Article owned by team: Information Systems and Support (ISS)
Click here to see an introduction video on OneNote
OneNote is your very own digital notebook.
Whether you have a million ideas, a million things to do, Or a million things to remember, OneNote is the perfect app for capturing pretty much everything.
With OneNote, you can:
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Type notes or record audio at your laptop.
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Sketch or write ideas on your tablet.
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Add picture from your phone.
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Find notes instantly.
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Freely move notes around the page.
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Organize those pages into sections.
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Keep your sections in one or more notebooks.
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Switch devices and pick up right where you left off.
- Share your notebooks with others so you can all view and contribute at the same time.
The information contained in this article outlines how to use aspects of Microsoft OneNote. If your preferred method of learning is face-to-face and you would like some additional help on this subject, then please click here to raise a Service Case with Information Systems and Support (ISS). One of our friendly ISS team will then contact you directly and arrange a time to either meet with you online or in person at a time and place that best suits with you.
Understand what OneNote is
The below information is an overview of Microsoft OneNote. If your preferred method of learning is face-to-face and you would like some additional help on this subject, then please click here to raise a Service Case with Information Systems and Support (ISS). One of our friendly ISS team will then contact you directly and arrange a time to either meet with you online or in person at a time and place that best suits with you.
OneNote is a digital note-taking app that provides a single place for keeping all of your notes, research, plans, and information — everything you need to remember and manage in your life at home, at work, or at school.
In OneNote, notebooks never run out of paper. Notes are easy to organize, print, and share, and you can search and find important information quickly, even if you forget where you've originally captured it. Best of all, your notebooks are stored online so you can easily get to them on any of your mobile devices.
Video Introducing OneNote
Start your very own digital notebook
Take command over your next project, trip, or class. OneNote notebooks are designed to make organization optional but easy. Every notebook is automatically organized into sections which contain pages — letting you decide visually how you want to arrange your notes. Keep one section for your song writing, another one for recipes, or start jotting down plans for your next vacation or the new school year. Freely move things around whenever and however you want. Whatever you care about, OneNote makes it easy to keep tabs on everything in your life.
Type anywhere, capture anything
Experience true freedom in taking notes. In OneNote, every page is an infinite canvas. Just click and type anywhere you want. Notes are in containers that are easy to move around where you want them, letting you organize your thoughts. Tables are as easy to create as hitting the Tab key while you type. Insert pictures, attach files, or capture the sound of your own voice. And when you’re researching or writing a paper or a project plan, OneNote can help you outline, annotate, and share your ideas in any way you want.
Tag notes, make lists, recall everything
OneNote can do things your old paper notebooks can only dream about. Use tags to categorize and prioritize notes that need to stand out. Whether you’re making a simple checklist or planning a large-scale event like a wedding, you can easily mark what’s important, call out what’s still in question, and assign action items for yourself and others. Add To-Do tags to your lists with a simple click, so you can check off and track your progress, even when you switch between your devices on the go. And forget about flipping through pages trying to find something — OneNote puts all of your information at your fingertips with a quick search, no matter where you might have jotted it down.
Think, plan, and share together with others
Use OneNote just for yourself, or invite friends, family, co-workers, or classmates to collaborate with you in a shared notebook. Together, you can keep track of teamwork, homework, home projects, or family events and vacation memories. Everyone you invite can add their own text, pictures, files, and anything else in a notebook you’ve shared, no matter where in the world they are. Best of all, there’s no messing around with files and folders — OneNote makes everything work with the click of a button.
Take OneNote with you
Always stay connected to your notebooks everywhere you go — on just about any computer, phone, or mobile device. Use OneNote on your Mac or PC to do research at home, check your grocery list at the store in OneNote on your phone, or keep a travel journal in OneNote on your tablet while you go sightseeing. Even if you’re stranded somewhere, any standard Web browser will get you access to your notebooks in no time. Visit www.onenote.com to download OneNote for all of your preferred devices.
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Learn basic tasks in OneNote for Windows 10
The below information outlines how some of the basic tasks in Microsoft OneNote. If your preferred method of learning is face-to-face and you would like some additional help on this subject, then please click here to raise a Service Case with Information Systems and Support (ISS). One of our friendly ISS team will then contact you directly and arrange a time to either meet with you online or in person at a time and place that best suits with you.
OneNote for Windows 10 is pre-installed on Windows 10. When you use it for the first time, a default notebook is created for you. You can use this default notebook and add your own pages to it, or you can create a new, blank notebook at any time.
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On any page, in the upper left click the Show Notebook List button
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At the bottom of the pane that appears, click + Notebook.
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Enter a name for the new notebook, and then click Create Notebook.
OneNote switches to the new notebook, which contains a new section and a new, blank page.
Want to learn more?
Microsoft support article how to create a new notebook.
Microsoft support video Start using OneNote
Microsoft support video Take notes
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To switch between multiple notebooks:
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On any page, in the upper left click the Show Notebook List button
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In the pane that appears, select the name of the notebook you’d like to switch to.
Note:
If you don’t see the notebook you want, select More Notebooks.
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see video - take notes with OneNote
To take typed or handwritten notes, do any of the following:
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Click or tap anywhere on the current page and start typing.
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Click or tap the page header at the top of the page (over the date and time stamp) to type a page title.
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Click or tap anywhere else on the same page to begin a new note and then start typing.
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Use either the pen or stylus that came with your device to handwrite notes directly on a touchscreen. If you want to use your finger to draw or write, click the Draw tab, click or tap a pen you want to use, click the downward-facing arrow next to the pen to select an ink colour, and then start drawing.
Learn more about how to draw on a OneNote page.
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There’s no Save button in OneNote for Windows 10. That’s because OneNote automatically saves and syncs everything for you, no matter how small or large your changes are.
If you change your mind about something you’ve recently added or changed, click or tap the Undo 
button near the top left of the app window.
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To select text on a page, do the following:
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Double-tap the text you want to select.
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Adjust your selection by dragging the two selection handles to the beginning and end of the text you want to select.
When a line or paragraph of text is selected, you can cut, copy, format, move, or delete it.
Learn more about how to use touch to work with a OneNote page.
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see video - Format notes
To change the appearance of text:
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Select the text you want to format (with a mouse and keyboard, click and drag; on a touch device, double-tap a word and drag the selection handles).
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On the Home tab, select the formatting you’d like to apply (font, font size, bold, italic, underline, colour, lists, indents, and so on).
If you change your mind, about any formatting you have applied, click or tap the Undo button near the top left of the app window.
Learn more about how to work with text.
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Draw and highlight your notes with ink
To draw or highlight key information in your notes:
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On the Draw tab, click or tap the Pen or Highlighter that you want to use, click the downward-facing arrow that appears next to your selection, and then select your preferred ink colour.
Tip:
If the colour you want isn’t shown in the palette, click More Colours.
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If necessary, click the downward-facing arrow next to your pen or highlighter selection again, and then choose the thickness for the ink strokes you will draw by doing either of the following:
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Click or tap the + symbol as often as you want to increase the pen or highlighter thickness.
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Click or tap the – symbol as often as you want to decrease the pen or highlighter thickness.
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Draw or handwrite your notes on the screen.
If you want to remove anything you’ve drawn or highlighted, click or tap the Eraser button on the Draw tab. With the eraser selected, tap the ink or highlighter strokes that you want to erase.
Learn more about how to work with ink on a OneNote page.
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Tags let you mark and prioritize important notes visually so you can easily follow up on them again later.
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To tag a note, click or tap any line of text you’ve typed or written.
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On the Home tab, choose one of the following:
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Click or tap the To Do
tag to add a check box in front of the line of text. This is useful for items in a list of tasks that you need to complete. -
Click or tap the down arrow next to the To Do icon and choose one of the other tags (Important, Question, Critical, Contact, Address, or Phone Number).
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Note:
The To Do tag is interactive. You can click or tap the tag to check (or uncheck) the box to keep your To Do lists up-to-date.
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You can format text in OneNote for Windows 10 so it becomes a link.
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Select the text you want to format (with a mouse and keyboard, click and drag; on a touch device, double-tap a word and drag the selection handles).
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Click or tap Insert > Link.
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If necessary, change the words shown in the Text to display box.
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Type the URL in the Address box, and then click or tap Insert.
Note:
Whenever you start typing a URL in your notes (for example, www.onenote.com), OneNote automatically changes that text to a link. Tapping or clicking a formatted link automatically opens its destination in your browser.
Learn more about inserting links on pages.
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You can insert pictures from your computer’s camera, a file, or from online on your computer or device.
To insert a picture from your camera:
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On any page, tap where you want to insert a picture.
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On the Insert tab, click or tap Pictures.
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Select From Camera.
If prompted, allow OneNote to use your computer’s camera.
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When the live image appears in your camera, tap the screen to take the picture.
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Click or tap Insert All to insert the captured picture (or pictures).
Note:
If your device has a camera and you don’t see Camera as an available option, OneNote needs permission to use the camera. In Windows 10, click or tap the Start button, and then go to Settings > Privacy > Camera. On the Camera page, look for a confirmation message that “Camera access for this device is on.” If it isn’t, click or tap Change, and then set the Camera access for this device option to On.
To insert a picture from a file:
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On any page, tap where you want to insert a picture.
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On the Insert menu, tap Pictures, and then select From File.
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Navigate to the location of the picture you want to insert, tap the picture to select it, and tap Open.
Note:
To edit a picture already in your notes, first tap to select it. After it’s selected, you can resize it, move it around on the page, or tag it. Press and hold the picture to reveal a menu with more options, including Picture. From the Picture menu, you can rotate the image.
To insert a picture from online:
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On the Insert menu, tap Pictures., and then select From online.
In the pane that opens, search for a picture you'd like to insert, and then click or tap the picture to insert it.
To insert a document or file into OneNote:
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On any page, tap where you want to insert a document or file.
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On the Insert tab, click or tap File.
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Navigate to the location of the file you want to insert, select it, and then click or tap Open.
Learn more about using files with OneNote.
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To add a new table to your notes:
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On any page, tap where you want to insert a table.
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Tap the Insert menu, and then tap Table.
OneNote creates a small table with one row and two columns.
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Tap in the first cell and start typing.
To move to the next column (or to create a new column), press the Tab key on your keyboard. To create a new row of cells, place the cursor in the last cell on the right, and then press Enter. If you don’t have a keyboard, click the Table tab to change or format the table.
Learn more about how to work with tables.
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You can add as many notes to a page as you want, but adding more pages to your notebook will help you keep things organized.
To add a new page, do the following:
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At the bottom of the page list on the left side of the app window, click or tap + Page.
If you don’t see this button, first click or tap the Show Notebooks button
near the top left of the OneNote app window.
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When the new page appears, type a page title above the date and time stamp.
Note:
You can change the order of pages by dragging their page titles up and down in the list. For a PC or tablet that is touch-enabled, you can press and hold the page name until you see the move handles.
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You can keep all your pages in a single notebook section, but adding more sections over time as your notebook grows will help you keep things organized.
To create a new section, do the following:
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At the bottom of the sections list on the left side of the app window, click or tap + Section.
If you don’t see this button, first click or tap the Show Notebooks button
near the top left of the OneNote app window.
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When the new section appears, type a new name to describe the notes you’ll keep in the new section, and then press Enter.
The new section contains a single, blank page. You can begin taking notes on this page and add additional pages whenever you need them.
Note:
You can change the order of sections by dragging their names up and down in the list. For a PC or tablet that is touch-enabled, you can press and hold the section name until you see the move handles.
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You can print a hard copy of any page in your notebook. You can select many common sizes, such as legal, letter, A4, photos, PDF, and many more.
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Under Printer, select the printer that you want to use.
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Under Copies, select how many copies you want to print.
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Under Orientation, select if you want to print in Portrait (tall pages) or Landscape (wide pages).
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Under Pages, select if you want to print the Current Page, the Current Section, or the Current Notebook.
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To print to PDF, Under Printer, select Microsoft Print to PDF.
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To select a page size, click or tap More settings and then under Paper and quality select a size.
You can select among many common sizes, such as legal, letter, A4, photos, and many more.
Learn more about printing in OneNote.
The below information outlines how to share your Microsoft OneNote notes with others. If your preferred method of learning is face-to-face and you would like some additional help on this subject, then please click here to raise a Service Case with Information Systems and Support (ISS). One of our friendly ISS team will then contact you directly and arrange a time to either meet with you online or in person at a time and place that best suits with you.
see video - Share your notes with others
Share a page or notebook
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Select the page you want to share.
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Select Share.
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In the first drop-down, choose if you want to share This notebook [name of notebook] or This page [name of page].
Important: Work or school accounts can only share notebooks. If you want to share a page using a work or school account, select Send a copy to email a copy of the page.
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Enter the email address for who you want to share with.
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In the second drop-down, choose if recipients Can edit or Can view.
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Select OK to send the invite.
Hide authors
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Select View.
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Select Hide Authors.
Want more?
Share a page of notes or an entire notebook from OneNote for Windows 10
Password-protect private notes
see video - Password-protect private notes
Add a password
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Right-click on the section you want to protect.
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Select Password Protection > Add Password.
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Type the password you want and confirm it.
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Select OK to create the password.
Lock sections
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Right-click the section you want to lock.
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Select Password Protection > Lock Section.
Or, select Password Protection > Lock All Protected Sections to lock all sections with passwords.
Unlock sections
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Select a section that is locked.
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Type the password.
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Press Enter.
Remove a password
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Right-click on a protected section.
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Select Password Protection > Remove Password.
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Enter the password for the section.
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Select OK to remove the password.
Want more?
Further information:
Contact: Information Systems and Support through case creation.
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