Help with Understanding How and Where OneNote Notebooks are Saved
I use multiple computers, including a work desktop, a work laptop and my home desktop. I have linked my personal OneDrive account on all of the PCs that I use.
A while back, I began using OneNote 2016. Being a bit OCD, I am trying to organize my OneNote Notebooks and consolidate them into one area; preferably in a folder on my personal OneDrive account.
I began by going into OneNote 2016 on all of the PCs that I use and went to File / Options / Save & Backup and set the default notebook location to c:\users\my.name\OneDrive\
Scenario 1 - When I create a new notebook in OneNote 2016, my personal OneDrive account is selected in the left column (the other options are This PC, Add a Place and Browse). If I type in the notebook name and hit create notebook then it creates a shortcut for the notebook in my personal OneDrive account within the Documents folder. There is no directory created with the .one or .onetoc2 files saved in it; only the shortcut.
Scenario 2 - If I create a new notebook in OneNote 2016, and click on "Create in a Different Folder" it opens a file explorer window showing the folders within the following path "https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" which appears to by my personal OneDrive account. If I click on my personal OneDrive account on the left hand side of the file explorer window, browse to "Documents\OneNote Notebooks", name my notebook and hit the create button then it creates a new folder in that path as my Notebook name which holds the .one and .onetoc2 files.
If I use the Windows file explorer and browse to my personal OneDrive account and go to "Documents\OneNote Notebooks" then I can see both the shortcut to my original notebook that I created as described in my first scenario and also the folder for my second notebook (which contains the .one and .onetoc2 files) as described in my second scenario.
If I use Windows file explorer and go to "https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" then I can see the folder (and the .one and .onetoc2 files) that were created in my first scenario instead of the shortcut.
With that said, why does browsing to my personal OneDrive account using Windows explorer show me shortcuts for my OneNote 2016 notebooks while putting ""https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" into the address bar of the file explorer show me all of the folders and files for my OneNote 2016 notebooks?
Also, why is it if I create a notebook using scenario 1 it only creates a shortcut which is visible in my personal OneDrive account but scenario 2 only creates the folder and files for the notebook which are visible in my personal OneDrive account?
I have also noticed OneNote 2016 does not like it if I browse to "https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" and cut the notebook folder and paste it into "c:\users\my.name\OneDrive
I guess I need a better understanding how the OneNote manages the creation and saving of Notebooks.
A while back, I began using OneNote 2016. Being a bit OCD, I am trying to organize my OneNote Notebooks and consolidate them into one area; preferably in a folder on my personal OneDrive account.
I began by going into OneNote 2016 on all of the PCs that I use and went to File / Options / Save & Backup and set the default notebook location to c:\users\my.name\OneDrive\
Scenario 1 - When I create a new notebook in OneNote 2016, my personal OneDrive account is selected in the left column (the other options are This PC, Add a Place and Browse). If I type in the notebook name and hit create notebook then it creates a shortcut for the notebook in my personal OneDrive account within the Documents folder. There is no directory created with the .one or .onetoc2 files saved in it; only the shortcut.
Scenario 2 - If I create a new notebook in OneNote 2016, and click on "Create in a Different Folder" it opens a file explorer window showing the folders within the following path "https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" which appears to by my personal OneDrive account. If I click on my personal OneDrive account on the left hand side of the file explorer window, browse to "Documents\OneNote Notebooks", name my notebook and hit the create button then it creates a new folder in that path as my Notebook name which holds the .one and .onetoc2 files.
If I use the Windows file explorer and browse to my personal OneDrive account and go to "Documents\OneNote Notebooks" then I can see both the shortcut to my original notebook that I created as described in my first scenario and also the folder for my second notebook (which contains the .one and .onetoc2 files) as described in my second scenario.
If I use Windows file explorer and go to "https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" then I can see the folder (and the .one and .onetoc2 files) that were created in my first scenario instead of the shortcut.
With that said, why does browsing to my personal OneDrive account using Windows explorer show me shortcuts for my OneNote 2016 notebooks while putting ""https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" into the address bar of the file explorer show me all of the folders and files for my OneNote 2016 notebooks?
Also, why is it if I create a notebook using scenario 1 it only creates a shortcut which is visible in my personal OneDrive account but scenario 2 only creates the folder and files for the notebook which are visible in my personal OneDrive account?
I have also noticed OneNote 2016 does not like it if I browse to "https://d.docs.live.net/2bef2cbcexxxxxx" and cut the notebook folder and paste it into "c:\users\my.name\OneDrive
I guess I need a better understanding how the OneNote manages the creation and saving of Notebooks.
ASKER
Thanks, Jonnathan. I like to keep my files neatly organized in folders and the way OneNote was handling the creation of Notebooks was throwing me for a bit of a loop. My fear was not know exactly where my Notebooks lived and formatting a computer only to discover that I lost my Notebooks after the fact.
ASKER
I found these two articles that do an excellent job of explaining how OneNote and OneDrive manages the notebooks and syncing.
https://bealers.com/2016/11/15/onenote-sync-onedrive/
https://getonetastic.com/blog-onenote-sync
https://bealers.com/2016/11/15/onenote-sync-onedrive/
https://getonetastic.com/blog-onenote-sync
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We get it - no one likes a content blocker. Take one extra minute and find out why we block content.
Then to add that same OneNote Notebook to other PC's I use the "Open Other Notebooks" option, not the "Add Notebook". Then browse to the same Notebook in my OneDrive.
When browsing to my OneNote Notebook file on my PC (local OneDrive folder), it also shows a shortcut only. This is apparently because when you use OneNote with OneDrive it only creates a cached local copy (For sync purposes I assume). To see and/or delete the original Notebook you have to browse OneDrive online (via browser).
Just be sure you are using OneNote 2016 desktop app and not the metro app with Windows 10. Preferences aside, it seems the metro/tablet app is limited and the layout is not that great.
Hope this helps and I stand to be corrected on any of these points. Beyond that I'm not much of an expert with OneNote and can't comment on your final query :)
Once I got it working it serves me well, but was also a little confusing initially. In my trial and error I also just deleted all the excess Notebooks I created via OneDrive in the browser - but be sure you don't delete something by accident when you do this.