginning in March 2022.

  The changes have some unusual elements, such as a split between personal and work use. Microsoft has (deliberately?) added confusion with poor and incomplete communication.

  Office 365 users are affected by these changes, yet Microsoft hasn’t said a word about that.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.47.0 (2021-12-06).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.47.F (2021-12-06).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, Office, Office 365, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business

• Question from “a Clueless OneDrive User”

  Posted on October 4, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  This week’s first reader-submitted question examines yet another OneDrive weirdness that turns out to have the same common cause — and solution! — as many, many other OneDrive issues.

  The second reader question involves a problem that can occur when a browser (Chrome, in this case) and Windows are respectively set to reopen previous pages and restart previous apps. It ain’t pretty.

  Plus: Good news for rural and remote locations with slow or no Internet connections! SpaceX’s Starlink global, high-speed, low-latency, satellite Internet service is coming out of beta!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.38.0 (2021-10-04).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, browsers, LangaList, OneDrive, Satellite Internet

• Where OneDrive really (really!) shines

  Posted on September 13, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  AskWoody’s recent coverage amply illustrated OneDrive’s drawbacks and hassles, but there are instances where OneDrive (and similar cloud-based apps) are truly spectacular aids.

  For example, OneDrive can speed some setup and reinstallation chores by a literal order of magnitude, cutting down to mere minutes some tasks that used to take hours!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive, Windows

• Yikes! Still more subscriber OneDrive problems, solutions!

  Posted on July 12, 2021 at 02:44 CDT by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  As our extensive OneDrive coverage winds down, many excellent reader-submitted reports continue to pour in, filled with interesting tips, questions, and observations!

  Today’s column deals with several OneDrive topics: unexpected behavior from the OneDrive status-indicator icons; issues between and among OneDrive, Dropbox, and OEM updater apps; and more on redirecting or moving OneDrive’s default local folders.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.26.0 (2021-07-12).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive
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