How can I prevent OneNote 2013 from constantly respawning the "Quick Notes" section?

One solution I found is running a script that deletes the Quick Notes.one file in %userprofile%\Documents\OneNote Notebooks\My Notebook periodically. It doesn't appear that there is an option to disable it being recreated.

Another option comes from one of the replies in this thread on the Microsoft forums:

I had to look back at how I did this on my OneNote. Open OneNote. Go to File, then select Options. Choose Save & Backup on the left of the window that opens. At the top of this window there should be a Save section and you will see Quick Notes Section, Backup Folder and Default Notebook Location and the location.

Change Quick Notes Section to another existing section in your OneNote. I made Quick Notes section refer to my Daily notes section that I type daily notes into and a Quick Notes section tab never appears on it's own anymore. Hope this helps.

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  1. In the upper left corner, click on File

  2. On the left side, click on Options

  3. In the OneNote Options window, on the left side, click on Save & Backup

  4. At the top of the of the window is a Save section, double-click on the Quick Notes Section option

  5. In the Select Location in the OneNote window, select one random name you already have

  6. Click on OK

  7. Delete the Quick Notes tab if you haven't already

Worked for me.


  1. Within your My Notebook, create a new notebook (I called mine “Dummy Notebook”).
    • Click on the My Notebook, then select Add Notebook
    • Name your notebook
  2. In the upper left corner, click on FILE
  3. On the left side, click on Options
  4. In the OneNote Options window, on the left side, click on Save & Backup
  5. At the top of the of the window is a Save section, double-click on the Quick Notes Section option
  6. In the Select Location in OneNote window, select the new NoteBook name you created (step 1) and click on Select
  7. Click on OK
  8. Exit the Options section
  9. Exit OneNote
  10. Delete the OneNote file you’ve just created via File Manager:
    • select My Computer
    • Delete the directory in %userprofile%/OneNote Notebooks/newname

That worked for me. Good luck.