Onenote cannot search for handwriting
I have a problem where my Microsoft OneNote cannot search for ink/handwriting, though it used to be searchable. It can search for text but not handwritten notes. My friend who just downloaded OneNote is able to do so, while my other friend who has used OneNote for years is also unable to search for handwriting. Interestingly, I can search for a 5-year old handwriting on a single section of a notebook, but new handwritings on a new section of that notebook is unsearchable. After writing on that page, it rendered handwriting on that page unsearchable, including the words that used to be searchable. I am using: Windows 11 version 25H2 desktop app, Onenote web (tried writing on both too) I have tried: Lasso tool > treat ink as > handwriting OneNote is synced to OneDrive Attempting to delete and redownload (couldn't fully delete OneNote) File > Options > Advanced > Pen > Enable automatic handwriting recognition Making a new notebook Searching handwritings from different ages. Handwritings from 6 months ago, and days ago cannot be searchable. Deleted cache Repaired Microsoft 365 Rebuilt windows search index
OneNote To Do tag changed to a radio button
After a recent update, the to-do tag still behaves like a checkbox but is styled as a radio control:. Here's why I say that. Some UI differences between radio and checkbox are: - Circle outlines convey a radio button control, and selection fills in most/all of the outline - Square outlines convey a checkbox control, and selection usually does not fill in the entire outline Radio controls are mutually exclusive by design (selecting one de-selects the others). They are not appropriate for a to-do list. I can get close to the original UI by customizing the tag, but not entirely: Is this bothering anyone else as much as me?What's New in Microsoft EDU - Back to School 2026 webinar
Get ready for back to school (Northern Hemisphere) with the latest product updates from Microsoft Education. In this webinar, we’ll showcase new AI-powered tools, teaching resources, and product updates designed to help educators save time, personalize learning, and support every student. You’ll see what’s new across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams for Education, OneNote, and more, including: ✅ Teach module in Microsoft 365 Copilot ✅ Copilot Notebooks ✅ Study and Learn agent ✅ Learning Zone ✅ Teams for EDU updates ✅ The latest OneNote EDU updates And more! Join us for practical demonstrations, helpful tips, and new ideas you can put to work as you prepare for a successful school year. And don't worry if you can't make it live, we will be recorded and posting this on the Microsoft Education YouTube channel afterwards. 📅 When: Wednesday, August 26th @ 8am Pacific Time 🔗 Register here: https://df.events.teams.microsoft.com/event/df.8c4f06fc-399f-4603-8023-f5fd92601bd1@72f988bf-86f1-41af-91ab-2d7cd011db47?source=copyLinkOneEventsShareDialog Mike Tholfsen Group Product Manager Microsoft EducationFeature Request: Add Support for Merged Table Cells in OneNote Interop API XML Schema
I'm writing to request an enhancement to the OneNote Interop API — specifically, the ability to support merged table cells in the XML schema used by the UpdatePageContent method. With the recent addition of cell merging in OneNote for Microsoft 365, this feature has become essential for creating more flexible and visually organized tables. However, the current Interop API does not reflect this capability, and there is no documented support for attributes like colspan or rowspan in the XML schema. Why this matters: Developers cannot programmatically replicate merged cells created in the OneNote UI. I am the author of the OneMore add-in (github.com/stevencohn/OneMore). Automation and content generation tools are limited in their ability to produce rich, structured layouts. Imported tables with merged cells are automatically flattened, leading to data loss or formatting issues. Suggested enhancement: Extend the OneNote XML schema to include support for merged cells, possibly via new attributes or nested structures within <TD> elements. Update the documentation and SDK to reflect these changes and provide examples. This feature would greatly improve the fidelity of programmatic content creation and align the API with the capabilities of the OneNote client. Thank you for considering this request. I’d be happy to provide use cases or collaborate on testing if needed.OneNote Interop API NavigateToUrl fails if called again too quickly
Using the Interop API, IApplication.NavigateToUrl(pageURL) Invoke once with a valid page URL, it succeeds Invoke again (within about two seconds) with a different valid page URL, it fails with COMException, HResult: 0x80042014 "The object does not exist" However, if you wait at least about three seconds in between calls, then it will always succeed. It doesn't matter whether the second page is in the same notebook or a different notebook. All notebooks tested here are synced to the cloud. It appears that NavigateToUrl causes the notebook to sync, because the OneNote notebook panel shows the sync glyph on top of the notebook icon and that is perhaps blocking subsequent interop APIs until completed? The IApplication instance is instantiated and disposed in a "using" block for each callOneNote Interop API UpdatePageContent changes lastModifiedTime of unmodified child elements
Using the Interop API, IApplication.UpdatePageContent(xml, lastModTime, XMLSchema.xs2013, true) Given a page with one Outline and two OE paragraphs where each OE paragraph was contributed by different authors on different dates. If any change is made to the Outline, such as appending a new OE, without modifying the existing OEs, then when the page is saved using UpdatePageContent, the lastModifiedTime attribute of all descendants of that Outline are updated to the current time. This results in losing information regarding when a particular author applied their changes. The expectation is that the EditedByAttributes (per 0336.OneNoteApplication_2013.xsd) of an OE should be preserved unless that OE's content has changed. Users who share notebooks often rely on the EditedByAttributes (who and when) for individual parts of a page to track independent changes. The current behavior loses that auditing capability. Note that this usage is based on https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/client-developer/onenote/application-interface-onenote#updatepagecontent-method which explains: You must include page-level objects in the UpdatePageContent call The dateExpectedLastModified is nothing more than a pessimistic locking type of safe-guard and is not considered in any regard in relation to the lastModifiedTime attributeOneNote Interop API UpdatePageContent breaks Spell Checking
Using the interop API, IApplication.UpdatePageContent(xml, lastModTime, XMLSchema.xs2013, true) Given a page with an OE paragraph, where the user selects a run of text, not including the end of the text, and the text contains spelling errors before, within, and after the selection range. When the proofing language is changed for the selected range, then the spelling errors after that range will no longer be highlighted as errors. Here is an example text run, before modification, with a selection range. Notice the word "benoyd" is misspelled and would be highlighted by OneNote. <one:OE alignment="left" quickStyleIndex="1" selected="partial"> <one:T><![CDATA[To ]]></one:T> <one:T selected="all"><![CDATA[infinity]]></one:T> <one:T><![CDATA[ and benoyd...]]></one:T> </one:OE> And after modification to change the language of the selected range: <one:OE alignment="left" quickStyleIndex="1"> <one:T><![CDATA[<span lang=en-US>To </span><span lang=yo>infinity</span><span lang=en-US> and benoyd...</span>]]></one:T> </one:OE> But the word "benoyd" is no longer highlighted as misspelled. The user can manually iterate through the text by interactively clicking the Review/Spelling button, causing OneNote to highlight the misspellings. Alternatively, if the user changes the proofing language of the selected range interactively using the Proofing Language panel, it results in exactly the same XML structure generated by OneNote natively, but OneNote retains the misspelling indicators. Making exactly the same changes to the XML using the UpdatePageContent API should result in the same behavior as using the UI.OneNote Interop API targets wrong window instance
C# with .NET Framework 4.8, Microsoft OneNote Open up two OneNote windows viewing the same page. From the second window, invoke an add-in command that uses the managed Interop API. Any queries or updates made by the API will target the first OneNote window instance, even while the second window instance is active and has focus. However, if the content of the page is manually modified from the second [active] window instance, then and only then will the API call target and update the page in the second window. Expectation is that the updated content will be visible immediately in the active OneNote window instanceOneNote Interop API: Local paragraph style attributes not retained after UpdatePageContent
Summary: When using the OneNote COM Interop API to round‑trip page XML, local paragraph style attributes are removed if they match the font properties already defined in the referenced QuickStyleDef. After this normalization, the paragraph inherits the QuickStyleDef’s color, which can cause text to become unreadable if the QuickStyleDef uses a color that is not visible against the page background. Environment: C# / .NET Framework 4.8 OneNote for Microsoft 365 IApplication.UpdatePageContent / IApplication.GetPageContent XMLSchema.xs2013 Description: If a page contains a QuickStyleDef with a specific fontColor (for example, #FFFFFF) and a paragraph that references this QuickStyleDef also includes a local style attribute that duplicates only the font family and size (but does not specify a color), the following behavior occurs: The page XML is retrieved using GetPageContent. The same XML is sent back to OneNote using UpdatePageContent, either when creating a new page or updating an existing one. After the update, retrieving the page again shows that the local style attribute has been removed from the affected one:OE elements. Because the local style no longer provides a font color override, the paragraph inherits the QuickStyleDef’s color. If that color is not visible (e.g., white text on a white background), the paragraph appears blank even though the text is still present.Reproduction steps: Create a new page using CreateNewPage. Provide XML containing: A QuickStyleDef such as: <one:quickstyledef index="1" name="p" fontcolor="#FFFFFF" font="Calibri" fontsize="11.0"></one:quickstyledef> An Outline with an OE referencing this QuickStyleDef and containing a local style attribute that duplicates the font properties: <one:OE quickStyleIndex="1" style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt"> <one:T>Example text</one:T> </one:OE> Call UpdatePageContent with the XML. Retrieve the page again using GetPageContent. Observed behavior: The returned XML no longer contains the style attribute on the OE element. All other attributes and elements are preserved. The paragraph now renders using the QuickStyleDef’s color. Expected behavior: Local style attributes that are present in the XML passed to UpdatePageContent should remain in the stored page XML, even if they duplicate properties from the QuickStyleDef, so that the effective formatting remains unchanged. Impact: Any tool that copies or rewrites page content through the Interop API may encounter unexpected formatting changes when OneNote normalizes style attributes. If the QuickStyleDef uses a color that is not visible, paragraphs may appear blank after round‑tripping through the API. Additional note: This behavior can also occur when updating an Outline that contains multiple OE elements. If one OE is modified and the entire Outline is resent, sibling OEs may also have their local style attributes normalized in the same way. If you want, I can also prepare a shorter version optimized for Q&A’s character limits or a developer‑focused version aimed at Office engineering.
Drawing on OneNote for IOs
I'm ready to give up on OneNote... it used to be good. I have two problems that regularly interrupt my work. The first problem I noticed was that when I double tap my Apple Pencil, although it is set to go to the eraser, it does that for a brief moment and then turns into that text-to-type pen. The second, and more important, problem, is that quite regularly all the drawing pens suddenly are greyed out and there is nothing I can do (other than possibly waiting a long time) to get them working again. The first problem I can work with, it's just annoying, the second has got me ready to shift my notes from OneNote. Has anyone got any suggestions for fixing either of these? The support crew have had me try the same things each week, and none of it works. Thanks in anticipation!
