OneNote is crashing when I insert a tag - how can I avoid this?

Question

OneNote is crashing when I insert a tag - how can I avoid this?

Colin Harvey 0

OneNote just hangs / freezes when using 'Ctrl-3' to insert a question tag. The application has to be closed and restarted.

This appears to happen consistently after using the draw tab and highlighting something on a page. Re-opening OneNote and inserting a tag works as normal. Highlighting and then inserting another tag causes another crash.

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Henry-N 1,675 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Colin Harvey,

Thanks for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

To better assist you with the issue that the One Note crashing when you try to insert a tag, I’d like to ask a few quick questions to better understand your situation:

-Are you using a business account provided by your organization or personal account ? Do you know anyone having the same issue?

-Does this happen with all OneNote files, or only with specific ones? If the issue only occurs with a specific file, does that file contain a large amount of data or embedded content?

-Are you using OneNote desktop (Office) or OneNote for the web? If you use desktop app try using it on the web to see if the issue persist

-Are you running the latest version of OneNote and Office updates? Could you check your OneNote version by going to Account > About OneNote?

User's image

For reference, I’m currently using Version 2507 Build 16.0.19029.20136 (64-bit) and the issue does not occur on my side.

User's image

-When the crash occurs, do you see any error messages? If so, could you please share a screenshot?

-Were there any recent changes to your device or the OneNote app before the issue started?

In the mean time if you are using OneNote for you could try to clear the cached of One Note

-Close OneNote completely (make sure it's not running in the background).

-Backup your notebooks if needed (especially if you have unsynced changes).

-Open File Explorer and go to:

C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\

-Depending on your version, you might see folders like 16.0, 15.0, or OneNote.0.

-Inside the version folder, locate the cache folder.

-Right-click the cache folder and select Delete.

-Optionally, delete the Backup folder if it's large and not needed

You could refer this link for a better view : Clear the Office cache - Office Add-ins | Microsoft Learn

If cleared cache doesn't solve the issue please try to repair the file.

-Go to Settings> App> Installed app

-Find OneNote in the list.

-Select Repair

User's image

Or you could right-click the Start button and select Apps and Features (or Installed apps in Windows 11).

-Find Microsoft 365 or the specific Office app you want to repair in the list.

-Click on it and select Modify or Change

User's image

If that still doesn’t help, try uninstalling and reinstalling OneNote.

I'm sincerely sorry for the inconvenience that you've encountered. But I need to know more about your situation so I can help you better. I appreciate your patience and are here to help. Looking forward to your response

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

User's image

Colin Harvey 0 Reputation points

2025-08-08T14:21:23.38+00:00

Thanks.

Version: Microsoft® OneNote® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2505 Build 16.0.18827.20102) 64-bit

The problem is happening in every OneNote file. It appears to be a recent development, but it has frozen before for no apparent reason - I've only just narrowed down the specific combination of actions which cause it to be consistently repeatable.

It doesn't happen when you use the menu to insert a tag - only using the keyboard shortcut.

It doesn't happen using OneNote for web.

This is affecting all other users in my team. I get no error message, but another team member had the following: "The exception unknown software exception (0xe0000002) occurred in the application at location 0x0000000076B8DD62"

I'll have a look and attempt repair etc but this doesn't seem to be a unique problem for an individual user. Some of the options suggested are also not available to end users in a managed organisational environment.

Backups are already 'off' as all files are saved in SharePoint by default.
Colin Harvey 0 Reputation points

2025-08-08T14:46:49.16+00:00

Cache deleted - no change.
Henry-N 1,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-14T13:34:31.19+00:00

Hi @Colin Harvey,

Thank you for replying,

I see that you have try the clear cache method and it didn't work. Have you try to repair or reset the app?

If you’ve already tried that or if you're unsure how to proceed, please feel free to share more details with me. The more context you can provide, the better I can assist you.

We truly appreciate your patience and feedback. I’ll do my best to help you resolve this as smoothly as possible.

Wishing you a great day ahead!

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
Henry-N 1,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-17T13:23:12.1166667+00:00

Hi @Colin Harvey,

I hope this message finds you well.

This is my second follow-up to check in and see if your issue has been resolved. I truly want to make sure your experience is as smooth and positive as possible. If you're still facing challenges or if any new issues have come up, please feel free to share more details about where you're currently stuck. I’m here and happy to help further.

While I wait for your response, I’ll continue monitoring other questions in the forum to ensure everyone receives timely support. If you have any additional questions, you’re very welcome to tag my name in your reply so I can assist you promptly and personally.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
Colin Harvey 0 Reputation points

2025-08-18T10:29:55.8766667+00:00

Still causing issues - OneNote freezes every time I use the CTRL-3 or other short-key to add a tag, and now it's doing it if I draw a highlight and use the insert tag button as well. This is really impacting my workflow.

OneNote itself recommended deleting settings and restarting, which I've done. No change following this.
Henry-N 1,675 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-20T07:43:34.34+00:00

Hi @Colin Harvey,

Thank you for replying,

So for this situation I would recommend you to raise for a support ticket Microsoft’s support team will need to step in. A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem. If the issue requires further attention, they can escalate it to a specialized team for deeper analysis.

The Global Admin should create a service request with Microsoft support to get advanced technical assistance and diagnostics. For detailed instructions on how to get support, please refer to Get support - Microsoft 365 admin. 

If you’re unsure who the Global Admin is within your organization, you can find guidance on locating them here: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support.  

Thank you again for your time and understanding. If there’s anything else I can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m here to help.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread

Share via

OneNote is crashing when I insert a tag - how can I avoid this?

1 answer

Your answer