After investigating this particular issue, it turns out that there are a couple of underlying causes for the ‘Invalid Notebook Name‘ error in OneNote. Here’s a shortlist of potential culprits: Now that you know every potential cause of this issue, here’s a list of methods that other affected users have successfully used to resolve the ‘Invalid Notebook Name‘ error in OneNote:
Method 1: Updating OneNote to the Latest Version
According to some users that we’re also seeing this error, this could be a symptom that you’re using an outdated version of OneNote. Keep in mind that by default, the app is configured to update itself, but there are some utilities that will actively block the auto-update function from kicking in. If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the issue by opening the OneNote app and forcing the app to update itself to the latest build available. To make matters easier for you, we’ve put together a step by step guide that will walk you through this process: In case you still end up seeing the ‘Invalid Notebook Name‘ error when trying to create a new notebook, move down to the next method below.
Method 2: Repairing the OneNote Installation
In most documented cases, this particular issue is related to some kind of corruption that is affecting the local OneNote installation. At the time of writing this article, Microsoft has already released a couple of hotfixes for this issue, but new user reports are still popping up signaling that the issue is still not resolved. If you already followed Method 1 and the issue is still not resolved, the next logical step you should take is to try and repair the installation. However, the steps of doing this will be different depending on if you’re using the classic desktop version (part of the Office suite) or the newer standalone UWP version. To accommodate both potential scenarios that you might find yourself in, we’ve put together 2 sub-guides. Follow the one applicable to the OneNote version that you’re encountering the ‘Invalid Notebook Name‘ error:
A. Repairing the Office Installation (Desktop version of OneNote)
B. Repairing the OneNote UWP Version
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