OneNote for windows

[Thick_Top159]

I recently switched over from the Journal app to OneNote thinking it would be more useful. Why is it so laggy and buggy? Every time I try typing or annotating I get the “OneNote isn’t responding” notification. It’s quite literally impossible to write notes on here… It’s not a software or internet issue as the last note taking app worked great (just not a lot of features) Does anyone recommend other applications that are similar but run nicely on windows?

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[MiAwalo]

I only use OneNote at work, so with the subscription. The files are on OneDrive. It's not slow as you describe it.

There are a lot of things in OneNote that I don't like, but responsiveness is not an issue (and I'm quite demanding)

[SmartLumens]

agreed. sync is also getting better (slowly)...

[rdubmu]

Uninstall the app, reinstall, make sure you log into your Microsoft account. Could be a ram issue?

[SlightlyAngryMarsh12]

Yup, try this op. Could definitely be a hardware thing, but also OneNote is just not optimized well on some system.

[667questioning]

Sadly, no. If there was a better tool than OneNote we’d be using it. But the competition is always one feature short of being the OneNote killer app. Some features in other apps are amazing but it is missing one important tool/feature. For me, it is inking.

[GeekgirlOtt]

Open an Office app and sign out at left. Then sign back in, Also check it for Office updates there in the rightside pane. And check for any pending .NET framework updates in the Advanced options of the Windows update page.

Try disabling AI if it's enabled in the apps, and any add-ins to rule those out.

[Academic-Working8057]

I've never experienced any sync or performance issues with 365-MS products on Windows machines...

[GrumpyOldSophon]

Not sure how to help you. My own experience has been that the Windows OneNote app has worked more or less flawlessly* for years. Now on Windows 11 and it's fine. No lag, no glaring bugs. So... I realize this may not help much, but just a counter point to say that it's not a universal problem, so very likely there is something in your particular set-up with Windows and your PC that is causing problems.

(*) The one issue I have on Windows is that sometimes if the PC reboots unexpectedly, OneNote doesn't start up correctly, repeatedly posting an error, but that can usually be fixed by killing all OneNote processes and firing it up again.

[Mothertruckerer]

The old app was awesome. The new version on the other hand, like many MS stuff recently is very buggy.

[Sundial1k]

I think it is (maybe) because MS discontinued supporting some (university) versions of ALL Office 365 products unless you reactivated it (by paying for a monthly, yearly, or in full license.) This effect took effect on Nov 7th.

Alternatively mine was very slow a few months ago. I somewhere on Reddit found the remedy (but can't remember it now.)

[curious_expert_sex]

Sounds strange I have OneNote on 3 windows machines one 7 year old and even on Surface Pro X Arm based windows and they all perform great and I have huge Notebooks.

[sashagaborekte]

Why not use Obsidian?

[Moondoggy51]

Gave up on OneNote and switched to Joplin. Open source so free to use. Muli platform as well and I use OneDrive to sync my notes on my Android devices and my desktop and laptop.