OneDrive File Issues

How to Remove a Deleted OneNote Notebook from OneNote for Windows 10

Elise Williams Oct 22, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to remove a ghost entry of a OneNote notebook from the local app interface after it has been deleted from the cloud.

How to Remove a Deleted OneNote Notebook from OneNote for Windows 10

Product: OneNote for Windows 10
Device & OS: Windows 10
Scenario: A notebook was permanently deleted from OneDrive, but the local OneNote application fails to recognize the deletion and continues to list the notebook in its interface.
Observed behavior: The deleted notebook remains visible in the OneNote app dropdown menu because the local session cache has not refreshed or synced properly with OneDrive.

Before you start

Verify that the notebook has been permanently removed from your cloud storage by checking the OneDrive recycle bin in your web browser.

Solution 1Recommended

Manually Close the Notebook in OneNote

The fastest way to clear a deleted notebook from your local app is to manually close it, which forces the app to drop the local cache for that file.

OneNote caches a list of recent notebooks locally to improve loading speeds. When a notebook is deleted remotely, the local app may still retain the cache until the notebook is manually closed.

Open the notebook list

Launch OneNote for Windows 10 and click on the Notebooks dropdown menu in the upper-left corner to reveal your entire list of open notebooks.

Close the ghost notebook

Right-click the name of the notebook that has been deleted from OneDrive and select 'Close This Notebook' from the context menu. This will instantly remove the entry from your list.

Sync Completed: Once closed, the notebook will no longer attempt to sync with OneDrive and will permanently disappear from your local application.

Solution 2

Sign Out and Restart the Application

If the notebook refuses to close or the option is greyed out, signing out of OneNote will force the application to clear its current session state and reload fresh data.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does a deleted OneNote notebook still show up on my devices?

OneNote uses local caching to speed up performance. When you delete a notebook on OneDrive, the local app may not detect the deletion immediately and continues displaying the cached name until it fully syncs or the notebook is manually closed.

Does emptying the OneDrive recycle bin immediately fix this issue?

No. Emptying the recycle bin permanently removes the file from Microsoft's cloud servers, but the local OneNote app will still list the notebook until you manually close the notebook or refresh your local app session.

What should I do if the 'Close This Notebook' option is missing or greyed out?

If the option to close the notebook is unavailable, the application is likely stuck in a continuous sync loop. To fix this, you must sign out of your account within OneNote, close the application completely, and sign back in to force a refresh.

Document & File Issues