You’re welcome.
I got bored waiting for responses on this and bored with turning shields off every few hours to sync changes - replaced Avast with Bitdefender and it works fine with OneNote.
I hate this isn’t solved so long. Avast Software s.r.o. knows about the bug since July 19, that is 56 days.
We’re not happy about it either… thing is, as JindrichK was trying to explain, the issue simply doesn’t reproduce on our systems.
We received one support package (it was from kpi I guess?) - however, it seemed the debug logging wasn’t enabled before reproducing the issue so the logs didn’t show anything (of course, there’s no 100% guarantee that they would if it had been).
So I’d suggest anybody who has this issue to follow Jindrich’s post; hopefully the logs will reveal something. Of course we’re hoping we’ll be able to reproduce it eventually (which would most likely make it easy to fix)… but so far we’ve been unsuccessful.
So, the debug logs can be not enough? I suggest, you find a colleague in the company, who uses OneNote and Avast, and experiences the problem.
It’s strange, that not all people have the bug. Maybe company Microsoft accounts don’t have this bug, but only home users.
Anyway, thank you for your efforts so far.
Hi! This problem with OneNote not syncing is a major problem, I’m sure, for a lot of users. I’m using OneNote on a daily basis and has been using Avast since a cupple of months or so. By now the issue with Sync failures and having to switch of the anti virus manualy and reboot OneNote every time I am to sync is just making the workflow too slow and unsafe. This is an unacceptable feature for a premium antivirus, I would say - definitely a deal breaker in my case.
So, any updates on this issue with OneNote sync failure? Or is the only option to change antivirus program for those of us who are using OneNote on a daily basis?
Avast Free Antivirus updated itself a few days ago. The bug is still present in version 23.9.6082 (build 23.9.8494.796).
As of today, Avast Software s.r.o. has known about the bug for 76 days, at least since their July 19 reply. You can recalculate the number of days by entering a white space into this online program: Avast OneNote bug age calculator. It will recompile itself, and refresh the output. A few Avast updates came out since they know about the bug, but they don’t fix it. Send them a support package with Enable debug logging as they asked in that reply. Maybe then they will work faster…
Same problem here. It’s cost me a ton of critical notes because I switched between two laptops (one now wiped) and I didn’t notice it wasn’t syncing. I place HUGE blame on Microsoft for not making these sync issues more obvious, but it’s also really disappointing to now find all of these reports here and elsewhere that haven’t been resolved. Turning off HTTPS scanning has me working for now, but I’m looking at other AV options until I know this has been fixed so I can have full protection enabled.
Hopefully I’ve been able to send proper Avast logs reproducing this error.
I think the critical key points in reproducing this error is to ensure the following.
- Avast Web Sheild is turned on with HTTPS scanning enabled.
- Run the new full version of OneNote, and not the OneNote for Windows 10 version.
- Open a OneNote Notebook that is saved in OneDrive with OneDrive logged in and running.
- Attempt to make some changes to a OneNote online Notebook and watch it try to sync the changes.
To see the error in the OneNote full application you right click on a Notebook and select the Notebook Sync Status and then hit the Sync Now button. Watch the error in this sync window. I suggest making changes to OneNote in browser instance of OneNote (or on a mobile) and see how the changes don’t come into the OneNote full application.
In the meantime while we wait for this to be resolved one can keep Web Sheild enabled and only turn off its HTTPS scanning option. At least then you still get the benefit of the other Web Sheild protections, albeit that HTTPS scanning is a pretty critical one to have to disable.
To Avast Support,
Let me know if you want me to post my Avast logs file upload File ID here.
Hopefully this can finally be resolved.
Thank you!
galfert: Yes, please post the File ID here so that the developers can look it up.
Very well…
File ID: NXUC3
I was curious to find out where Web Sheild HTTPS scanning logs are saved…
I found the following location:
C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software\Avast\report\WebShield.txt
But unfortunately that log file doesn’t have anything in it other than mentioning the times when the Web Sheild was started and stopped. Even though I had Web Sheild with HTTPS scanning turned on right before I duplicated the OneNote Notebook sync error.
This tells me that Avast is not seeing OneNote’s access to the online Notebook as a proper HTTPS request…probably because OneNote isn’t a browser and maybe the OneNote software is attempting to connect on a different port. That’s just an idea I have. Or perhaps there are other log files to look at the I have not found.
Hopefully in my previous post I’ve given enough detailed information for Avast engineers to be able to duplicate the problem themselves and not just rely on my submitted logs.
This is what the error in OneNote looks like.
I have the same issue, that when webshield is tunred on, one note can not sync.
Errorcode: “OneNote can’t connect to the server. Sync will resume once we connect. You don’t need to take any action. (Error code: 0xE0000070 b6d09)”
If i turn webshield of, it works fine.
@avast support: Please fix this.
For now, until they fix this problem, you don’t need to totally disable all of Web Shield.
Instead all you have to do is disable the HTTPS Scanning feature of Web Shield.
See attached screenshots on how to instead go to Settings / Protection / Core Shields / Web Shield / and disable HTTPS Scanning.
EDIT: See new solution a few posts down
So I did a remote support with Avast and they took over the computer.
They did some repair and they disabled some other settings so quickly that I could not follow.
I tested and OneNote application is now syncing with no problems.
But I asked the support person to tell me what they did to fix it and they simply said that they fixed it. I asked for specifics because they moved too fast. They kept saying, “problem fixed.” This is was less than helpful and I don’t understand if they think this is job security on their part of what they were being so difficult in answering my question. You can’t talk on the phone…this is all chat box typed. I’m a fast typer 80+ wpm. I tried…I got no answer and I got disgusted by the lack of detail on the solution. I mentioned that I needed the solution to post in the forum because I wasn’t the only person with this issue. I told them that I’m and IT person and that I would understand whatever they have as a solution no matter how technical it was…They were abstinent. So I ended the support chat and remote session.
I’m moving on…Avast is getting uninstalled. I will fly with just Microsoft Defender…I think it’s better than good enough. I think HTTPS Scanning is a man-in-the-middle and I don’t trust it.
I’m sorry …I came into this forum seeking a solution and I then I realized that no solution would come unless I took the proactive approach. This is not what I expected to happen.
Good luck everyone…whatever you decide
EDIT: I’m back.
Problem not solved…It isn’t syncing again. So there is no fix. I’m still uninstalling…goodbye all
I think I understand the fake fix by support.
They did a repair install and then tested and it synced…but the problem is that HTTPS Scanning doesn’t really get enabled untill you reboot…or maybe after a while after install/reinstall.
What is unfortunate is that I told support at the beginning of my remote support session that I didn’t expect a solution today. I told them that I just wanted them to see the problem so that they could forward it to their software programmers.
It’s a shame, how Avast support reacted to your question: “it’s fixed”, but they don’t tell what they did. Your decision to abandon this antivirus is totally understandable. Another reason to abandon it is its aggressive self-promotion.
I also noticed, when I started to investigate the problem 3.5 months ago, that certain actions fix the sync issue temporarily. On the Microsoft forum some people notice that their solution is only temporary, but most just try something, see that it worked once, and immediately post, that they successfully found a permanent solution. And they are thanking each other.
*** Workaround Solution - Follow Steps Below ***
I finally heard back from Avast Senior Support after my case was escalated. They provided some recommendations to try excluding a few Microsoft domains (too many of them I thought). I did some testing to narrow things down and I ran Wireshark and I figured out the following…
To me this fix although it does work should be seen as a band-aid temporary fix. I let Senior Support know that they should pass this along to the software developer team to fix so that this manual configuration is not required. This is affecting users that don’t even realize that the cause is Avast’s handling of HTTPS scanning.
Steps to fix OneNote sync issue with Avast Web Shield HTTPS Scanning
[ol]- Open Avast AV and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings. Select General ▸ Exceptions, then click Add Advanced Exception* ▸ Website/Domain
- Type in URL path *.onenote.com
- Click Add Exception button to save this configuration
- Notice new http and https exceptions for OneNote domain listed
- Close Avast AV and test OneNote syncing[/ol]
- It is important to select Add Advanced Exception and not the basic Add Exception button as that will not work for the required URL. This seems to be a bug that I’ve reported. If you don’t follow my exact instructions, you’ll end up with a file/folder exception instead of Website/Domain exception. This only happens if you use a short URL with one dot. If you want to instead use the longer more specific URL that I list below then you can simply click on the basic Add Exception.
See attached screenshots of the above steps for added reference (you need to be logged into this forum to see attachment screenshots).
I don’t know why I didn’t run Wireshark sooner to figure this out. It’s all right there…the specific URL is contentsync.onenote.com if want to add that exception instead of the global asterisk variable. This will likely work until Microsoft decides to use a different URL to sync and then this will break again. This is why Avast should find a more permanent solution. 112 days for the community of users to get a mediocre solution. >:( I hope that Avast doesn’t drop the ball on this and that they find an out of box internal permanent fix so that uninformed users do not fall victim to this issue.
Interesting. Two months ago user Leo3487 also suggested a workaround using an exception, but for me it didn’t work. I am glad, that you found one that works for me too. Here is what I did:
- Menu > Settings > General > Exceptions > Add Exception.
- Enter
https://contentsync.onenote.comand press Add Exception.
https://i.imgur.com/M2CszKo.png
I have turned Enable HTTPS scanning back on, as it is by default and as it should be. Now OneNote syncs. Thank you.
Needless to mention, this is just a simpler workaround and not a solution. Avast Software s.r.o. still needs to fix the bug, which we are waiting for 113 days (almost ⅓ year).