Onenote for Android not updating "Recent pages" but still syncs pages

Question

Onenote for Android not updating "Recent pages" but still syncs pages

Caleb 20

My "Recent pages" tab stopped updating sometime in mid 2025, despite the actual pages and content of my notebooks otherwise syncing normally. The sorting functions work normally, except they pretend that no pages newer than 2025 exists in my notebook, and the same old pages keep sorting to the top as "newest", even though I can access all my pages normally inside the "Notebook list" tab. New pages included.
Everything else about the app is functioning normally and syncs normally with Onenote on desktop.

I have read and tried following the instructions posted in a similar question (enabling all connected experience settings in the privacy tab, then clearing the cache and restarting the app) more than once.
I have also tried reinstalling the app, logging out and back in, and double-checking sync settings in the app and in desktop.

Edit: Correction - 2025 not 2024

[Tag moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | Other | Android]

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Norah-L 9,570 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Caleb

From your description, it appears that the Recent Pages tab in OneNote for Android has stopped reflecting newer activity, even though your notebooks and page content continue to sync normally across devices.

In addition to the suggestions from AI answer, here are a couple of other things you may want to try:

Clear the OneNote app cache on your Android device: Go to Settings > Apps > OneNote > Storage (or Storage & cache) > Clear cache, then restart your device. This removes temporary app data and can sometimes help refresh cached Recent Pages information without affecting your notebooks or notes stored in the cloud.
If you use any battery optimization or app-sleeping features on your Android device, also try excluding OneNote from those settings to see if that helps.

Please let me know how it goes after trying these steps, and I'll be glad to continue looking into it with you.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have 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.

Caleb 20 Reputation points

2026-06-21T22:52:33.5233333+00:00

Hi Norah,
Thank you for the response.
The cache has definitely been cleared many times, and even full data clears and re-installs of the app. The issue has been persisting for quite a while, about a year (let me clarify my mistake in the original post, 2025 instead of 2024).
And the app is also exempt from all power and background data restrictions as well.
But alas, the recent pages remain unchanged.
Norah-L 9,570 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T08:13:56.21+00:00

Hi Caleb

Thank you for the update and for clarifying things.

As a further test, you can try to open OneNote for the web, create a new notebook, and add a few new test pages. After that, open the same notebook on your Android device and access those pages directly from the notebook list. Then check whether they begin appearing in the Recent Pages section.

Let me know how it goes!
Caleb 20 Reputation points

2026-06-22T15:57:53.12+00:00

Hi Norah,
Good news! As I went to follow your instruction, I happened to remember that I had onenote signed in on an old laptop that I never use. I opened that and onenote had been open the last time I used it. Even though the laptop had been powered off the whole time I think that client was holding up my refresh pages, because I followed your suggestion and then closed the application. After I did that, my recent pages have been refreshing as expected.
Thanks so much for the help!
Norah-L 9,570 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-22T23:30:51.65+00:00

Good day Caleb

I really appreciate the update, and I’m so glad your issue has finally been resolved after all the time and effort you put in.

Wish you all the best!