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How to Fix White Pages and Black Boxes in OneNote
Question details
The user is experiencing display issues in OneNote where pages turn white or show black boxes that temporarily disappear when scrolling.
- Product
- Microsoft OneNote
- Device & OS
- Windows 11
- Scenario
- Viewing or scrolling through notes in the OneNote desktop application.
- Observed behavior
- OneNote displays white pages or black boxes. The graphical glitches temporarily disappear when scrolling, and persist even after reinstalling Windows, Office, and graphics drivers.
Before troubleshooting, ensure you have successfully synced all your recent OneNote notebooks to OneDrive to prevent any accidental data loss during the reinstallation or profile-switching processes.
Test OneNote with Another Windows User Profile
Creating a new user profile helps determine if the display issue is caused by a corrupted local user profile configuration or conflicting user-level background processes.
Sometimes, temporary files or configuration settings specific to your Windows profile become corrupted, causing rendering issues in Office applications that persist even after a reinstall.
Open your Windows 11 Settings by pressing Windows Key + I, then navigate to Accounts > Other users.
Click 'Add account' and follow the on-screen prompts to create a new local Windows profile without linking a Microsoft account initially.
Log out of your current Windows account and log into the newly created user profile.
Launch OneNote in the new profile, log in with your Microsoft account, and check if the black boxes or white pages still appear while scrolling.
Perform a Clean Reinstallation of Office
If the issue persists across multiple profiles, use the official Microsoft 365 uninstall support tool to completely clear corrupted Office files and registry keys before reinstalling.
Switch to WPS Office for a Stable and Seamless Experience
Tired of dealing with persistent graphical glitches and display errors in Microsoft Office? WPS Office offers a free, highly stable, and lightweight alternative suite that covers all your document creation and note-taking needs. Enjoy a familiar interface and flawless performance without the heavy resource demands that cause rendering bugs on Windows 11.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does OneNote show black boxes when I scroll?
Black boxes in OneNote are typically caused by hardware acceleration conflicts, outdated or corrupted graphics drivers, or localized rendering bugs within the Office installation itself on Windows 11.
Will completely uninstalling Office delete my OneNote notes?
No, as long as your notes are fully synced to your Microsoft account via OneDrive, uninstalling the Office desktop suite will not delete your notebooks. They will remain safely in the cloud.
Can I turn off hardware acceleration in OneNote to fix display issues?
Yes, you can try disabling hardware graphics acceleration by going to File > Options > Advanced in OneNote and checking the 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration' box, though Microsoft has removed this specific setting in some of the newer builds of Office.
