Share via

How to fix "Server is busy" errors on OneNote for macOS

Paco 0 Reputation points
2026-03-30T15:38:57.4266667+00:00

OneNote macOS

Operative System: macOS Sequoia v15.7.5

OneNote for macOS v16.107.2

Unable to sync your notes because the server is busy. We'll try again later.

(Error code: 0xE0001474 4lwlb).OneNote Not Syncing

Everything was working fine until the last couple of updates of the OneNote software.

How to fix this issue?

Thank you very much for any help and advice.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | MacOS
0 comments No comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. IGYQ 18,780 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-03-31T15:08:46.1933333+00:00

    Can you try this method as well. Go and open onenote.com(web version) and try to check if you can operate your notebooks there. This will help us finding the fault and if it's working there let me know.

    0 comments No comments

  2. Paco 0 Reputation points
    2026-03-31T11:26:53.7133333+00:00

    Independent advisor: Hi! Thank you for your kind reply.

    After following all the suggested steps to the letter, pls check these screenshots.

    1. Files deletion

    截圖 2026-03-31 下午6.53.55

    1. Quit and reopen the app

    截圖 2026-03-31 下午6.57.52

    1. Quit and reopen the app again

    截圖 2026-03-31 晚上7.04.33

    1. Quit and reopen the app again

    截圖 2026-03-31 晚上7.09.37

    截圖 2026-03-31 晚上7.14.38

    The issue still persists.

    Thank you for your help.

    0 comments No comments

  3. IGYQ 18,780 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-03-30T16:43:25.16+00:00

    Hi!

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

    This is a fairly common issue with Microsoft OneNote on macOS, especially after recent updates. The error usually doesn’t actually mean the server is busy, it’s often a sync/auth/cache problem.

    Do a quick test by clearing the cache on your computer.

    1. Quit OneNote completely
    2. In Finder → press Cmd + Shift + G
    3. Go to: ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.onenote.mac/Data/Library/Caches
    4. Delete contents of that folder
    5. Reopen OneNote

    Do this test first and let me know what will happen so I can assist you further.

    0 comments No comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.