Top 20 Microsoft OneNote Tips and Tricks | How to use OneNote effectively & be more organized

[@MikeTholfsen]

Watch Next ⏩ Top 10 new features in OneNote: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpvQZ4N3br1_qa8

[@prolifepinay]

Can we upload audio and work collaboratively on an audio transcript with visible transcripts. Is anyone updating Windows Media Player at all? We just need to be able to copypaste time stamps on a Word doc. Being able to zoom in on the WMP time stamps would be great as well.

[@ReadySteadyExcel]

Great tips Mike - The bonus one is genius!!

[@AmyEwald]

I love your cape and shirt. Where did you get those? I NEED these for work! I love your Teams videos, and just started the One Note and Forms. :)

[@DENE2012]

This is incredibly helpful! I use OneNote religiously to take notes during meetings and prep for 1:1s. I really appreciate the tips and will be sure to try them out.

[@justinian.erdmier]

Super amazing! I love how far OneNote has come. I used OneNote as part of Office 365 2016 my junior and senior years of high school. The features made it super easy to synch with my teachers and fellow students with whom I studied. Thank you!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you like it!

[@hinakingravi7218]

This is badass. I literally used the tip for copying text from picture just now and it saved me so much time instead of manually typing everything out. This is an extremely helpful video, thank you!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it helped!

[@SriRam-oz5um]

@@MikeTholfsen how to extract tables and its content from picture within one note

[@dirkvdp122]

Best onenote tips I came across since a long time, and have seen many. Splendid tutorial ...kudos Mike!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@harmonygibbs7904]

I cannot tell you enough how thankful I am for this video. This has made beginning to use the tool SO much easier.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it helped!

[@ImprovementGang]

My favorite shortcut is for the style for the text: ctr + alt + 1 is going to be Header 1, ctr + alt + 2 is for header 2, and so on. It is really good for taking notes and quickly formating them.

[@suelink2623]

This is a terrific video! I was kind of lost on my own. This has been super helpful! Will be watching it over and over I think.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rooky2king886]

Thank you Mike! I was wanting to make more use of one note and this video definitely helped... importing meeting details, making notes and then mailing them back out is a game changer!

[@johnhaag6673]

Your video has really helped me!! My mind's CHURNING out ideas on the many ways I'll use this now.

[@Chaundradickinson]

Great information. Excited to use One Note way more than I have previously. Thanks

[@TCBfan62]

Such an informative video. I had no idea you could do so much with OneNote. Thanks for sharing the video. Looking forward to seeing what else is going to be added in the future.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful! Check out the latest here kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZW1mqiAZ9WMotU

[@mercuryelite]

Somehow you managed to finish the entire video without once cracking up on the Office Space references. Or maybe you needed multiple tries to get it done!! Great video!

[@jdw4807tube]

That last bonus tip was great, thanks for the very informative video.

[@SaulAnuzis]

One of the best, succinct and informative videos on improving your use of One Note…thanks.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CEOBootCamp]

Great Stuff. I've been a desktop OneNote user for years. Moving the page tabs to the left and pinning the notebooks so I can see the section groups is AMAZING. I would love it if the links to pages were easier to use in non-microsoft application. If I look at the text of a link it's really clunky.

[@alienc5920]

Dude, this is the BEST tips/tutorial EVER. Thank you very much. It is so useful and has given me many ideas to increase productivity and note keeping. Thank you!!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Tsang7570]

Very useful tips beyond beginners level. Thanks a lot!

[@savanahr.1246]

Love the Office Space reference! Thanks, this was very helpful.

[@MikeTholfsen]

You bet!

[@ezbrightside]

This video is AMAZING! I'm in OneNote frequently, and had no idea some of these features existed!! So helpful, will definitely be utilizing and sharing with colleagues.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it is helpful!

[@deloreshudson2498]

This has been one of the best Office Tips videos I have ever seen. Thank you.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Wow, thanks!

[@lynarvizu]

Came for the tutorial, stayed for the Office Space references. But honestly, this is super helpful, well paced, and easy to follow along.

[@KnowledgeFlowPro]

I Love OneNote so much !!! It helped me organize my life for years now and helped me be way more productive. But …the lack of updates bored me ….

[@MikeTholfsen]

Stay tuned! 2021 and 2022 will have lots more updates, especially to Desktop and web

[@konstantindellas5318]

Great video Mike, great job Mike, helped me a lot to develop myself with OneNote

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad to hear it!

[@draganamarevic]

I love the audio recording, dictation for meetings and the translation feature. AMAZING. CONGRATULATIONS! 😍🎉👏

[@saint101m4]

Mind blown! I'm new to OneNote and I'm so excited to get started!

[@MikeTholfsen]

It's my favorite app!

[@alexandrameas4436]

The last one is amazing, thank you very much!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you like it!

[@antemilardovic71]

Great and informative as always, thanks Mike! What I still don't understand is why there are two desktop versions of OneNote. I like the layout of OneNote for Windows 10 better, but it's missing "Email page" and as far as I can tell although some of the features of the other version's History tab can be found elsewhere, there is no way to go to "Next Unread" (which is great for me as a teacher)....

[@MissionComputers]

There are 2 versions of OneNote because OneNote for Windows 10 was supposed to replace the OneNote App. But since OneNote for Windows 10 did not support notebooks saved locally (to your computer or server), a lot of people were upset. So Microsoft kept the other version around. Since you first wrote this comment, Microsoft has continued to support both but has decided to update the OneNote app and will eventually stop supporting the OneNote windows 10 version. I too preferred the WIndows 10 version but at least they now have notebooks and tabs on the left :).

[@Pablo_Trader]

This is awesome! I have used OneNotes for year and didn't realize it could do so much.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sianhumphrey8309]

As someone who is making the reluctant switch from Evernote to Onenote due to the cost, (reluctant due to the perceived lack of functionality in Onenote) this makes me feel more confident in my decision! Excellent video, thanks

[@MikeTholfsen]

Thanks!

[@awesomeaxiegameplays7296]

I used to hate one note. But this video changed all that! Thanks!

[@starshollowhearted]

A lot of tips I never heard of elsewhere. Thank you for that. Very helpful👏😃

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad these are helpful

[@kristenedmonds8622]

OneNote has come a long way since the late 2000's. I would like to see more options for customized formatting and more control over documents like I have in Word. It would be nice to have the ability to pick custom colours for highlighters and create my own tag icons. For school use, it would also be awesome to have the ability to insert reference lists, enter citations and creating SmartArt diagrams/charts for lecture notes. Essentially, more characteristics of Word integrated into the OneNote program would make this the best Microsoft program ever made. I love the feature of copying text from picture. Eagerly waiting for the update for OneNote desktop. Thank you for the hard work and innovative ideas!

[@yw1971]

That would never happen - Word is the main Cash-cow of Office & therefore no competition is wanted

[@dpd128]

It would also be nice to hear what's coming/available for MacOS or iOS.

[@MrGfmassot]

Why?

[@HelloitsIo1]

This is awesome! Since I started teleworking more due to the pandemic, I've found it harder to use my regular old notebook due to lack of adequate desk space. Using this saves trees and allows me to completely customize my notes to my heart's content. Plus, all my notes are literally a click away.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Agreed!

[@crystalkimcuong8073]

Thank you ! This video is really helpful😀. I would love to see the adding layers feature with hide /unhide options Onenote . For example: a professor give the students a math problem to solve (layer 1), then giving the student the answers (revealing layer 2 on top). This will save time especially in homework reviews. My professor in economics class uses L lecturenote app instead of onenote because of this. Note capture feature which can be play as video or gif formats is also a good solution.

[@ajcorrales545]

Mike, you are absolutely AWESOME!!! Thank you for such a great video!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Thanks, glad it was helpful!

[@gokukakarot2829]

Tip 9 was most needed thanks!!!

[@platinumtoast99]

This is the most useful OneNote videos I have ever watched. I use the app everyday.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you like it!

[@ManasMadrecha]

It would be great to have Ctrl + D feature to select/edit multiple same words at the same time, like I use while writing markdown in VS code. Already, some features like Alt + Shift + arrow keys are implemented and that's so cool 😋

[@Ryanmit1]

ALT + SHIFT + UP/DOWN = LOVE THIS!!!

[@MikeTholfsen]

My favorite shortcut of all time

[@preciousiroegbu523]

I love this, this will definitely help me elevate at my job. hurray

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it is helpful!

[@nicholaslastarza5934]

The TPS reports and Bill Lumbergh references we just as good as the tips themselves

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you liked them. Keeps it more interesting than “Contoso”

[@kekistanimemelord1046]

Mike, Thank you for making such an amazing and insightful video on OneNote! I am very new to OneNote, and to be honest I felt like a fish out of water at first. But after watching the video, I learned some quality of life improving tips and tricks that will save me SOOOOOOOOO much time trying to stay organized. My favorite tips so far from the video was the Wiki-Link forward creation and the Microsoft Teams integration (especially because my job utilizes Teams to a maddening degree), being able to incorporate OneNote into it is a complete gamechanger for me! Again, I cant Thank you enough!

[@MikeTholfsen]

So glad it was helpful!

[@MrCaesar2u]

Used OneNote a long time ago, but this is really helpful!!

[@AndresArosemena]

9:33 thaaanks!!!!!! that may be the main reason why still don't switch to that version of the app and continue using one note for windows 10. Now it needs a dark theme like the one note for windows 10 version! EDIT: found it!!!!! here are the steps if anyone else is looking to do the same: Click File > Options. In the OneNote Options dialog box, click the General tab. From the Office Themes drop-down, select Black.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you found it!

[@wealthwithathena]

Thank you for this! I just discovered OneNote last week and have become obsessed with the app (my husband is teasing me because it's been around for years ;) Anyway, thanks for all the useful tips :)

[@overtechnc3462]

Thanks a lot for all these tips :) I gotta say...I'm always amazed by the fact that MS can provide so many useful tools and upgrade them regularly...while leaving big bugs and other issues unsolved xD That's weird :)

[@joszandstra2044]

I regularly look for tips and tricks / tutorial videos and was happy to find this one that actually had useful tips and tricks for me

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad to help!

[@barnster5844]

This has changed my life! 🎉

[@RohanGolwalkar]

Terrific tips - very helpful, thanks for sharing this Mike.

[@yashwantbikaner]

Love you mike ❤ you made my day . I am long term user of Onenote and this tips are just amazing and learning quite a few new tricks.

[@Semantsen62]

Great and very useful tips!!!

[@cpwyou]

Would love to see some application of using tags more. The search tends not to be as accurate. Is there a libary of notebook examples we can take a look at?

[@pamelaj19]

Excellent video of tips. I learned a lot 👏🏻

[@ieshabush32]

This was very informative. Thank you!

[@MarkusEicher70]

Thank you Mike for this informative post. One thing that bothers me is that there are two different desktop versions of OneNote. I need to find out which one I will be using, but besides this OneNote is one of the underrated components of Office365.

[@tommytran3301]

Very informative, thank you

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@zigneema]

Awesome 🎉 You made my day.

[@MikeTholfsen]

I'm glad!

[@张士政-t4b]

Excellent!

[@angelaorozco2008]

This is such an amazing tutorial!! Thank you very much for taking the time to show us! I will practice a lot to acknowledge all the tips!

[@keningilbert]

Very helpful thank you! Regarding creating and managing Containers is far from intuitive until after you learn to either double click anywhere outside of existing container; or single click to the far right of existing Container. For instance, you should be able to right click outside an existing container to select create new container ; or click on that option on the Insert ribbon menu. Regarding Collapsing a container, why is the standard use of a minus symbol on the left or up facing carrot in the top border not used? Especially when the standard plus symbol is used to Expand one. You should also be able to name a container and have it appear as part of the top border.

[@dsamsanthosh]

Thanks a lot. Very useful

[@schrottwichtel6789]

I'm very excited! Because I'm well known to be very "enthusiastic" about OneNote in my family for many years, I have to ask you: Where can I get all the OneNote purple clothes (OneNote-Shirt, cardigan and cape)?

[@awkydrey]

Good question. Anyone?

[@beulebeulentum7464]

Thank you very much, Mike! I can't understand why it is still not possible to group objects in OneNote (I use the desktop version 2019, which I like much better than the app). For example, when you mark something with a highlighter or refer to something by drawing an arrow, the mark or arrow is not moved along when you move the corresponding content. The request for such a feature has been in relevant forums FOR AGES and would greatly improve the work with OneNote. I am sure that Microsoft is aware of this request also regarding the feedback feature. But Microsoft still doesn't care about it. Apparently it is more important to play around with the design than to take care of such a basic feature. By the way, you can see this again with Windows 11, for example with the file explorer: no tabs, no 2-window feature, ... But you can place your taskbar icons in the center now and the icons have round corners. Really great ...

[@brenthair1228]

all the tips are great but the last won is a the winner

[@MikeTholfsen]

Agree, I'm a huge fan of the bonus tip

[@angelaorozco2008]

Agree!!!

[@balaji.viswanathan]

Amazing video. I have learned a lot from this and definitely gained my confidence in using one note. This will help me to manage time and multiple tasks. Tx,

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gihanranasinghe4502]

Thank you very much for this very informative video

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@luckychams84]

Your tutorial is amazing helpful. Thank you!

[@ambotngababoy]

underrated vid. underrated software. i wish it was not as buggy as goodnotes in ipad tho

[@omidnazempour4954]

Fascinating. Best tips and tricks videos about the OneNote among all videos I have ever seen.Thank you Mike.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Wow, thanks!

[@jenniferjeffers9051]

Mike you are a genius! I use One Note for work daily, and I also homeschool my daugher, so these tips have inspired me to build a system to use one note to keep myself organized with lessons and assignments as well. Being able to transfer a completed assignment to ON and grade and then email will save me sooo much time and will no doubt make my daugheter more organized! This short video was life changing, I'm about to spend the rest of the day watching all your videos! lol

[@cathychoi6959]

amazing tutorial, I only make simple notes, and discovered so much till now, thank you!

[@mhirundo4103]

Thank you Mike! It helps me a lot!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad to hear it!

[@dakshanamotivation3645]

Mind Blowing Sir Love From India 🇮🇳

[@antoniovalla6864]

Great tutorial!

[@hughmeenagh]

Inking and transcribing updates are fantastic - OneNote M365 keeps getting better especially with the integration of all the best features of the Win 10 app 🖊📚

[@MikeTholfsen]

Agree, works for tons of languages as well

[@2DVDs]

Brilliant! I just regret many features are missing on MacOS

[@teamsexcel]

Hi, Mike. I'm so grateful you prepared this video. It is really helpful thanks a bundle. By the way, I'm using the new dictation service in the Chrome browser to write this. The dictation in Microsoft office products is really valuable as well.

[@alijohnson723]

Thanks for doing a desktop one! A majority of these features have been available for years and are part of the reason why we're stoked you're keeping it around. I love the overview though. Keep them coming (next tip include Options > Advanced > Always print to background....teachers love this one).

[@MikeTholfsen]

I actually had that Advanced one in here earlier but it got left on the cutting room floor because my video was too long!

[@janishaldeman3339]

Fantastic! How to get my vertical scroll bar on the left - how do I do that in 10?

[@MikeTholfsen]

That feature is not supported in Windows 10 app

[@ADfamily81]

Love one note! I use it in my business and personal life, great video! Can you talk about onenote and To Do integration.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Great suggestion for the future. There isn't currently great integration between the two

[@kikzazz]

Wow, really impressed!

[@margaritawong6917]

Amazing! Thank you for sharing!

[@ginamillis2046]

This is great, I hope I remember some of it, it's a LOT, I need to take OneNote notes

[@kolkmeiester]

Learned a ton, thank you!!

[@SuganthanHarmless]

The last tip was really nice.

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@donmothersbaugh1334]

Mike, great video. Well worth the time to watch. I have been trying to find a way to easily alphabetize the Notebooks. You showed how we can easily alphabetize the pages now with a new feature. But can we do this with the Notebooks themselves?

[@MikeTholfsen]

Unfortunately you can't sort notebooks right now

[@acex0078]

Thank you kind sir.

[@williamskipper954]

I'm struggling with the "Desktop" format vs Windows 10. @10:00, you confirmed that a "similar" format is available for desktop, but this format leaves sections on the top ribbon and does not add a vertical navigation ribbon on the left side:(... Theres more, the orientation is just not as user friendly on the desktop format..

[@MikeTholfsen]

Check out the new blog, I think you’ll be happy techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/education-blog/new-layout-options-for-onenote-on-windows-are-coming-soon/ba-p/3691211

[@afiaboateng2571]

This was legit super super awesome. Thank you

[@andihall7104]

Terrific video. Is there a way to automatically align the text boxes to a specific location, e.g. the left margin? I find this free-form helpful at times, but most often annoying.

[@jobilinn69]

Is the team considering adding a color wheel for changing page colors? I really hope so.

[@louishurr393]

That was awesome. Thanks!

[@MikeTholfsen]

Glad you liked it

[@clintonelliott340]

Wow, super useful. I use OneNote all the time, love the desktop version!

[@prestonsocha3697]

That was very informative. Well done as well.

[@lobbyskids2]

It would be really great if the container width would automatically match the page the width so that I can always see the entire width of the container when revising the One Note window or when I'm snapping it in windows.

[@MarkWillisMaths]

The app has potential for teaching. However as a Maths teacher pls could you do something about the line tool. Using ink to shape and drawing an arrow at the end is very hit and miss. Also difficult to manipulate once drawn. Please have a look at notability on how the line tool is draw and easy to manipulate once drawn. You could also consider allowing the line tool to be in the favourites tool bar. Thank you for a great video.

[@renzokouken9781]

Is this for windows only I hope the OneNote for Mac m1 is also updated like this

[@jenipell6518]

Thank you!