Understanding Sharing Across Different Data Centers in Zoho Notebook

Understanding Sharing Across Different Data Centers in Zoho Notebook

Overview

Zoho stores customer data in secure regional servers, known as data centers. When you create your Zoho account, it is associated with a specific data center based on your region (for example, the United States, Europe, India, Australia, or Japan).

This helps keep your data closer to you, improves performance, and ensures compliance with regional privacy and data protection regulations.

If you collaborate with someone whose Zoho account belongs to a different data center, certain sharing features in Zoho Notebook are currently not supported.

What Are Zoho Data Centers?

Zoho operates multiple regional data centers to help organizations meet their data residency requirements. Depending on when you signed up and where your organization is based, your Zoho Notebook data may be hosted in one of the following regions:

  • US (United States)
  • EU (European Union)
  • IN (India)
  • AU (Australia)
  • CN (China)
  • JP (Japan)
  • CA (Canada)
  • SA (Saudi Arabia)

Each data center is an independent environment. Your account, notes, and notebooks all reside within the data center region you are assigned to.

How Sharing Works

Users in the Same Data Center

When both users belong to the same Zoho data center:

  • Notebook sharing works normally.
  • Shared notebooks can be accessed immediately after the notebook or notecard is shared.
  • Changes made by collaborators are synchronized automatically.

Example:

User A: user@company.com (US Data Center)

User B: colleague@company.com (US Data Center)

Sharing and collaboration will work without restrictions.

Users in Different Data Centers

If the owner and collaborator belong to different Zoho data centers:

  • Notebook sharing is not supported.
  • Sharing may fail, or the recipient may not be able to access the shared notebook.

Example:

User A: Zoho account hosted in India (.in)

User B: Zoho account hosted in Europe (.eu)

The notebook cannot be shared between these accounts.

How to Check Your Data Center

You can identify your data center from the URL you use to sign in:

  • United States – accounts.zoho.com
  • Europe – accounts.zoho.eu
  • India – accounts.zoho.in
  • Australia – accounts.zoho.com.au
  • Japan – accounts.zoho.jp
  • China – accounts.zoho.com.cn
  • Canada - accounts.zohocloud.ca
  • Saudi Arabia - accounts.zoho.sa

If both users sign in through different domains, they are likely hosted in different data centers.

Alternatives for Sharing Across Data Centers

If you need to share information with someone hosted in a different data center, consider:

  • Exporting the notebook and sharing the exported file.
  • Copying individual notecards and sending them through email or other collaboration tools.

Migrating to Another Data Center

If both users are hosted in different data centers and wish to collaborate, one of the users can migrate their Zoho account to the other user's data center. Once both accounts are hosted in the same data center, notebook sharing and collaboration will work normally.

Please be assured that account migration does not result in data loss when performed through the supported migration process.

To request a DC migration, contact support@zohonotebook.com and provide:

  • The email address of the account to be migrated.
  • The email address of the account with whom you wish to collaborate.
  • The target data center (if known).

Our support team will review the request and assist you with the migration process.

Frequently Asked Questions  

1. Why can't I share my notebook with another user?  

One possible reason is that your baccounts belong to different Zoho data centers. Notebook currently supports sharing only between users in the same data center.

2. Can I move my account to another data center?  

Data center migration is not generally available for individual Notebook accounts. If you believe you require a migration, please contact Zoho Support to discuss the available options.

3. Can users from different data centers view published notes?  

Yes. Publicly published note links can be accessed regardless of the viewer's data center.

Need Further Assistance?

If you are unable to share notebooks or notecards with another user and suspect that both accounts may be hosted in different data centers, please contact the Zoho Notebook support team for assistance.

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