How to Move a OneNote Notebook to OneDrive or SharePoint

A notebook stored only on your computer can’t sync to your phone or be shared. Moving it to OneDrive or SharePoint fixes both — here’s how to do it without losing your notes.

Why: A “local” notebook lives in a folder on one PC, so it never reaches your other devices and nobody else can open it. Moving it puts the master copy in the cloud; OneNote then keeps every device in sync automatically. The steps differ slightly between the classic desktop app and the newer Microsoft 365 version, so both are below.

Step 1: Confirm where the notebook is stored now

Before moving, check whether the notebook is local or already in the cloud.

1. Go to File > Info (classic OneNote) or open the notebook list.
2. Look at the path under each notebook name. A path like C:\Users\…\Documents\OneNote Notebooks is local; a https://…onedrive… or …sharepoint.com… path is already in the cloud.
3. Only local notebooks need moving. If it’s already a cloud path and just isn’t syncing, that’s a sync issue, not a move.

Step 2: Move it in classic OneNote (2016/2021/2024)

The classic app moves the notebook in place.

1. Open the notebook you want to move.
2. Go to File > Share.
3. Choose the OneDrive or SharePoint location where you want it. Pick a recent folder, or click Browse to pick a folder.
4. Click Move Notebook.

OneNote uploads the notebook, switches to the cloud copy, and keeps syncing from there. The old local files are left behind and can be deleted once you’ve confirmed everything moved.

Step 3: Move it in OneNote for Microsoft 365

The Microsoft 365 app uses Save a Copy instead.

1. Open the notebook.
2. Go to File > Save a Copy.
3. Pick a recent folder or click Browse to choose a OneDrive or SharePoint location.
4. Enter a name and click Save.

This creates a synced cloud copy. Work from the new copy going forward, and delete the old local one once you’re sure the cloud version has everything.

FAQ

Will I lose any notes when I move a notebook? No — moving uploads a full copy first, then switches you to it. Keep the old local copy until you’ve confirmed the cloud version opens and syncs correctly, then delete it.

My notebook is shared with others — can I just move it? Moving a shared notebook breaks the existing share links. The cleaner approach is to create a new notebook in the cloud location and move the content into it, then re-share, rather than moving the shared notebook directly.

Is there a size limit? Notebooks stored on personal OneDrive are capped at 2 GB. Very large notebooks may need to be split, or stored in SharePoint/OneDrive for Business, which has higher limits.

Sources: Microsoft Support — Move a OneNote notebook to OneDrive · Microsoft Support — How to move my local notebooks to OneDrive or SharePoint