If you encounter the “We couldn’t open that location” error while opening a OneNote notebook or a particular section, use the suggestions provided in this article. This error is usually associated with the shared OneNote notebooks.
The complete error message is:
We couldn’t open that location. It might not exist or you might not have permission to open it.
Please contact the owner of OneNote.
Fix We couldn’t open that location OneNote error
Use the following suggestions to fix the “We couldn’t open that location” error on OneNote.
- Check for Office Update
- Sign out and sign in to OneNote
- Check it with other shared users
- Manage user access or contact the owner
- Check the backup folder
- Copy the affected section to a new notebook
- Repair OneNote
All these fixes are explained in detail below:
1] Check for Office Update
The first step is to check for Office updates manually. If the update is available, download and install it. Open Microsoft OneNote and go to File > Account. Now, click Update Options > Update Now.
2] Sign out and sign in to OneNote
Sign out of OneNote and sign in again. See if it helps. Open Microsoft OneNote and click on your profile icon on the top right side. Click Sign out. Close OneNote and reopen it. Click on the Sign in option on the top right side and enter your Microsoft account credentials to sign in again.
3] Check it with other shared users
The error occurs with the shared OneNote notebooks. If you have shared the notebook with multiple users, check if all the users experience the same issue. If yes, the issue is either with the sharing permissions or that particular section of OneNote. The section might have been corrupted.
4] Manage user access or contact the owner
You might have removed the access to the user who is unable to open the notebook. Check this. Open the affected OneNote notebook and click Share > Manage access. A new window will open showing you the names of all the users having access to that notebook. Look for the name of the affected user in that list. If his/her name is not available in that list, you might have removed that user from accessing that notebook. In this case, you can grant access to that user again.
To add a new user to the shared notebook, open that notebook and click Share > Manage access. Now, click Share again and add the email address of that user. Now, click Send.
If the user is already added to the list but is not able to open the notebook due to the “We couldn’t open that location” error, remove that user and add it again. To remove a shared user from a notebook, click Share > Manage access. Go to the Links tab and click on the Delete icon next to the name of the user you want to remove. After removing the user, you can add him/her again.
If you are not the notebook’s owner, you can contact the notebook’s owner to check its user access settings.
5] Check the backup folder
OneNote saves a backup copy of all notebooks in the Backup folder. You can use these backups to restore your notebooks. If none of the shared users can open that section of the notebook due to the error, that section might have been corrupted. In such a case, you can use the Backup folder to restore the notebook. This may work.
The Backup folder of OneNote is located at the following location:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\Backup
In the above path, replace the username with the correct user name and 16.0 with the correct version of Microsoft Office installed on your system. Alternatively, you can do this. Open OneNote and go to File > Open Backups. Now, select the affected notebook to open the backup. If the backup opens, you can copy it to a new notebook and then share it with other users.
6] Copy the affected section to a new notebook
If you do not have a backup, you can try to copy the affected section to a new notebook. First, create a new notebook, then right-click on the affected section, and select Move or Copy. Select the new notebook and click Copy. Now, share the section with the affected user and see if he/she can open it. If this works, you can copy the entire notebook to the new notebook and share it with the same users.
7] Repair OneNote
If the error still persists, repair OneNote. Follow the instructions written below:
- Open Windows 11/10 Settings.
- Go to Apps > Installed apps.
- Select OneNote and click Modify.
- Select Online Repair and click Repair.
That’s it. I hope this helps.
How do I find the location of a OneNote file?
OneNote files are located on the cloud storage by default. You will find them in the Documents folder of your OneDrive account. These files are not available locally on your device. When you unlink your OneDrive account, these files will disappear.
How do I clear the OneNote cache?
OneNote cache is located in the AppData > Local folder. To find the location of the OneNote cache on your system, open OneNote and go to File > Options > Save & Backup. You can see the path of the Cache under the Cache file location section on the right side. Go to that location and delete the Cache folder. This will clear the OneNote cache.
Read next: OneNote Sections or Pages disappeared.
