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Why did copying my sections into a new notebook create misplaced sections and make random pages unable to load?

Levi Hipple 0 Reputation points
2025-08-29T17:41:06.86+00:00

Hi there,

I am a student and I have been using OneNote for years. I had only used one notebook for most things because I didn't want to deal with sync issues, but my notebook had grown so large that it was experiencing sync issues anyway. It kept giving me the error that the server was full, so I assumed there was too much info in one notebook for it to update effectively. It also kept bringing up misplaced sections, but the misplaced sections did not differ from the sections I had in my notebook; but, I was too scared to delete them.

This led me to create a new notebook for my school notes, to separate some of the info. I created a backup of my main notebook, and then I copied some sections into the new notebook. After I did this, I have been experiencing nonstop errors about the server being full and a lack of syncing. It created more misplaced sections. Between the main notebook, my school notebook, and the misplaced sections, there are random pages that won't load the printouts from the presentations I have annotated. I can eventually find the page will load in a different notebook, but it seems totally random. I have tried to view it all on the web version, but several of the pages won't load for me at all, so I can't compare the info on there. I'm not sure where to go from here because I don't want to overwhelm the servers and be unable to sync or lose my notes. If anybody could help that would be great!

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | MacOS
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  1. Francisco Montilla 11,570 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-08-29T21:35:11.4233333+00:00

    Hi Levi,

    You didn't do anything wrong, that's a classic OneNote sync churn after a big re-org.

    When you copied sections into a new notebook, OneNote had to reconcile several large, similar trees at once. If it can't find the matching section file on the server during that process, it parks a local copy under "Misplaced Sections". Those aren't duplicates you should trust, they're unsynced local placeholders that stay there until you move their pages into a real, cloud-backed section or delete them. The "server is full" message comes from the cloud side, not your PC. It usually means your OneDrive/SharePoint quota was hit or a OneNote store limit was tripped. OneNote will refuse to sync when the service reports Quota Exceeded (error 0xE0000796), and Microsoft specifically calls out checking your OneDrive/SharePoint storage and making sure the notebook isn't oversized. OneNote notebooks also have a 2 GB limit for the single notebook file in the service, so very large notebooks or sections stuffed with PDFs and printouts can push you into this state.

    Try this way to get stable again without losing notes:

    First, stop moving anything for the moment and pick one PC as your "repair workstation". Sign into OneDrive on the web and confirm you actually have free space. If you're close to your quota, free some space or temporarily move large non-OneNote files out so OneNote can breathe. If you're on a school account that uses SharePoint, ask IT to confirm your quota there as well. Once quota is healthy, create a brand-new notebook on the web so you have a clean cloud "target". That new notebook guarantees a good server home for the content you keep.

    Back in the OneNote desktop app on that PC, open the new notebook alongside your original notebook and the "Misplaced Sections" container. Use File > Info > View Sync Status to keep an eye on progress as you go. Now move pages in small batches into the new notebook rather than dragging whole sections at once. After each small move, give it a moment and confirm the green check or "Up to date" state. If a page won't load or sync, the culprit is often a huge printout or embedded file.

    Microsoft's guidance is that oversized content can block syncing and even throw "file too large" errors. When that happens, re-insert the material more lightly: split a giant deck into several smaller PDFs, insert them page-range by page-range, or attach the PDF as a file (or link to it) instead of embedding the entire printout. This keeps the OneNote section files small enough to sync reliably.

    Work steadily until everything you care about lives in the new notebook and you can also open and read it at OneNote for the web. When the web view shows the latest changes, that’s your confirmation you’re protected by the cloud. At that point, close the old notebook(s) in the app so they don’t keep churning, and only keep the new notebook open on all devices. If you discover something seems "missing", you can still recover from the local OneNote cache on the repair PC. Microsoft documents how to harvest pages from the cache so you can move them into your new cloud notebook. Do that before you clear any cache or uninstall the app.

    Please, let me know how it goes!

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