Can't sync OneNote notebooks from online to Mac app due to "account is out of space error", which it's not. Other Office apps are ok.

Question

Can't sync OneNote notebooks from online to Mac app due to "account is out of space error", which it's not. Other Office apps are ok.

Anonymous

I've changed my MS Office Family subscription email address (by subscribing with a new Outlook account). Everything works well except for the OneNote app which won't sync the three notebooks that I see when I open the online OneNote. I've opened the notebooks online then selected File - open in OneNote app. The notebooks open but then won't sync when changes are made. I get the error message: "OneNote can't sync your notes because your account is out of space. Page last synced at 8:23 pm | E0000796 4oxx3 | 0fbca213-2dbb-b144-b216-c6e7b7c38c12 202507081025". The account is not out of space (23GB out or 1TB storage available). Excel and Word files are no problem. I've deleted the OneNote app and all files on my Mac that have anything to do with OneNote, then emptied the recycle bin. Still no luck. Any suggestions, please?

Running MacBook Air 15" M2 with OSX 15.5 latest version. Office apps also up to date.

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3 answers

Answer 1

Hello David,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I understand how frustrating it must be to see a “OneNote can’t sync your notes because your account is out of space” error — especially when you clearly have plenty of storage available and other Office apps like Word and Excel are working fine.

This issue often occurs when OneNote is still referencing cached data or permissions from your previous Microsoft account, even after switching to a new one. Here's how to resolve it:

Sign Out of All Microsoft Accounts in Office Apps

OneNote may still be trying to sync using the old account credentials:

Open OneNote on your Mac.
Go to OneNote > Preferences > Accounts.
Sign out of all accounts listed.
Open Word or Excel, go to Preferences > Accounts, and sign out there too.
Restart your Mac.
Open OneNote again and sign in only with your new Outlook account (the one linked to your Microsoft 365 Family subscription).

Disclaimer*: Signing out will temporarily disconnect access to synced notebooks. Make sure your changes are saved online before proceeding.*

Remove OneNote Cache and Identity Files

Even after uninstalling, OneNote may leave behind identity files that cause sync issues:

Quit OneNote completely.

Open Finder, then press Cmd + Shift + G and go to:

     ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.onenote.mac

Delete the entire folder.

Also go to:

     ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office

and delete any OneNote-related folders.
Empty the Trash and restart your Mac.
Reinstall OneNote from the App Store and sign in with your new account.

Disclaimer*: This will remove local OneNote data. Ensure your notebooks are backed up online before deleting.*

Open Notebooks from OneDrive Web

Try syncing notebooks directly from OneDrive:

Go to onedrive.live.com and sign in with your new account.
Navigate to your Documents > OneNote Notebooks folder.
Click on a notebook to open it in the browser.
From there, click “Open in OneNote” and allow it to sync.

Please let me know if these steps help.

Kind regards,
Alex-MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Thanks for your quick reply. I tried all that before but it didn't resolve the issue for one of the notebooks. I think the large size of the particular notebook was causing sync issues, so I just created a new notebook and copied part of the information in from the old one. Not ideal but all that could be done. Thanks again.

Answer 3

Anonymous

I am having simillar problem but on my iPad onenote please suggest soln

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Can't sync OneNote notebooks from online to Mac app due to "account is out of space error", which it's not. Other Office apps are ok.

3 answers