OneNote does not Install as part of Office 2016 or Office 2019

[EddyK]

"OneNote does not Install as part of Office 2016 or Office 2019"

Microsoft is currently "experimenting" and secretly removing OneNote from all Desktop installs of Office 2016 and 2019. This is why you may not see OneNote installed on your computer even after several reinstall attempts. Note that Office 2019 does not include "OneNote 2019."

To see some Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Support answers to this issue, please refer to this Microsoft Community Thread I started a while back.

According to Microsoft's FAQ, Office 2016 will reach the end of its mainstream support lifecycle on October 13, 2020, while extended support will run through October 14, 2025. 

While support simply references this as an "issue," the truth is that Microsoft is intentionally removing the installs. To "fix" this issue, please refer to this Microsoft Support guide.

The reason Microsoft is making this change is due to the fact that they are trying to push Windows 10's proprietary OneNote application available in the Store application. However, a 1:1 comparison of the two applications display clear quality differences and a general lack of design consistency I would normally like to see across Office applications.

Both applications can be run at the same time but note that OneNote 2016 will only have bug/security fixes and no new features. Microsoft's OneNote development will only apply to the Windows 10 version. 

OneNote 2016 (Office Install)Windows 10 OneNote

To express your annoyance and disapproval by this change, I recommend raising your concerns on this OneNote UserVoice thead.

- EddyK

[IT_WinSec · Accepted solution]

Hey @EddyK

I agree with you but the same goes for any "cloud based" app - as a user, users simply use the product, they do not own it. Therefore, for anything which is auto-updating the users have no control. Office 365 is a service, not a single app with no updates like Office 2003, the entire mechanism is different (you know this).

If you use this, you are somewhat dependent on what Mother$hip decides and pushes.

It's like the planned obsolescence strategy

During the years they already made very powerful apps - Office apps - now they are trying to reduce their quality so that in the long term they improve them, so that the hamster cycle $$ goes on

>> https://youtu.be/Um7pMggPnug?t=122

The bigger problem is when we as a society will wake up so that corporations and monopolists don't control our choices but have a win-win situation like in the ideal economy.

[EddyK]

Hello @IT_WinSec,

Thank you for the detailed response.

My main intent of the post was to simply inform users of this change because my main problem is not the fact that the desktop version is being removed but rather that Microsoft had removed it in such a secretive manner.

I had sent in my laptop for repairs and had it returned upon which I then proceeded to conduct an HP System Recovery. I reinstalled all my applications which all turned out fine but Office was the outlier. The install page explicitly displayed OneNote but I was not able to locate OneNote anywhere on my computer.

I even contacted Office support where they were not able to provide any type of solution or advice. I then decided on referring to the Community. 

I am willing to use the Store version of the OneNote application but the manner in which Microsoft had handled this removal was, in my opinion, unprofessional and confusing.

Best regards,

Eddy