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OneNote for Windows 8 uses cloud-based storage, such as OneDrive and SharePoint, to keep your notebooks accessible from anywhere.

Note: This topic is about the OneNote app you can get from the Windows 8 Store. If you're using OneNote for Windows 10 or OneNote 2016, you can compare them and see the differences here.

OneNote automatically synchronizes your notes whenever you're connected to these services. The steps for sharing and syncing can vary, depending on where you store your notes.

Share your notes with other people

You can quickly share a single page or share an entire notebook with other people.

Share a single page of a notebook

  1. Navigate to the page you want to share, and then tap its page tab on the left to select it.

    A thick border appears around the page tab when it's selected.

  2. Swipe from the right side of the screen to the left, and then tap the Share charm.

  3. Select the share target (for example, Mail).

  4. Follow the necessary steps in the target application (for example, enter the recipient’s email address and a title for your message), and tap Share/Send.

    Note:  The contents of your page will be shared in the body of your message. Recipients will not receive a link to the page in your notebook, or be able to edit the page in your notebook unless they already have permissions to do so.

Share an entire notebook on OneDrive

  1. Go to the OneDrive home page and sign in, if prompted.

  2. Tap the check box next to the folder that contains the notebook you want to share.

  3. Near the right side of the screen, tap Share. (Make sure you don't accidentally share the entire Documents folder on OneDrive.)

  4. In the form that appears, tap Get a link.

  5. If you want recipients to only view your notes, under View Only, tap Create. If you want recipients to view and change your notes, under the View and Edit heading, tap Create.

  6. When the link appears highlighted, copy it, and then paste it into an email message to let others know where they can access your notes.

Note: The following steps won’t work with notes stored on OneDrive.

Share an entire notebook on SharePoint

  1. Swipe upward from the bottom of the screen and tap Notebooks.

  2. Select the notebook you want to share, swipe upward from the bottom of the screen again, and tap Copy Link to Notebook.

  3. Switch to your favorite mail app, and then paste the copied link and a brief description into the message body.

  4. Add a subject and recipients, and then send the message. Recipients of your message will be able to access your notebook if they have permissions to your SharePoint site.

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Sync notebooks automatically or manually

OneNote automatically keeps your cloud-based notes in sync at all times, but after a service interruption (for example, during a long flight), you may prefer to manually sync your notes.

  1. Open any page in the notebook that you want to sync, and then swipe upward from the bottom of the screen.

  2. Tap Notebooks, and then select the notebook you want to sync.

  3. In the app bar at the bottom of the screen, tap Sync.

In the list of Notebooks, a small sync icon to the left of a notebook’s name indicates its sync status. Here’s what the icons mean:

  • Green circular arrows: Notebook synchronization is in progress. You can edit your notes during this process.

  • A red circle with an X: One or more synchronization errors have occurred in your notebook. Tap the red sync icon to view specifics and to troubleshoot the issue. For more information, see Troubleshoot errors in OneNote.

  • A yellow triangle with an exclamation mark: Your connection to the server is lost and you’re currently working offline. Once your connection is restored, OneNote will automatically sync your changes again.

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Manage sync settings

Use the Setting screen to view and manage your OneNote accounts.

  1. On any page, swipe from the right side of the screen to the left.

  2. Tap Settings > Options.

  3. Under Sync your notebooks, choose whether or not OneNote should automatically sync your notes. If you set this option to No, make sure you manually sync whenever you’ve made important changes to your notes.

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Work with misplaced sections

Misplaced sections can appear when OneNote attempts to sync changes to a notebook section, but can't find the section file. When that happens, a Misplaced Sections icon appears in your Notebook list. Misplaced sections remain in a notebook until OneNote discovers the new location of the section, or until the misplaced section is moved or deleted.

If a section in a shared notebook can't be synchronized, but you want to keep the information it contains, move the unsynchronized section to another notebook.

Move a misplaced section to another notebook

  1. Tap to select the tab of the misplaced section that you want to move.

  2. Drag the section into the notebook you want.

If you intentionally delete a section and you no longer need to synchronize or save your changes, you can delete the misplaced section.

Delete a misplaced section from your notebook

  1. Tap to select the tab of the section, and then tap Delete Section on the app bar.

  2. Acknowledge the warning message, and then tap Delete Section.

Note: Deleting a section is permanent. If you aren’t sure you want to do that, move the section to another part of your notebook instead.

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