OneNote Class Notebook Images keep disappearing when students click on it.

Question

OneNote Class Notebook Images keep disappearing when students click on it.

Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High 55

Images that are put in OneNote Class Notebook are now disappearing in my student's notebooks as soon as the click to type under them. It has never done this before. If they click on a different page & then click back on the page in question, it will show up again. But, it will disappear again as soon as they click on it. Is this happening with anyone else? Anyone have any suggestions on how fix it?

Ruby-N 11,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-04T20:42:17.3466667+00:00

Good day @Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High,

I hope everything is going well on your end.

I’m following up on the support thread we've been working through together. I wanted to check in and see if the information I shared in my previous answer helped clarify the issue you were experiencing.

If you're still experiencing any issues or have further questions, please feel free to reach out at any time. I’m always happy to help if you need anything else.

We want to ensure that everything is functioning smoothly and that your experience remains seamless.

Thank you again for your collaboration throughout the troubleshooting process.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High 55 Reputation points

2026-02-05T14:00:40.91+00:00

I should have put this in the original post: This is happening only on the web based OneNote. The students in our district have to use Chrome Books so they do not have access to a desktop version.

I tried the instructions that were originally sent for the Online version but that did not clear up the issue. I have gone in an added several images to the bottom of some the sheets and that appears to work for the moment as it appears that it is the last couple of pages that disappear. Since most of my assignments are only one page, the entire document was disappearing. Now it seems to be keeping the above documents / images that we need.

This only started in the last week or so. I have been using OneNote Class Notebook for the last 7 - 8 years and have never had this issue.
Ruby-N 11,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-05T23:47:01.5166667+00:00

Dear @Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High and @Cheung Kelvin,

Thank you for sharing these additional details.

It is helpful to know that the issue only occurs in OneNote for the web on Chromebooks and that adding images at the bottom of the page temporarily prevents the content from disappearing. Since this behavior only began in the past week, it suggests something unexpected may be affecting how the last section of the page loads in the browser.

At this stage, it would be best for your school’s IT administrator to open a support ticket via Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Support > Help & Support, so the engineering team can review the behavior directly. This allows deeper investigation into the environment, the tenant configuration and any recent backend changes that might be contributing to the issue.

As part of the community support team, I don’t have access to the detailed logs or backend systems needed to troubleshoot this effectively due to privacy and security constraints.

Thank you again for your patience and for working through this with me. I know how important it is for your students to have stable access to their notebooks.
Cole 5 Reputation points

2026-02-06T15:32:32.88+00:00

Were facing the exact same issue with multiple teachers of ours. We also use Chromebooks and OneNote on the web. Even with OneNote through teams, its having the same issue. A student will be filling out a form and then click around and the form will essentially disappear. Its causing work to not be saved and a huge inconvenience to the classroom.
Ruby-N 11,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-08T23:28:58.9933333+00:00

Dear All,

Since this issue has been occurring more frequently and I have not seen any related notices in the Service Health section of the Microsoft 365 admin center, I recommend contacting your IT administrator and asking them to submit a support ticket to Microsoft Support for further investigation.

As a moderator, I do not have access to backend systems or the ability to escalate cases directly to Microsoft Support. For a faster and more accurate resolution, the support ticket will allow the engineering team to review your environment thoroughly.

In addition, I also encourage you to upvote and leave a comment on the existing feedback thread: OneNote Class Notebook Image Disappearance Issue · Community

Adding your voice increases the visibility of the issue and helps the development team better understand how it affects users. This often speeds up prioritization and can contribute to a faster resolution.

Thank you again for your understanding regarding this limitation.
Stacee Campbell 5 Reputation points

2026-03-12T22:26:40.33+00:00

I have been asked by teachers in my district to investigate this issue. I can replicate the background picture disappearing in both the Teams notebook and the web version of OneNote. It seems to work in the OneNote desktop app. Has there been any progress on this issue?

4 answers

Your answer

Ruby-N 11,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-04T20:42:17.3466667+00:00

Good day @Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High,

I hope everything is going well on your end.

I’m following up on the support thread we've been working through together. I wanted to check in and see if the information I shared in my previous answer helped clarify the issue you were experiencing.

If you're still experiencing any issues or have further questions, please feel free to reach out at any time. I’m always happy to help if you need anything else.

We want to ensure that everything is functioning smoothly and that your experience remains seamless.

Thank you again for your collaboration throughout the troubleshooting process.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High 55 Reputation points

2026-02-05T14:00:40.91+00:00

I should have put this in the original post: This is happening only on the web based OneNote. The students in our district have to use Chrome Books so they do not have access to a desktop version.

I tried the instructions that were originally sent for the Online version but that did not clear up the issue. I have gone in an added several images to the bottom of some the sheets and that appears to work for the moment as it appears that it is the last couple of pages that disappear. Since most of my assignments are only one page, the entire document was disappearing. Now it seems to be keeping the above documents / images that we need.

This only started in the last week or so. I have been using OneNote Class Notebook for the last 7 - 8 years and have never had this issue.
Ruby-N 11,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-05T23:47:01.5166667+00:00

Dear @Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High and @Cheung Kelvin,

Thank you for sharing these additional details.

It is helpful to know that the issue only occurs in OneNote for the web on Chromebooks and that adding images at the bottom of the page temporarily prevents the content from disappearing. Since this behavior only began in the past week, it suggests something unexpected may be affecting how the last section of the page loads in the browser.

At this stage, it would be best for your school’s IT administrator to open a support ticket via Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Support > Help & Support, so the engineering team can review the behavior directly. This allows deeper investigation into the environment, the tenant configuration and any recent backend changes that might be contributing to the issue.

As part of the community support team, I don’t have access to the detailed logs or backend systems needed to troubleshoot this effectively due to privacy and security constraints.

Thank you again for your patience and for working through this with me. I know how important it is for your students to have stable access to their notebooks.
Cole 5 Reputation points

2026-02-06T15:32:32.88+00:00

Were facing the exact same issue with multiple teachers of ours. We also use Chromebooks and OneNote on the web. Even with OneNote through teams, its having the same issue. A student will be filling out a form and then click around and the form will essentially disappear. Its causing work to not be saved and a huge inconvenience to the classroom.
Ruby-N 11,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-08T23:28:58.9933333+00:00

Dear All,

Since this issue has been occurring more frequently and I have not seen any related notices in the Service Health section of the Microsoft 365 admin center, I recommend contacting your IT administrator and asking them to submit a support ticket to Microsoft Support for further investigation.

As a moderator, I do not have access to backend systems or the ability to escalate cases directly to Microsoft Support. For a faster and more accurate resolution, the support ticket will allow the engineering team to review your environment thoroughly.

In addition, I also encourage you to upvote and leave a comment on the existing feedback thread: OneNote Class Notebook Image Disappearance Issue · Community

Adding your voice increases the visibility of the issue and helps the development team better understand how it affects users. This often speeds up prioritization and can contribute to a faster resolution.

Thank you again for your understanding regarding this limitation.
Stacee Campbell 5 Reputation points

2026-03-12T22:26:40.33+00:00

I have been asked by teachers in my district to investigate this issue. I can replicate the background picture disappearing in both the Teams notebook and the web version of OneNote. It seems to work in the OneNote desktop app. Has there been any progress on this issue?

Answer 1

Andrew Aspaas 0

The simplest workaround I have now found is to paste a blank graphic at the top of the page, and right click it and set it as background. As long as I don't set anything to background after that, nothing else disappears on a click.

0 comments

Answer 2

Burch, Lori J 0

@Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High -- Curious if your issue has been resolved? Thanks!

This has been happening to me the past few weeks, too. Also web version. I use OneNote with students on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Fridays. This happened first (for my students) on Tues., Feb 3, 2026 and continues to happen in every class! Super frustrating.

0 comments

Answer 3

Dear @Westbrook, E. Blake/Davidson High,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand how inconvenient it can be when images inside a OneNote Class Notebook disappear when students click near them.

There are several scenarios that can lead to this behavior, including recent rendering changes in OneNote for the web or local sync and cache conditions.

Since you did not specify whether the issue occurs in OneNote for the web or in the desktop app, I would like to offer several verification steps and workarounds that you can try:

Make sure both your operating system, OneNote app and browser are fully updated.

For OneNote desktop version:

Option 1: Check the notebook’s sync status

Slow or incomplete syncing may cause images to temporarily disappear.

Open OneNote > Select File > Choose Info > Select View Sync Status.

Confirm that all sections are fully synced.

User's image

Option 2: Clear OneNote’s local cache

A damaged cache can cause display issues. Clearing it forces OneNote to reload a clean version from the cloud.

Open OneNote app > File > Options > Save and Backup.

User's image

Double clicks the Backup Folder, open the “16.0” folder, and then delete or rename the “cache” folder.

User's image

OneNote will automatically generate a new cache folder the next time the app is launched.

All notebooks will then reload from OneDrive or SharePoint.

This process does not delete any real content because your data is stored in the cloud, not in the local cache.

Option 3: Reinsert the affected images

If a specific image object is corrupted, reinserting it may restore stability.

Note: You can complete this step in either OneNote for the web or the desktop app. However, I recommend using the desktop app because it provides a more stable experience.

Remove the disappearing image.

Insert the image again using Insert then Pictures.

Test the page again.

For OneNote Online:

Option 4: Use OneNote Online to isolate the issue

OneNote Online does not rely on local cache, helping you determine whether the issue is device related.

Open a private or incognito browser window and sign in at office.com. Select Apps, then choose OneNote.

User's image

Navigate to the affected page and check whether the image remains stable.

If the image appears stable in this mode, you and your students can clear the browser cache to remove any outdated or corrupted files that may be affecting the page.

You can also ask students to temporarily switch to a different OneNote client. This helps identify whether the behavior is caused by the web client or by the notebook content itself.

For students who normally use a browser, ask them to open the same page in the OneNote desktop app, or do the opposite if they typically use the desktop version. Then check whether the image disappears in either client.

As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into performing deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions or need further support, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Cheung, Kelvin 15 Reputation points

2026-02-05T17:41:10.2866667+00:00

I'm having the same issue with Web version causing images to disappear for students. The trouble shooting tips did not resolve and student still have the images disappear upon click
Matthew Chadwick 0 Reputation points

2026-02-06T22:35:13.6333333+00:00

I'm also having the same issues as described above. The tips suggested have not resolved the issues though. Unfortunately this makes the class notebooks unusable for teaching....

Answer 4

It seems that the issue you're experiencing with images disappearing in OneNote Class Notebooks when students click to type underneath them may be related to syncing problems or display issues. Here are some suggestions that might help resolve this:

Check for Updates: Ensure that both the OneNote app and the operating system are updated to the latest versions. Updates can often fix bugs and improve performance.
Sync Status: Verify that the notebooks are syncing correctly. If there are sync issues, it could lead to display problems. You can check the sync status by looking for the sync icon in the app.
Clear Cache: Sometimes, clearing the cache of the OneNote app can resolve display issues. This can be done through the app settings.
Reinsert Images: If the problem persists, try removing the images and reinserting them to see if that resolves the issue.
Use OneNote Online: As a temporary workaround, you might want to have students use OneNote Online to see if the issue occurs there as well. This can help determine if it's a local app issue.

If these suggestions do not resolve the problem, it may be beneficial to reach out to Microsoft support for further assistance.

References:

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OneNote Class Notebook Images keep disappearing when students click on it.

4 answers

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