How to Delete a Notebook in OneNote (Web, App, Mobile)

The catch

Why OneNote has no delete button for notebooks

If you have hunted through the OneNote menus for a way to remove a whole notebook and come up empty, you are not missing anything. OneNote genuinely has no command to delete a notebook from inside the app. The reason is where your notebooks actually live: every OneNote notebook is stored as a folder on OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage, and the app is just a window onto it. So to delete a notebook in OneNote, you remove that folder from OneDrive, and the app updates to match.

This catches people out because the app does have a Close This Notebook option, and it looks like the obvious way to get rid of one. It is not. Closing only removes the notebook from your visible list on that device; the files stay on OneDrive and the notebook still exists everywhere else you sign in. Deleting and closing are two different actions, and mixing them up is exactly why a notebook you thought you deleted keeps reappearing.

The main method

How to delete a notebook in OneNote from OneDrive

This is the method that works for every version of OneNote, because it goes straight to where the notebook is stored. You will need to sign in to OneDrive with the same Microsoft account you use in OneNote.

1. Go to onedrive.com in any browser and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. Open the folder where your notebooks are kept. It is usually called Notebooks or OneNote Notebooks, and on some accounts it sits inside the Documents folder.
3. Find the notebook you want to remove. Each notebook is a single folder named after the notebook itself.
4. Select that folder, then choose Delete from the toolbar or the right-click menu.

That is the whole job. The notebook disappears from OneDrive and, within a sync cycle, from every copy of OneNote signed in to that account. If it still shows in the app afterwards, that is the closing step covered below, not a failed delete.

To delete a notebook in OneNote, you remove that folder from OneDrive, and the app updates to match.On where OneNote notebooks live

Desktop

Deleting from the OneNote app on Windows and Mac

On a Windows PC or a Mac, the steps follow the same logic: the delete happens on OneDrive, and the app just needs tidying afterwards. Delete the notebook folder from OneDrive using the steps above. Then open OneNote, right-click the notebook in your list, and choose Close This Notebook to clear it from the sidebar. Closing it after deleting is what gives you a clean list; closing it instead of deleting leaves the notebook fully intact on OneDrive.

OneNote 2016, the newer OneNote app for Windows, and OneNote for Mac all behave this way. None of them can delete a notebook on their own, so do not waste time looking for a delete option in the desktop menus. Open OneDrive and remove it there, then close it in the app.

Mobile

Deleting a notebook on iPad, iPhone or Android

Mobile is no different under the hood. The OneNote apps for iPad, iPhone and Android cannot delete a whole notebook either, so you again delete it from OneDrive. The simplest route on a phone or tablet is to open onedrive.com in a browser, or the OneDrive app, navigate to your Notebooks folder, and delete the notebook folder there. Back in OneNote, open the menu next to the notebook and close it to remove it from your list. If you mostly take notes on a tablet, our guide to OneNote for iPad covers setting it up well once your notebooks are tidy.

Before you delete

Shared notebooks, backups and getting one back

Two things are worth checking before you delete. First, if you share the notebook with other people, tell them first, because deleting it removes their access and any work they have not copied out. And if a notebook was shared with you rather than owned by you, you cannot delete it at all; you can only remove it from your own view, while the owner keeps the original. Second, copy out anything you want to keep, because Microsoft treats notebook deletion as permanent.

In practice there is a safety net. OneDrive moves deleted files to its Recycle Bin, and for a personal account they usually sit there for around 30 days, so a notebook you delete by mistake can often be restored from OneDrive’s Recycle Bin if you act quickly. Treat that as a backstop, not a plan: once the Recycle Bin clears, the notebook is gone for good, exactly as Microsoft warns. If your notebooks are also refusing to sync properly, our notes on OneNote sync problems sort that out separately.

After the cleanup

Set up a notebook system you won’t need to delete

Most people delete a notebook because the old one turned into a mess, not because they wanted fewer notes. The fix that lasts is structure: one notebook per area of your life, clear sections inside each, and a page template on every new page so nothing becomes a dumping ground again. Our OneNote templates drop straight into the app, and a tidy OneNote dashboard template ties them into one home page you open each morning. If you are still deciding whether OneNote is the right home for your notes at all, our guide to the best note-taking app weighs it against the field, and the OneNote hub collects the setup guides in one place.

Cleared out a notebook and rebuilt your setup? Tell us in the comments how you organise your OneNote notebooks now. The systems other readers actually keep up beat any tidy-up advice we could write on our own.

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