OneNote Tips & Tricks

OneNote is a great tool for folks who want to jot down random thoughts or ideas. It’s a tool that appeals to the neat and organized, as well as to the awkward and clumsy note taker. At OneNote, we affectionately refer to these two stereotypes as...

A friend of mine recently got a new Tablet PC and decided to show off some of it's cool features. He also knows that I work for the OneNote team and so he decided he was going to impress me with his knowledge of OneNote. He told me he loves the idea that...

One of the new features added in OneNote 2010 is the ability to manage DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected documents. DRM is a technology that allows the author of a document to limit who can view the content in their document. This is a great step...

I have heard from a number of readers that you want an updated version of the Template Manager for OneNote 2010.  Well, the wait is over.  Here it is .  Once installed, click on the Insert tab, then click on Template Manager. Happy Holidays...

Here at Microsoft, we’re approaching the tail end of our release cycle.  We’ve been working hard on the new version of OneNote since we released OneNote 2007 and it’s almost ready.  I wanted to give you a taste of some of the OneNote 2010 goodness...

Before OneNote came along, I would typically attend a meeting, bring a pen, and take lots of notes right on the handout. Aahh, good times, right? Actually, a lot of that still goes on today. Look around you the next time you attend a meeting and see if...

For years OneNote’s toughest competitor has been the paper notebook.  It’s versatile, flexible, and extremely easy to use.  It never stops working, it’s always available, and it never complains if I misspell a word.  But one thing I can...

Having worked on the OneNote team for some time now, I’ve come to know some of the more basic and useful little tricks that help me get my work done in OneNote.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m guilty of taking many of these tricks for granted...

I don't know about you, but when I was in college, there were times I wish I could have sent someone else to take notes for me during class. I was too busy working or too tired to get out of bed or just having a nice conversation with someone who's company...

OneNote's user base has been steadily increasing over the years. So I thought this would be a good forum to share some of the useful tips and tricks in this fantastic software application that have made people's lives more productive. OneNote is a...

As mentioned in a previous post , one of the new features introduced in OneNote 2010 is the ability to collapse and expand subpages. This gives you the ability to easily de-clutter your section and only view the top-level pages. If you have multiple page...

One of the new features we've implemented in OneNote 2010 is the ability to use predefined styles. This is a great way to keep formatting consistent across your notes. There are 11 new styles available for use. Here's what they look like: Tips : A style...

We’ve tried to make the act of adding a new page in OneNote simple and easy.  You just click the New Page button at the top of your list of pages and a new page is inserted at the end of the section.  Easy, right? You can also achieve the same...

Templates are relatively easy to use and create in OneNote. There are a wide variety of pre-defined template styles to choose from. There are 33 blank templates that define everything from specific page sizes to the page color. A6 paper size Blue Mist...

Sections appear along the top of the page and look similar in shape to the tabs you find on the yellow manila folders: Sections belong inside of notebooks. So when you switch to another notebook, you'll see the section tabs associated with that notebook...

One of the greatest things about OneNote is its outlining capabilities. It's perhaps the most underrated feature as well as the one we most often take for granted. People often use outlining without even knowing they're using it. What is outlining you...

Have you ever been taking some notes and wished you had some more space to add a few more notes? OneNote makes that easy. Just click Insert -> Extra Writing Space -> drag the mouse (or stylus) to add more space. This feature was mostly designed...

So, let's go over some of the basic storage details. Let's start with notebooks. They appear along the left edge of your page, in what's called the 'Navigation Bar' (or NavBar for short), as pictured below. The NavBar can be expanded to see the sections...

Sometimes you won't have time to think about where to put a particular note. For example, suppose you're in a meeting where you're discussing the week's activities with your colleagues. Suddenly, you have a thought about your stock portfolio, something...

Many of us have become so accustomed to copying and pasting data that it has become second nature to us. It's something we take for granted, or don't really think twice about. We just do it. After all it's so simple, right? Well sometimes, it's not so...

How easy is it to take notes in OneNote ?  Simple, just run OneNote and start taking notes, right?  Well, for some it may be that easy.  But for others, there’s the added overhead of organization.  For example, you might have a section...

One of the first things you’ll notice about OneNote 2010 is the lack of the standard menus. You know, File, Edit, View, etc. These menus have served Office applications well for many years. But the the new method of exposing OneNote’s features is through...

In addition to being a great place to store all of your notes and other content, OneNote also serves as a calculator. For example, say you're taking some notes and you suddenly have to do some quick arithmetic. You can either try to uncover those dusty...

If you have a real paper notebook full of notes, how easy is it to find notes you're searching for in it? My guess it that it's not that easy. But one way to make it a slight bit easier is to riffle through the pages by fanning them with your thumb. Although...

Good news!  Mike Tholfsen, (the OneNote test manager), has decided to start a new blog.  Mike is passionate about a lot of things, but his two biggest passions are OneNote and education.  It's no surprise then that the theme of his blog...