en-US office user

Turn off Versions and Notebook Recycle Bin in shared notebooks

Verified with Microsoft 365/Office 5568.1000 — updated on September 4, 2026

Microsoft 365/Office 5568.1000

Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

Path in the GPO console

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft OneNote 2016\OneNote Options\Versions and Recyle Bin

Description

This policy setting allows you to turn off version history which includes versions and the notebook recycle bin. With a 2016 format notebook, OneNote will automatically store previous versions of the pages in the notebook, and it will also store a recycle bin for all of the deleted pages and sections. If you enable this policy setting, it will turn off version history. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, OneNote will store previous versions by default.

Registry

HKCU software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\onenote\options\versions

Value name: enablehistory

Enabled: enablehistory = 0

Disabled: enablehistory = 1

Export Builder

BETA

Configure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.

These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO.

.reg file

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Turn off Versions and Notebook Recycle Bin in shared notebooks
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\onenote\options\versions]
"enablehistory"=dword:00000000
More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)

PowerShell

# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Versions and Notebook Recycle Bin in shared notebooks
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.

$path = 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\onenote\options\versions'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'enablehistory' -Value 0 -Type DWord

Building a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.

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