How do I fix a slow OneNote?

SARAH STAHL 6 Reputation points
2021-02-07T00:18:23.013+00:00

When typing notes in OneNote, it will freeze and only the last part of what I type will show up. Like it is lagging behind and doesn't allow me to type my notes at a normal speed. I did notice that when I would type the sync icon would be spinning.

OneNote Management
OneNote Management
OneNote: A family of Microsoft products that enable users to capture, organize, and reuse notes electronically.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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  1. Brian Ekins 55 Reputation points
    2023-03-04T01:51:43.35+00:00

    My OneNote had gotten excruciatingly slow when typing. It took a second or two for each character. I searched and found nothing that worked, but it dawned on me tonight what the problem might be, and I wanted to share it in case someone else has the same problem. It was Grammarly doing it's spelling and grammar checking. I was using OneNote to track the activity on a project and didn't need any spell-checking. I'm guessing that Grammarly may also suffer a bit from disorganized content like this. I turned off Grammarly in OneNote, and immediately, I was back to typing at full speed.

    11 people found this answer helpful.

  2. Emily Hua-MSFT 27,581 Reputation points
    2021-02-08T04:33:30.953+00:00

    @SARAH STAHL Are you using traditional OneNote desktop clients? Such as OneNote 2016. (More information about different versions of OneNote, please refer to "What's the difference between the OneNote versions?")

    • If not, and you are using OneNote for Windows 10, to better help you, it's recommended to post a new qustion on the following forum, as OneNote for Windows is not supported on Q&A forum. Microsoft Answer forum for OneNote for Windows 10
    • If yes, I would suggest you go to OneNote Online check this issue. This action can help troubleshoot network and service factors.
    • If this issue could not be reproduced on OneNote online, please try the following suggestions.
    1. Go to File > Advanced > Under Display section, make sure Disable hardware graphics accelaration in unchecked.
    2. Check this issue on other notebooks which stored on local computer.
    3. Split the notebooks to have a check.
    4. Besides, you may refer to learn2skills's reply, check whether those links are helpful.

    Any questions, please let us know.


    If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it. Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

  3. SUNOJ KUMAR YELURU 14,016 Reputation points MVP
    2021-02-07T04:14:14.92+00:00

    HI @SARAH STAHL

    Refer the below url's
    Fix slow sync times and delays
    OneNote is laggy and takes too long to respond

    If the Answer is helpful, please click Accept Answer and up-vote, this can be beneficial to other community members.

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