OneNote access for returning employees is an issue

Hi Nunez, Ana,

Good day and thank you for articulating your concern.

In order to assist you with more accuracy, can you please provide the additional information to narrow down the issue:

1. When the user attempts to open the notebook, what behavior do they see, such as an “access denied” message or a prompt to request access even after approval? An error message or a screenshot would be greatly appreciated
2. For former contractors, did they originally sign in using a guest account, your organization work account, or the same email address they use now? These details help determine whether the user now has a new Microsoft Entra ID object, even if the email address remained the same.
3. Can the affected staff member open other shared OneNote notebooks without issue, or open newly created OneNote notebooks that are shared with them?
4. Is the issue limited to a single notebook, multiple notebooks, or only specific sections or pages within a notebook? If only one notebook is affected, this strongly points to stale permissions tied to a previously deleted user identity.
5. Do any other staffs have the same issues or it just affected this specific one?

These are structured to quickly determine whether the issue is identity-related, notebook ownership–related, or SharePoint/OneDrive binding–related, which are the three most common causes in your scenario.

In the meantime, you can go to Site Settings > Site Permissions and remove the user from the group entirely and then re-add them. This forces a refresh of their User Information List entry. If your site uses fine-grained permissions, ensure the "Limited Access User Provider" feature isn't interfering. Usually, though, a simple re-addition fixes the "invalid" token issue.

Once I have a clearer understanding of your current situation, I’ll be happy to assist you with greater accuracy. Please feel free to share any additional details you believe are relevant. Screenshots are especially helpful and much appreciated.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out. 

I'm looking forward to your reply. 

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For returning or re-hired staff who cannot access a OneNote-based policy document, focus on how the OneNote notebook’s permissions are set and repaired rather than switching platforms.

In education tenants, policy/protocol documents are often stored in a Class Notebook or Staff Notebook. These notebooks use special section groups like Content Library and Collaboration Space with custom permissions. When permissions are interrupted (for example, account changes, staff leaving and rejoining, or moving section groups), OneNote can automatically lock these areas so only the owner sees them, even if SharePoint/OneDrive permissions look correct.

Use these steps on the affected notebook(s):

1. Go to the OneNote notebook repair tool
   • As the notebook owner, visit the Fix notebooks page on OneNote.com: https://www.onenote.com/classnotebook/notebook-fix.
2. Repair permissions
   • Locate the specific Staff Notebook or Class Notebook that contains the policy document.
   • Select Fix Permissions next to that notebook.
   • Wait until the status shows Permissions Fixed.
   • Have the returning staff sign out of OneNote/Office apps and sign back in, then try accessing the notebook again.
3. If sections like Content Library/Collaboration Space are missing or still inaccessible
   • On the same notebook, confirm that Welcome, Collaboration Space, and Content Library exist.
   • If Collaboration Space is not visible under Welcome in the notebook pane, right-click the Collaboration Space section group, choose Move, select the notebook name as the destination, and select Move. Once it is back at the top level, staff should see it again.
4. Keep OneNote clients updated
   • Install the latest updates for OneNote (OneNote for Microsoft 365/2021/2016 or Mac) on staff devices. OneNote for Windows 10 does not require these specific updates.
5. If this is a Staff Notebook created via Microsoft Teams
   • Ensure the returning employee is correctly added back to the corresponding Team. Membership in the Team controls access to the Staff Notebook; if they are not a member, they will not see the notebook even if the notebook itself looks correctly shared.

These steps address the most common cause where everything appears correctly shared in SharePoint/OneDrive, but OneNote’s internal Content Library/Collaboration Space permissions have locked down access for non-owners.

References:

• Fix the Content Library when people lose access in Class Notebook
• Fix Class Notebook when Welcome, Collaboration Space, or Content Library are missing
• Add or remove staff members in Staff Notebook for OneNote