How To Use The Most Advanced OneNote Features To Supercharge Your Note Taking

Thanks to its cross-platform availability, drawing tools, support for math equations, long list of features, and tight integration with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, OneNote is without a doubt one of the top note-taking tools out there. While Microsoft has nailed the basics, it also offers several advanced tools to take your OneNote note-taking experience to the next level. Whether you are a new or an existing OneNote user, glance over the tricks below to use OneNote like a pro on your laptop.

Related

5 reasons I keep coming back to OneNote

Its wide coverage and efficiencies are second to none

1 Take quick notes like a pro

OneNote-powered quick note function on Windows was basic at best. Microsoft recently revamped the entire experience with several improvements. Let’s check it out in action.

1. Press the Windows + Alt + N keys to open a quick note window.
2. Take a look at the small toolbar at the top. It now houses writing, inking, and screen clipping controls. It’s much better than the previous OneNote window that had more options stuffed into a small area.

   

3. At any point, you can also click the three-dot menu and select Open in OneNote in order to access other tools in the app.

2 Create a template in OneNote

Templates play an essential role in OneNote. Instead of creating a new OneNote page from scratch, glance over some of the top templates to get started in no time. It’s a huge time-saver and boosts productivity when dealing with complex OneNote pages.

You can also create a custom page and convert it into a template. Follow the steps below to make convenient changes for yourself in OneNote.

1. Launch OneNote and create a new page with relevant headings, tables, and other common details.
2. Go to the Insert menu and expand the Page Templates menu. Open Page Templates.

   

3. Select Save current page as a template. Give it a relevant name that you will remember.

   

4. You can set it as a default template for new pages in the current section, too. Click Save.

   

5. You can then find your custom templates under the My Templates menu.

3 Add meeting details from Outlook

Are you writing meeting notes or agenda items for an upcoming Google Meet or Teams call? Thanks to a neat Outlook integration, you can enter meeting details into a OneNote page with a single-click. Here’s how to easily prepare.

1. Open any page in OneNote.
2. Go to the Home tab and select Meeting Details.
3. Check your Outlook calendar and select a specific date.
4. Select an event, and OneNote should insert meeting files and relevant content there for you.

   

You can check the meeting title, date, time, conference link, guests, and participants on your OneNote page.

4 Enable vertical view

This is another neat hack that power users will appreciate. Microsoft used to offer a UWP OneNote app on Windows. The touch-friendly OneNote app had a navigation bar on the left. If you have moved from the UWP to a Microsoft 365 OneNote app, you may not appreciate the default navigation setup.

Thankfully, Microsoft offers an option to enable a vertical view if you’d like to move your notebooks and sections to the left side.

1. Launch OneNote and select View at the top.
2. Select Tabs Layout. Click Vertical Tabs.

   

You can now enjoy a familiar OneNote setup via the top left hamburger menu.

5 Use Bing search in OneNote

OneNote also comes with a handy Bing search integration to check queries inside the app. You don’t need to open a specific browser tab for quick searches.

1. Launch OneNote and go to the Review tab.
2. Select Smart Lookup. It opens a search menu on the sidebar.
3. Type your query and hit Enter.
4. You can view quick results right there, without ever leaving the app. Move to the Media tab to check relevant images. You can copy and paste them directly onto your OneNote page.

   

If you do click on a web link, it will open the webpage in the default browser.

6 Send Outlook emails to OneNote

If you use Outlook email on your computer, you have the option to send your important emails right into a OneNote notebook. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Launch Outlook on Windows and select an email.
2. Go to the Home tab and click the three-dot menu.
3. Select Send to OneNote.

   

4. Pick a location in OneNote and select OK.

You can also set it as the default location to send your future emails if you’d like.

7 Create Outlook tasks in OneNote

You can create Outlook tasks right from your OneNote page. Once you add tasks, you can access them from the Tasks section in the Microsoft To Do app.

1. Head to a OneNote page and go to the Home tab. Select the three-dot menu and click Outlook Tasks.
2. You can select Outlook Tasks for today, tomorrow, next week, or a custom range.
3. Write down your Outlook task.

   

4. Open Microsoft To Do and go to the Tasks section.
5. Check and manage your tasks. You can click on any task and check out the OneNote page link in the comments.

   

8 Change OneNote password duration

Your password-protected OneNote sections get auto-locked after five minutes of inactivity. If this is too long or too short of a period for you, you can easily change this duration from the OneNote options menu.

1. Launch OneNote and go to File> Options.
2. Head to Advanced> Passwords menu.
3. Expand the duration menu and increase or decrease the time frame.

   

9 Export OneNote in a familiar format

At any point, you can export a OneNote page, section, or entire notebook to a familiar file format like Docx or PDF.

1. Launch OneNote and select Filethen click Export.
2. Select a page, section, or notebook, choose the file format you want, and select Export.
3. Select a location on your computer and hit Save.

   

When you share a OneNote notebook, you have the option to generate a password-protected link to avoid unauthorized access. You can also create an expiring link for your OneNote notebook if you’d like. There are plenty of options you can use as you wish here, so we will go through an example below.

1. Launch OneNote and select a notebook you want to share. Select Share. Click Share Entire Notebook.
2. Click Anyone with the link can edit.
3. Enter an expiration date and password, then click Apply.
4. Share your OneNote link with others to enable real-time collaboration.

11 Use Copilot integration

If you have subscribed to Copilot for Microsoft 365, utilize Microsoft’s AI chatbot in OneNote. You can generate summaries, create to-do lists, analyze your ideas, rewrite your notes for clarity, and even ask it to create new pages based on your ideas. Once you have a relevant plan, look for the Copilot option which should appear on the top menu.

Unlock OneNote’s full potential

As you can see from the list above, OneNote isn’t your traditional note-taking app. Microsoft has included enough features to make it more appealing to a wide range of audiences. What are you waiting for? Try the tricks above and elevate your OneNote setup in no time.

While OneNote works quite well with Microsoft services like Bing, OneDrive, Outlook, Loop, and To Do, the lack of support for other apps may irritate some. If you are among them and want to try out other apps, read our dedicated guide to learn about the top OneNote alternatives.