What version of OneNote do I have?

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I’m just starting out with OneNote. Mary Branscombe’s articles in the AskWoody newsletters tell me I should download the desktop version of OneNote, as other versions have been, or will be, deprecated.

I discovered that I already have two OneNotes installed on my PC. One is called OneNote for Windows 10, the other, just OneNote. This one has a File choice on the menu, which means it is the desktop version, right? How can I tell for sure? The Help choice on the menu doesn’t give me the traditional About selection, which I presume would tell me. And, if this is the desktop version, how can I make sure it’s fully updated?

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I suggest uninstalling OneNote for Windows 10.

(It can be reinstalled from the Store, but you won’t need it.)

How do I tell which OneNote I’m using today?

Open the OneNote app and check if you have the “File” menu. If you have this menu, then you are using the OneNote app on Windows. Otherwise, you are using OneNote for Windows 10 and you should also see it called “OneNote for Windows 10” on the title bar. OneNote for Windows 10 will reach end of support in October 2025 and will not receive new feature updates, so consider switching to the OneNote app on Windows to continue to receive new feature updates.

Making it easier to get to the OneNote app on Windows

How to update it
…
In the desktop version of OneNote, click File > Account.

Next to Office Updates, click the Update Options button.

On the menu that appears, click Update Now.

What’s the difference between the OneNote versions?

2 users thanked author for this post.

lmacri, Radiophile

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(Wow, this forum seems buggy. I just edited my reply, clicked submit, and the reply disappeared. I now have to write my reply again.)

I uninstalled OneNote for Windows 10.

I’m still not sure what version of OneNote I have. If I go to About OneNote, I get

<!–StartFragment –><span class=”cf0″>Microsoft® OneNote® 2016 MSO (Version 2305 Build 16.0.16501.20074) 32-bit</span>

<span class=”cf0″>OFFICE 2019 DESKTOP Last updated September 2018</span>

This makes sense, I guess, because I have Office 2019. If I go to Update Options, then Update Now, I get

You’re up to date!

The latest version of Microsoft 2365 and Office are installed on your computer.

This makes no sense to me. What is “Microsoft 365 and Office”? I don’t want Office 365 and I’m pretty sure it’s not on my PC. How can I get the latest version of desktop OneNote? Perhaps I should uninstall my remaining OneNote (the one that is, apparently, OneNote 2016) and get OneNote from the Microsoft Store. Will this plan work?

 

<!–EndFragment –>

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Do other Office 2019 apps show the same version number?

Update history for Office 2016 C2R and Office 2019

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Close, but not identical to OneNote.

Microsoft® Excel® 2019 MSO (Version 2209 Build 16.0.15629.20152) 32-bit

Microsoft® Word 2019 MSO (Version 2209 Build 16.0.15629.20152) 32-bit

Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2019 MSO (Version 2209 Build 16.0.15629.20152) 32-bit

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Hi Radiophile:

I use Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Click-to-Run (C2R) on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 laptop. If I launch my OneNote application from the Start button and go to File | Account and look under Product Information next to the About OneNote button as instructed in the MS support article About Office: What Version of Office Am I Using? I can see that I currently have MS Office 2019 Version 2305 / Build 16501.20210 Click-to-Run.

If I go to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-2019#retail-versions-of-office-2016-c2r-and-office-2019 I can see that my Version 2305 / Build 16501.20210 was released 13-Jun-2023 and that I still haven’t automatically received Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 that was just released yesterday on 26-Jun-2023. The version numbers and release dates in this table are identical those listed <here> for the Current Channel of the subscription-based Microsoft 365 since all Click-to-Run versions of MS Office on the Current Channel are updated on the same schedule.

If I go to Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features my MS Office 2019 version is listed as 16.0.16501.20210.  I assume the version number starts with 16.0.xxxxx.xxxxx because all perpetual versions of Microsoft Office 2016 C2R and higher, including Microsoft Office 2019 C2R and 2021 C2R, are all based on the same underlying MS Office 2016 C2R software code.

However, if I launch my OneNote application, go to File | Account and actually click the About OneNote button I see a completely different version number that says Microsoft OneNote 2016 MSO (Version 2305 Build 16.0.16501.20074). I don’t know why Microsoft uses two version numbers for the same program but it’s normal – see my 24-Jun-2020 post # 2274964 on this topic.

I have no idea why the image above for OneNote says “2016 MSO” and not “2019 MSO” as it does when I click the About Exel button in Excel 2019 or the About Word button in Word 2019.

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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v114.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.31.270-1.0.2047 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2305 / Build 16501.20210 C2R

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Hi lmacri,

My PC is also a Win Pro 10 v22H2 laptop.

It’s interesting that you have that version discrepancy between what Office apps say, and what shows in Control Panel Programs and Features. My situation is not the same.

I’m also using Office 2019, but it’s the Professional Plus version (probably not a relevant difference). In OneNote (and all the other Office apps), if I go to File | Account and look next to the About OneNote button, it says Version 2209 (Build 15629.20156 Click-to-Run).

Next I go to Control Panel Programs and Features, and I find the row that says Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 – en-us. It says my version is 16.0.15629.20156. The “16.0” part is different, but the “15629.20156” part is the same in my Office apps and in Control Panel.

But worse, my 15629.20156 version number tells me that my Office apps have not been updated since October 2022. Yet if I try to update, I get

You’re up to date! The latest version of Microsoft 365 and Office are installed on your computer.

First, I’m obviously not up to date. Second, I don’t have Office 365 installed. Third, I am unable to update Office.

(I started this thread because I wanted to know for sure what version of OneNote I had (the “for Windows 10” version, the Office version, or the “desktop” version, which I understand can be downloaded from the MS Store. The weekly AskWoody newletters I receive tell me I should be using the desktop version. I don’t know if the Office 2019 version I have is the same as the “desktop” version of OneNote.)

I’m going to set aside my OneNote questions for now, and do some internet searching for why I can’t update Office.

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Radiophile wrote:

I’m also using Office 2019, but it’s the Professional Plus version (probably not a relevant difference). In OneNote (and all the other Office apps), if I go to File | Account and look next to the About OneNote button, it says Version 2209 (Build 15629.20156 Click-to-Run).

Hi Radiophile:

If you open Excel or Word 2019 and go to File | Account does the product information show what release channel you’re on? My first thought was that you might be on the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel rather than the Current Channel, but the chart <here> shows that the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel should only be on Version 2208 / Build 15601.20680 (rel. 13-Jun-2023).

A quick Google search indicates that MS Office Professional Plus editions include Skype for Business and are typically purchased through volume licensing channels by businesses and large organizations. Was your MS Office Professional Plus 2019 software provided by a past employer or some organization you are no longer associated with?

I found a problem almost identical to yours in shamu35’s March 2021 Office 2019 Update is Not Working in the MS Answers forum, but in this case their MS Office Professional Plus 2019 (volume licensed version) was being used in an organization and their manual update checks started reporting “You’re up to date!” after they changed the Update Channel in their global policy settings to Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.
________________________

If you’re certain your MS Office Professional Plus 2019 license has not expired and that you should be getting weekly/monthly updates on your release channel then it’s possible a repair could get your updates running again – see the ComputerWorld article 4 Steps to Repair Microsoft Office.

If you have a VPN be sure to temporarily disable it before trying another manual update at  File | Account | Update Options | Update Now, just in case it’s interfering with your connection to the remote MS update servers.

Radiophile wrote:

I’m going to set aside my OneNote questions for now, and do some internet searching for why I can’t update Office.

Just FYI, I found a statement on the Overview of Office 2019 (for IT Pros) page at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/office2019/overview#additional-information that says “There isn’t a new 2019 version of OneNote, but a version of OneNote is installed with Office 2019. For more information, see Deployment guide for OneNote.” I don’t use OneNote so this isn’t something I care about, but it would suggest that having an older version of OneNote bundled with MS Office 2019 is expected.
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[Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v114.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.31.270-1.0.2047 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2305 / Build 16501.20210 C2R

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Hi lmacri,

I bought Office Professional Plus 2019 in early 2021 from an online vendor (probably Newegg). It’s an OEM version. It was a download, and came with a product key.

I’m not using a VPN.

The Product Information pages are the same in all of the Office apps.

I clicked the Change License button just to see what would happen. I put in my original product key, and it quickly reverted back to the same Product Information screen, still saying “Product Activated.”

The Update button’s options are Update Now, Disable Updates (which implies updates are currently enabled), View Updates, About Updates. None of these choices were helpful. For example, I tried disabling, then re-enabling updates.

I found a website titled “The realistic guide to fixing Office 365/Office 2019 update problems”
https://office-watch.com/2019/the-realistic-guide-to-fixing-office-365-office-2019-update-problems/
I tried the ‘Quick Repair’ option. It completed without reporting anything. The ‘Online Repair’ errored out with “Something went wrong” with an error code that gave no useful info with an internet search.

At this point I ran Dism to learn “No component store corruption detected.” Then sfc /scannow to get this result: “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.”

I again tried to update Office; got the same You’re Up To Date! result.

I found a manual update process

https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/uninstall-update-office-click-run/

It says to open a cmd prompt as admin. Enter the command

“C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe” /update user updatetoversion=16.0.xxxxx.yyyyy

where xxxxx.yyyyy is the build number wanted. This command failed with with the usual You’re up to date! dialog. Except the text under that line said The latest version of Office approved by your system admin is installed on your computer.

Big hint there. So I opened the Group Policy editor. I found no policies related to MS Office.

I found this Microsoft website
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/troubleshoot/updates/automatic-updates
which said I needed to change the values in two registry keys. Time for regedit. The particular keys don’t exist in my registry.

The next section of the above web page discussed “How to add the registry key via policy.” I needed to download and install Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) and place them into C:/Windows/PolicyDefinitions folder. I did so. The registry keys did not appear, even after rebooting.

A paragraph at the end of the above web page says “After you copy the Administrative Template files to AD DS, you’ll find the update policy settings under Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office 2016 (Machine) > Updates in the Group Policy Management Console. You’ll also find a description of how to configure each policy setting.” This text is completely incomprehensible to me, and learning that “AD DS” means Active Directory Domain Services didn’t help.

At this point, I give up. Already wasted too many hours on a problem that is not a problem. My Office 2019 installation seems to be working fine. This thread is supposed to be about OneNote, but it’s mostly about updating Office. I thank you, lmacri, for your efforts, and I apologize for your wasted time also.

If a moderator or someone with the ability to do so would change the title of this thread to ‘I can’t update Office 2019’ or similar, I request that you do so.

Better yet, delete the entire thread.

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My Office account page looks almost exactly like Radiophile’s. I too have the desktop version of Office 2019 purchased at retail. I do not use the 365 version nor am I interested in doing so. I started using OneNote in 2007 but haven’t used it much in recent years. I still have OneNote files in my client database however.

My issue is how to access those files. When I attempt to open a OneNote file I get a screen that asks me to “Pick an  account to sign in with” either a personal MS account or a work or school account. I have either type. I don’t have a MS account nor do I want one. I login to my workstations using local accounts.

Where is the desktop OneNote that I thought I owned that should be able to start without a MS account?

There is no separate program file listed in Programs and Features in Control Panel. I have Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 -en-us with a  build number of 16501.20228.

It is a not critical thing since I have been able to get along for several years without OneNote features but it is super annoying when I want to see what I wrote in the client OneNote file in 2011 when OneNote was still a true desktop application. Much of the client files that are old are still pertinent today. I can open old Excel and Word documents from decades ago just not OneNote files.

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WSraysig wrote:

Where is the desktop OneNote that I thought I owned that should be able to start without a MS account?

Hi WSraysig:

I’m afraid I know very little about the OneNote desktop app that was installed with my retail edition MS Office Home & Business 2019 C2R since I never use OneNote, but here’s some background information. I can’t guarantee any of this applies to the Professional Plus edition of MS Office 2019.

According to the 27-Oct-2022 thurrott.com article Microsoft Brings its OneNote Desktop App to the Microsoft Store Microsoft recently combined the standalone OneNote desktop app (e.g., the Win32 desktop app OneNote 2016 that is bundled with MS Office 2016) and OneNote for Windows 10 (the UWP app available on the Microsoft Store that originally came pre-installed with Windows 10) into a single “unified” desktop app that is simply called called OneNote.

If I understand correctly a anyone can download a free standalone version of this “unified” OneNote desktop app at https://www.onenote.com/download, but as of March 2020 this OneNote desktop app should be automatically installed with newer MS Office editions and integrated with other Office apps like MS Outlook (see the MS support article Install or Reinstall OneNote for Windows if OneNote is missing from MS Office C2R).  The old OneNote for Windows 10 UWP app can still be downloaded from the Microsoft Store but is not recommended because it will not receive new features and will reach end-of-life in Oct 2025.

The Microsoft support article What’s the Difference Between the OneNote Versions? states in part:
<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>“The OneNote desktop app on Windows is part of Office 2019 and Microsoft 365, but it can also be downloaded as a standalone app and used independently on any PC. It runs on any currently supported version of Windows — including all editions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. Over the past few years, this app was called “OneNote 2016” (and “OneNote 2013” in earlier years). It’s now simply called “OneNote.”… While all supported versions of OneNote are free to download and use, certain premium features can be unlocked with an optional Microsoft Office 2019 or Microsoft 365 subscription…”</p>
There is also a detailed FAQ at Frequently Asked Questions about OneNote in Office 2019 and Microsoft 365 that has lots of good information.
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I wasn’t able to find any information on how to use the new “unified” OneNote desktop app without signing in with a Microsoft Account – according to the answers in PeterTomov’s 31-Dec-2019 Use OneNote 2019 Without a Microsoft Account in the MS Answers forum you can’t sign in to this OneNote app with a local account but I don’t know if that’s still true. Note that I log in to Windows using my Microsoft Account so if I launch OneNote from my Start menu I’m automatically signed in to OneNote (as well as my other MS Office 2019 apps like Word 2019, Excel 2019, etc.) even though all my documents and spreadsheets are stored locally on my hard drive and I do not sync files with OneDrive.
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According to the section Exploring Notebook Storage Options published on the packtpub.com site (an excerpt from the book Work Smarter with Microsoft OneNote) “You cannot save a notebook created in OneNote for Windows 10 on your hard drive, while OneNote (which comes with Office 2019 and Microsoft 365) can be stored on your local hard drive, on your company server drive, or on Microsoft OneDrive or Microsoft SharePoint.”

I can confirm that if I launch OneNote from my Start menu and go to File | Options | Save & Backup it shows my OneNote desktop app is configured to save my notebooks to my local C:\Users\<myusername>\ folder by default.

WSraysig wrote:

…There is no separate program file listed in Programs and Features in Control Panel. I have Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 -en-us with a build number of 16501.20228…

OneNote is not listed as separate program at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features on my computer either.  Like my other MS Office Home & Business 2019 C2R  programs, I simply launch OneNote from my Start button program list or from a shortcut pinned to my taskbar.

My MS Office Home & Business 2019 C2R just updated to the latest Version 2306 /  16529.20154 (rel. 26-Jun-2023, see the Current Channel version list <here>).

I can’t tell you why you have Version 2305 / Build 16501.20228 but I suspect that’s normal if you are using MS Office Professional Plus C2R (or Microsoft 365 for Business C2R) and/or you are on a LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) – see Garythingy’s 29-Jun-2023 My licenced word 2019 pro application isn’t working with full features as it should/did in the MS Answers forum as well as hpbgsd het’s 27-Jun-2023 Powerpoint (MS office plus 2016) is suddenly NOT PRINTING ANY TEXT!!!!!! in the Microsoft Learn forum from users who both use a Professional Plus edition and are currently on Build 16501.20228.

There also seems to be a bug in Version 2305 / Build 16501.20228  where it can incorrectly report that MS Office 2016 is installed – see Peter Volz’s 25-Jun-2023 Outlook 2021 Bug and forum mod Kerry Chen’s reply <here> in that MS Answers forum thread that indicates this is a known issue that Microsoft is currently investigating.
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<span class=”gdbbx-bbcode-font-size”>Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v114.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.31.270-1.0.2047 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 C2R</span>

1 user thanked author for this post.

WSraysig

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lmacri wrote:

… OneNote is not listed as separate program at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features on my computer either…

Hi WSraysig:

Further to my 02-Jul-2023 post # 2570366, I should add that I do not see OneNote listed as a separate app if I search for “note” or “onenote” at Settings | Apps | Apps & Features. As far as I know you should only see OneNote listed in App & Features if you still have the old-style OneNote for Windows 10 UWP (Microsoft Store) app that used to be bundled with Windows 10.

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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v114.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium 4.5.32.271-1.0.2051 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 C2R

1 user thanked author for this post.

WSraysig

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Thanks for the expansive replies. There’s quite a bit of stuff to digest here. I will try,  in the next few days, to try and unpack it all. In the meantime, while I was poking around on the computer at home over the weekend, I tested the OneNote application that is installed with my Office Professional Pro 2021 version (retail). That version of OneNote worked just like the desktop version of old used to run. No MS account needed.

One difference in the two installs, besides the year, is that the version at home was installed  on a bare medal system that I built while the one at the office came from Dell with MS 365 installed. I uninstalled that version and loaded the retail 2019 version.

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WSraysig wrote:

… I tested the OneNote application that is installed with my Office Professional Pro 2021 version (retail). That version of OneNote worked just like the desktop version of old used to run. No MS account needed….the one at the office came from Dell with MS 365 installed. I uninstalled that version and loaded the retail 2019 version.

Hi WSraysig:

I don’t know if it’s relevant, but my Dell Inspiron 5584 also shipped with a 30-day trial version of Microsoft 365 (or what was then called Microsoft Office 365). Before installing my retail version of MS Office Home and Business 2019 CR2 I made sure I was logged in to Windows with a user account with Administrator rights and then wiped Microsoft 365 off my system using the Office Uninstall Support Tool (Option 2) as instructed at in the support article Uninstall Office From a PC. If I recall correctly, that Office Uninstall Support Tool (SetupProd_OffScrub.exe) installed the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) on my system. This tool did a good job of uninstalling Microsoft 365 and I don’t believe there were any remnants of Microsoft 365 (e.g., orphaned disk files, scheduled tasks, etc. listed in the support article Manually Uninstall Office) that needed to be manually removed after the tool ran to completion.

I uninstalled the old OneNote for Windows 10 UWP app that was bundled with my Win 10 OS using Revo Uninstaller Free (Windows Apps tab). This removed the OneNote for Windows 10 UWP app from Settings | Apps | Apps and Features without harming my “unified” OneNote desktop app associated with my MS Offfice Home & Business 2019 C2R. However, TreeSize Free showed that there were still remnants of the old UWP app left behind by Revo Uninstaller Free in the hidden and protected folder at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.Office.OneNote_16001.14326.21386.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe, but I was able to remove those remnants using the Dism++ utility (Appsx tab) [see my 27-Apr-2023 topic Can’t Remove Remnants of Some Old UWP (Microsoft Store) Apps]. Going forward I think I’ll use either O&O AppBuster or Dism++ to uninstall any unwanted UWP (Microsoft Store) apps to ensure a clean removal.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v114.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium 4.5.32.271-1.0.2051 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 C2R * Revo Uninstaller Free Portable v2.4.5 * TreeSize Free Portable v4.6.3 * Dism++ v10.1.1002.1 * O&O AppBuster v1.3.1343

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