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OneNote can't sync due to account out of space when I still have 80GB+ left in storage

JW 0 Reputation points
2026-02-05T12:02:14.33+00:00

I definitely have subscription with 100GB storage and have only used up 14GB, but my OneNote notebooks can't sync due to 'account out of space'.

This happened after I've logged off my account and logged back in. Before this my account was functioning normally.

Error message: OneNote can't sync your notes because your account is out of space.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For education | MacOS
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  1. Gabriel-N 17,785 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-02-05T12:42:08.8333333+00:00

    Hi JW

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand how confusing it is to see an “account out of space” sync message when you believe you still have plenty of storage available.

    To better assist you, could you please share a little more information?

    Which license are you using (for example: Office 365/Microsoft 365 A1, A3, A5)? You can check this by signing in at https://portal.office.com/account/?ref=Harmony#subscriptions

    Are you using the OneNote desktop app on Mac or OneNote for the web in a browser? If you’re using the OneNote app, please provide:

    • Your macOS version

    User's image

    • Your OneNote version

    User's image

    Also, could you please open OneDrive on the web using the same account and try to upload a small file (for example, a small image or PDF)? This helps confirm whether OneDrive is currently allowing uploads/edits and whether the account is being blocked by a quota/limit.

    One more important note since this looks like an education scenario: if you’re using an Education (A1) license, even though OneDrive storage can be up to 100GB, the school/tenant can enforce limits and your IT admin may set a lower per-user limit; once the limit is reached, OneDrive can become read-only, which prevents apps (including OneNote) from syncing new changes.

    If you can upload files in OneDrive web, please also try opening OneNote for the web and creating a new section/notebook. If that works in the browser but not in the Mac app, it may point to an app-side cache/sign-in issue rather than a true quota restriction.

    You can also review Microsoft’s general Mac sync troubleshooting guidance here: Fix issues when you can’t sync OneNote - Mac

    Looking forward to your reply. Once I have the details above, I’ll share the most relevant troubleshooting steps for your situation.

    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.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-02-05T12:02:23.1766667+00:00

    It seems you are experiencing a sync issue with OneNote despite having sufficient storage available. This problem can occur for a variety of reasons, including account authentication issues or temporary glitches after logging off and back in.

    Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

    1. Check Your Account Status: Ensure that your account is properly authenticated. Sometimes, logging off and back in can cause temporary issues.
    2. Verify Sync Status: Open OneNote and check the sync status for your notebooks. You can do this by selecting View Sync Status to see if there are any specific errors listed.
    3. Force Sync: Try to manually force a sync by selecting the notebook and using the sync option.
    4. Clear Cache: If the problem persists, consider clearing the OneNote cache. This can sometimes resolve sync issues.
    5. Check for Updates: Ensure that your OneNote application is up to date, as updates can fix bugs and improve performance.
    6. Contact Support: If none of the above steps work, you may want to reach out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

    These steps should help you resolve the sync issue with OneNote.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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