Where Does OneNote Keep Its Cache and Backups?
Where OneNote keeps its local cache and automatic backups on Windows, and why the real notebooks are not there.
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OneNote notebooks live in the cloud, and your disk holds two shadows of them: a working cache in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\cache and automatic backups in the Backup sibling. The version number in the path (16.0, 15.0) tracks your Office generation, not your Windows version.
New users hunt Documents\OneNote Notebooks because the settings page gestures that way, but synced notebooks never land there. That folder only fills for unsynced local notebooks. When notes go missing, the Backup folder and OneDrive version history beat every local path.
Where OneNote stores this, by platform
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0\cache
Paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\OneNote\16.0 into Explorer. cache holds the binary working copy, Backup holds restorable .one files. OneNote for Windows 10 (Store app) uses a Packages container path instead and keeps no Backup folder.
Frequently asked questions
Can I restore notes from the .onecache cache file?
No. The .onecache file is a working copy, not an archive: it cannot be opened as a notebook and version mismatches reject it. Real backups are the .one files in the Backup folder (File > Info > Open Backups manages them). Treat the cache as disposable.
There is no Backup folder on my machine. Where are my notes?
They are on OneDrive. OneNote for Windows 10 (the version without a File tab) keeps notebooks only in the cloud and has no local Backup folder at all. Sign in on the new machine and let it sync; the cache rebuilds itself.
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