Microsoft OneNote Basics

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What is OneNote?

An electronic version of a 3-ring binder.

First introduced with Office 2003.

Latest client version is 2016.

OneNote for Windows 10 comes preinstalled with Windows 10.

Download OneNote for free at: https://www.onenote.com/download

There are Two OneNote Apps: Client and Browser

To launch OneNote from your computer, tap the Windows key

and type “OneNote” in the search box.

• Choose OneNote app to launch the OneNote 2016 client.

• Choose OneNote for Windows 10 the browser-based version of OneNote.

Both have slightly different layouts so it’s

really a matter of preference which one you

choose to use. Microsoft also makes the

OneNote Class Notebook, a browser-

based version which can be used with

Blackboard. You can install an add-in

program to the OneNote 2016 client to

include Class Notebook capabilities. You

can also download a mobile version.

Change the Default App for File

Types

1. Tap the windows key and type

“Apps”

2. Select Apps & Features

3. Choose Default Apps

4. Click Set Defaults by App

5. Look for OneNote. You should see

two apps listed. If you click the top

app (client) a manage button will

appear.

6. The Manage button tells you which

application will launch depending

on file type clicked:

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Navigate the OneNote 2016 Environment

3 Key Areas to Know

1. Left panel lists all your notebooks

2. Tabs across the top: sections (divider tabs) within the selected notebook

3. Right panel: pages within the selected section

When you first start using OneNote, a default notebook with tips and tricks is provided for you.

Navigate the OneNote for Windows 10 App

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Create a New Notebook

OneNote notebooks can be stored on your computer, OneDrive, a Teams site, or an Office 365 Group site. To

create a class notebook, you create the notebook in the Learning Management system such as Blackboard. A

class notebook is stored in OneDrive by default because it is automatically shared with students.

1. In OneNote, choose File, New

2. Select one of the following locations for your notebook (see

right)

3. Give your notebook a name

Notebooks stored on a hard drive or network drive appear as a folder.

For example:

Inside the folder you’ll see files that represent each section of the

notebook. A recycle bin icon may also appear. You can double-click

any section to open the notebook:

In OneDrive, Teams, and O365 Groups the link is stored on the web and it will also appear in a folder as a

shortcut. Double-click the shortcut to open the notebook:

Opening Notebooks - If you’re using the OneNote 2016 client, you can simply open that and all your notebooks

will be open and ready for you. Notebooks you no longer use can be closed using

the File, Close command.

Saving Your Work - OneNote does not have a File, Save or Save as option. Your

work is automatically saved.

Export - You can export pages, sections or even your entire notebook as a PDF

file by choosing File, Export.

Bold – Notebooks, sections, and pages with bold lettering indicate those pages

have not read. The letters will become unbolded after clicking on it or you can

right click to mark as read.

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Common Uses of OneNote

Shared notebooks can be more effective in organizing meetings:

You can send email messages to OneNote to stay better organized:

Pull meeting

information

from Outlook

See who

makes edits

Attachments

are included

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Find information faster across all your notebooks:

Use the Quick Notes feature (Sticky note) to take notes while attending a webinar:

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Make video and audio recordings for more personalized interactions:

You can draw.

Quickly

convert inked

words to text

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Email OneNote Pages:

Create Tables by typing information.

Use the tab and enter keys to create columns and rows. The Layout contextual tab appears when a table is selected:

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Attach files, spreadsheets, and Visio diagrams to a page:

Use the History tab to mark a page as read, locate recent edits, find an author, hide author information, examine

page versions, and open the recycle bin.

Use the Review tab for grammatical, accessibility and language assistance. Passwords can be applied to sections

within a notebook. Linked Notes let you dock OneNote to the side of your computer screen so you can look at

websites or other applications and take notes in OneNote. When you take notes this way, they're automatically

linked to whatever you're researching.

The View menu lets you hide many areas of OneNote to work more efficiently. You can add page color, rule lines,

and you can hide the page title. There are new window and zoom control options as well as docking options.

In the Help menu you can find training options:

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Copy and paste information from the web and a link to the website is included:

To turn this option off, choose:

• File

• Options

• Advanced

• Uncheck “Include link to source when pasting from the Web”

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Add hyperlinks to other areas within the notebook:

Add a link to a Stream video channel (users must have access):

Use Ctrl+K to insert a

hyperlink, or right click

for additional choices

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Appendix A: Microsoft OneNote 2016 Common Keyboard Shortcuts

Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/keyboard-shortcuts-in-onenote-44b8b3f4-c274-4bcc-a089-e80fdcc87950 Visit this

link for a master list of keyboard shortcuts.

To do this

Press

Open a new OneNote window.

Ctrl+M

Create a Quick Note.

Ctrl+Shift+M

Windows logo key+Alt+N

Dock the OneNote window.

Ctrl+Alt+D

Undo the previous action.

Ctrl+Z

Redo the previous action, if possible.

Ctrl+Y

Select all items on the current page.

Ctrl+A

To expand the selection, press

Ctrl+A again.

Cut the selected text or item.

Ctrl+X

Copy the selected text or item to the Clipboard.

Ctrl+C

Paste the contents of the Clipboard.

Ctrl+V

Move to the beginning of the line.

Home

Move to the end of the line.

End

Move one word to the left.

Ctrl+Left arrow key

Move one word to the right.

Ctrl+Right arrow key

Delete one character to the left.

Backspace

Delete one character to the right.

Delete

Delete one word to the left.

Ctrl+Backspace

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To do this

Press

Delete one word to the right.

Ctrl+Delete

Insert a line break without starting a new paragraph.

Shift+Enter

Check spelling.

Open the thesaurus for the currently selected word.

Shift+F7

Display the context menu for the currently focused object.

Shift+F10

Perform the action suggested on the Information Bar when

it appears at the top of a page.

Ctrl+Shift+W

Play the selected audio recording.

Ctrl+Alt+P

Stop audio recording playback.

Ctrl+Alt+S

Skip the current audio recording backward by 10 seconds.

Ctrl+Alt+Y

Skip the current audio recording forward by 10 seconds.

Ctrl+Alt+U

Work with tables

To do this

Press

Create a table.

Tab key, after typing a new line of text

Create another column in a table with a single

row.

Tab key

Create another row when at the end cell of a

table.

Enter

Note: Press Enter again to finish the table.

Insert a row below the current row.

Ctrl+Enter, when in a table cell

Create another paragraph in the same cell in a

table.

Alt+Enter

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To do this

Press

Create a column to the right of the current

column in a table.

Ctrl+Alt+R

Create a column to the left of the current

column in a table.

In OneNote 2010, Ctrl+Alt+E

Create a row above the current one in a table.

Enter, when the cursor is at the beginning of any

row, except for the first row

Create a new cell.

Tab key, when in the last cell of the table

Delete the current empty row in a table.

Delete, then Delete again, when the cursor is at

the beginning of the row

Additional Resources

What’s new in OneNote for Windows 10

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-new-in-onenote-for-windows-10-1477d5de-f4fd-4943-b18a-

ff17091161ea

Microsoft 365 Blog – OneNote

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/onenote/

What’s the Difference Between OneNote Versions?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-the-difference-between-the-onenote-versions-a624e692-

b78b-4c09-b07f-46181958118f

OneNote Class Notebook

https://www.onenote.com/classnotebook

Target areas for development (Microsoft Ignite conference November, 2019):

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/7/20953691/microsoft-onenote-to-do-integration-fluid-framework-future-

features-ignite-2019

• Modern sync services to sync notebooks faster

• @mentions for OneNote inside of Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft Search integration to find the information in your notes

• New meeting notes features

• Tasks and To Do integration

• Accessibility improvements

• Next-generation canvas