OneNote

Quick Start Guide

New to OneNote? Use this guide to learn the basics.

Explore the ribbon Discover contextual commands Instantly find everything Stay organized with Feed
Quick Access Toolbar
See what OneNote can do by selecting the Select any part of a table or an Search the current page or all View a feed of your sticky notes
Keep favorite commands
ribbon tabs and exploring available tools. inserted recording to reveal additional notebooks at once and and OneNote pages all in one
permanently visible.
tabs. navigate the results with ease. place.

Notebook Sections
Select these tabs to switch
Control the ribbon
between sections in the
Select the arrow to switch
current notebook.
between the Classic
Ribbon and the Simplified
Ribbon.

Notebook Pages
Select these tabs to switch Type anywhere on a page
Notebooks List between pages in the OneNote’s flexible canvas
Select the notebook name to current notebook section. isn’t constrained in the ways
switch between notebooks or that other apps are.
select the pin icon to keep the
Notebooks pane open.

Resize Note Containers

Drag the edge to make notes
Select or move paragraphs fit the page or drag the entire
Select or drag the gripper to the left of a frame to move it elsewhere.
note to select or move it, or right-click it for
more options.
OneNote
Access your notes anywhere Never run out of paper
What good are notes, plans, and ideas if they’re trapped on a hard drive? Keep your OneNote doesn’t have any of the limitations of a traditional paper notebook.
notebooks available to you by signing in with your free Microsoft account when When you run out of room, you can just make more.
you first start OneNote on your PC. There’s even a free OneNote app for all of your
preferred devices to stay in sync wherever you go. To create a new page in the current section, select the [+] button at the top of the
page tabs column. You can also right-click any page tab and then select New
Page, or press Ctrl+N on your keyboard.

To create a new section in the current notebook, select the small tab with the plus
sign [+] to the right of the section tab bar, or right-click any section tab and then
select New Section.

Don’t worry about saving

OneNote automatically saves all of your changes as you work — so you never
have to. Even when you close the app or your PC goes to sleep, your notes are
always saved, so you can continue right where you left off. To see when OneNote
last synced your changes, select File > Info > View Sync Status.

To create a new notebook, click File > New, and then select where to store the new
notebook. You can create new notebooks on your local hard drive, or you can store
them on your free OneDrive account so your notes are always accessible on all your
devices. The choice is yours!
OneNote
OneNote
Tag important notes Organize in tables
The Tags gallery on the Home tab lets you visually prioritize or categorize selected Whenever a spreadsheet is overkill, use simple OneNote tables to make sense of
notes. Tagged notes are marked with icons that prompt you to follow up on your information. Start on a new line of text by typing a word, phrase, or number, and
important action items or to check off completed tasks on your to-do lists. then press the Tab key to create the next column. Alternately, you can select Insert
> Table on the ribbon to draw a table.

Once your table is created and selected, use the commands on the Table tab on the
ribbon, or right-click any part of your table for more options.

Create wiki-style hyperlinks Copy text from pictures

Turn your notebook into a functional wiki by creating links to specific sections or OneNote can recognize text in pictures. On any page, insert a picture containing
pages. Right-click the tab of the section or page that the link should point to. Next, legible text (for example, a cell phone photo of a receipt), right-click the picture,
select Copy Link to Section or Copy Link to Page, and then paste the link select Copy Text from Picture, and then paste the copied text wherever you want.
wherever you want.
OneNote
OneNote
Share notes with other people Get help with OneNote
In OneNote, your cloud-based notebooks remain private unless you choose to From the toolbar, select Help > Help to open the OneNote Help window, where
invite other people to view or edit information in the current notebook. To begin you can enter keywords or phrases to look for assistance with OneNote features,
collaborating with others, select File > Share, and then choose what you want to commands, and tasks.
do.

Get other Quick Start Guides Next steps with OneNote

To download our free Quick Start Guides for your other favorite apps, go to See what’s new in Office
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2008317. Explore the new and improved features in OneNote and the other apps in
Office. Visit https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=871117 for more
information.

Get free training, tutorials, and videos for Office

Ready to dig deeper into the capabilities that OneNote has to offer? Visit
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=871123 to explore our free training
options.

Send us your feedback

Love OneNote? Got an idea for improvement to share with us? On the File menu,
select Feedback and then follow the prompts to send your suggestions directly to
the OneNote product team. Thank you!