OneNote as a Second Brain (What You're Missing)

[@biztabletpc]

Thank you, Tiago, for the opportunity to talk over OneNote with you in person. In case you can't tell, I had a blast shooting this with you and the team!

[@jeffthiem2929]

Thank you for all your insight!

[@MadChickenz42]

I’d love if you added a KZbin video covering some of the other things you mentioned you had ready to say. Very interested in hearing them!

[@coffeecram9447]

So excited that loop is integrated into OneNote!

[@yasirmohyh]

Thanks for this video. I use onenote quite a lot. I would say that using onenote as a main app for note-taking needs a lot of work to be suitable for all users. One of the most important features is the ability to create backlinks. This should be built in. And, the layout should be improved. The tag function is really good, but it would be helpful to be allow us to create subtags

[@MadChickenz42]

@@coffeecram9447 I created a Planner plan in Loop and then made it a component and put it in OneNote. Now OneNote keeps all my other notes, research, documents, articles, etc and I use the Planner-in-Loop-in-OneNote (which sends tasks to To Do) as the Project Management page. Super cool to see the integration functioning like that.

[@naveensk2601]

👏Kudos to Tiago, who has bothered to make content for the majority of the business world than just elite a few. The business world outside of US is run on Microsoft and NONE of the so called famous creators bothered to address the majority

[@Komatik_]

It's absolutely maddening. All the productivity guru types are knee-deep in Google, Apple and indies and basically pretend MS doesn't exist, when as you say basically the entire business world - the place where productivity is needed - runs on Windows and Office. Yeah, I know, it's not as cool as the latest indie app, but getting work done is about getting work done, not fashion. When Superhuman launched their Outlook version, they cited a Gartner report according to which M365 was six times the size of Google Workspace, which in turn obviously dwarfs all the trendy indie apps. It's comical when youtuber after youtuber is like wow, look at fancy new calendar app. Outlook? Dunno, is that something edible?

[@WillChi23]

So TRUE!

[@madisonromero3529]

Anyone else need to replay this video 4 times to take notes of some of the super important ideas in here! Trying to be present first watch but so many new concepts to add to my notes!

[@OmniTierra]

You know KZbin has a transcript for most videos 🤔

[@katyb3869]

I use OneNote as my second brain and one of the features not touched on enough in the video is that EVERYTHING is searchable in OneNote: text, handwriting, pictures, video and AUDIO. As a songwriter, I LOVE this feature! I can dictate notes and turn them into text or I can record melodies on my phone when inspiration strikes... which I can then open on my desktop to turn into full songs in my DAW. OneNote's versatility makes it hands down the BEST tool for creatives --and it's free!

[@lausianne]

Free? How is this free? And it's not cross platform. The android version, e.g., is all but useless. But my phone is what I have always with me, so this is where I want to be able to take notes, and find them when I need them. Search hardly works at all on Android.

[@katyb3869]

@@lausianneI use OneNote on Android... and Windows... and ipad so it is def cross-platform and yes... it's free. ​

[@S.A.S.H.]

I'm months from retirement and I will most certainly NOT be using technology less; simply for different things. It should also be noted that I will be retiring from a 33 year career in end-user computer technology. I have been using OneNote since it's inception but found much value in ideas in this video. Many thanks.

[@MadChickenz42]

This is fantastic-in the business world Microsoft products are so often required for work (especially if dealing with anything sensitive that cannot leave the work ecosystem). I recently have built my own GTD and PARA/second brain system set up in ToDo and OneNote, but this talk has given me some solid additional ideas on how to make changes to fix things up more.

[@axeemx]

Wish i could see your work. I’m struggling terribly to make it work.

[@MadChickenz42]

@@axeemx It was a huge struggle and I turned to blank sheets of computer paper to draw and re-draw and re-draw workflow “mind maps” so I could see where exactly everything was going. I’d love to share, but I’m not sure how. I’ll think about it and if I can come up with a way, I’ll comment back here.

[@axeemx]

@@MadChickenz42 thanks bro

[@pagenari]

Maybe to consider Go2Mail as good utility for capturing process in your own GTD.. :) It's so simple to use and it's already integrated with your favourite email app.

[@OoLaLaFrenchGirl]

I've had OneNote since early 2022 and I use it almost daily. I love having all of my info organized and at my fingertips.

[@seiferflo24]

This is by far one of the most productive video I've seen on productivity, using the good old simple One note tool which I used for years but abandoned for Notion, click up, asana, capacities... To be back to onenote 😂 Great initiative to open your mind to Microsoft products. Great guest as well. I'm going to look him up. I'd love to have more from Microsoft tools.

[@WillChi23]

The same thing happened to me-I had no choice but to switch note-taking tools when I moved to Mac before OneNote was available. I kept bouncing between different apps, never quite finding a true replacement, until Microsoft finally released OneNote for Mac. Now, I’m slowly moving everything back. If you’re into productivity, office work, business, or sales, the Microsoft ecosystem is far superior. And this is coming from a 20-year Apple fan!

[@VeronicaSteele]

This is such a helpful video. I’m a Mac user using all Microsoft products for work. Not all the same features are available in Mac but I’ve still been able to be productive (enough). This video was so helpful! I’d love to see the map of someone’s second brain with majority of Microsoft products on both Windows and Mac devices!

[@TheJoshtheboss]

Have been using OneNote for years. Very intuitive software. One of drawbacks I noticed though is that if you link to a page and the paga is later renamed, link will become broken and defunct.

[@Manoucherie27]

It’s not a Microsoft issue. It’s standardized computer programming language including the internet. Link = map.

[@janetmunin3034]

This is amazing! I went from not wanting to have anything to do with OneNote to wanting to dive into the capabilities. Thank you both!

[@JulieMelville]

Thanks for reminding me how valuable OneNote is for collaboration and the breadth of information repository options.

[@TiagoForte]

You're welcome!

[@All-Boring-Stuff]

OneNote is way more powerful yet simple to use, I am a Network Engineer, Gym guy, Own Business and Content Creator, and I have everything in OneNote thank you OneTeam

[@uahmed2042]

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping you'd look into/discuss at some point - whilst flawed, OneNote is still an amazing and user-friendly tool - so much so it's where I'm building up my 2nd brain; thank to Tiago and Matthew for this! 🙏🙏

I use OneNote every day on a Windows 11 Pro laptop and an iPad Pro and I absolutely love it. I feel the Windows version is so much better than people realize. I’m not a Mac fan and the iPad is as close as I get to a Mac now that I’ve switched to Windows and even the iPad version is very good. OneNote is so much better than EverNote or Notion for business, I’ll never go back to any of those again.

[@jeffthiem2929]

I have been using OneNote since I started learning about a second brain. One thing that wasn't brought up because it is still in its infancy is copilot integration. AI integration will provide much more productivity capabilities

[@reciprice]

I’ve started using Collabwriting, a simple browser extension because it has Research Copilot.

[@icns01]

This is probably the most consequential onenote video i have watched. Very useful and informative. I had no idea onenote could so sooo much. Thank you both.

[@TheViverChannel]

Spectacular information and presentation. As a primarily Mac user, all devices except Remarkable tablet, I have resisted shifting from Apples Notes app to OneNote. I can now see what I have been missing. This from someone who has had MS Office 365 for three years. After this presentation, I'm scheduling migration Notes > OneNote in my projects calendar. The content repurposing alone for marketing, and using timestamped versions for authoring chapters in novels will be mahh-velous! Thank you!

[@olivieredimo8494]

I was always procrastinating becoause I switched beetween the last hyped software. I decided to stick with OneNote until the end of 2025 in order to learn. So far it's nice and I find it perfect for my use case. Thanks for the video @Tiago Forte

[@mdg1867]

Love the tag function in OneNote too. You can note actions from meetings, tag them as actions and use OneNote to set due dates as Outlook tasks, which in turn they go to your Daily To Do list

[@FredroStarr12]

I used one note in college around 2007 on a lenovo tablet. Back to using it recently on the ipad and macos. I have to applaud Microsoft for not changing much of the formula and making incremental improvements.

[@scottrixon5312]

While we can all agree OneNote isn't perfect. This really was a great demonstration of the power and tools OneNote has. As part of my everyday process in a MS world, it does work really well! I enjoyed that, really nice presentation.

[@ronspi]

That was a nice basic functions video of OneNote. One thing I wish was mentioned is the ability to use passwords. You can lock and password books, sections, and pages. This provides an extra level of security to the user. It is essential to mention that the Search box does NOT search in passworded books, sections, or pages. I use it daily, and the password option is the main reason I use OneNote for my notes and task control. Plug-ins and templates make OneNote a really powerful tool. Thank you for the video.

[@TiagoForte]

Great point! I'll keep that in mind for future videos.

[@djvincon]

Nice addition! Which addons do you use?

[@MrPries-zm2dl]

This video from Tiago Forte and Mathew Gilbertson is nothing short of amazing! I knew I needed to use OneNote better. This video provides the seeds for ideas. I also like informal versus formal discussions. This is one of few videos where the entire 32:32 is worth watching.

[@tatooinemoor]

This video is an example why Microsoft is still the most valuable Software Brand after more than 40 years…

[@ormedanim]

This fantastic video has just created a need for Notion VS OneNote comparison and what to do if you are already set up with your Second 🧠 in Notion which doesn't have the OCR and not everything is searchable in it and there's no voice notes - please enlighten us Tiago 🙏🏻

[@josericardof.figueiredo6115]

I love to watch your videos and discover different tools and thoughts... I´m working with Amplenote now and I´m bringing some insights to it based on this video. Thank you, Tiago!

[@AM-dn4lk]

I never knew all of this great functionality existed. Great video.

[@TiagoForte]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@impulsesystems]

Version 2: 'Format, grammer, spelling'. I love it!

[@rayedalrammahi906]

What a huge treat to come across this video ! Big thank you

[@monochromios]

This was another great one. Thank you, Tiago and Mathew. The spot on sharing ideas was really huge. I am a Mac user, but work asks me to use Microsoft Suite. The hints you provided were so precious: thank you ever so much, great learning session

[@am1296]

Aussie school kids laptop programs been using this tool since 20 years ago! Its that good.

[@AbhishekeChakrabortty]

I swear, everything Tiago makes is gold!!

[@chizuru1999]

I am so looking forward to this video. I note down my daily time tracker tasks in onenote and its wonderful at its job. Can't wait to upgrade with the things I will learn in this video.

[@cap7333]

very happy heavy user of OneNote for many years, don't understand why there isn't the functionality you do Shift+MouseScroll to do left-right move inside the page?

[@DanielHarrisCodes]

Great video. These tried and tested, science backed techniques actually have an impact on real-world productivity. Much better than the majority of productivity content that’s basically all talking about swapping to-do apps every other week

[@6Ligma]

The moment Tiago saw that number of his notebooks instead of just 4 :))) I agree with most of what he said, but I think we still need the CODE approach. Otherwise, everything becomes so cluttered, so messy, and nothing is important.

[@BlazingVictory]

is CODE an acronym? i didn't get any google results from it

[@MattShelley138]

@@BlazingVictory Capture, Organise, Distill, Express - its the main framework of Tiago's BASB book

[@atHomeNYC]

One Note for Capturing and technical writing and Clickup for PMS and text based note taking and you have completed 95% of a productivity system. Both extremely flexible and lots of pre build features.

[@joegrant413]

Just started using OneNote a few months ago at work. After getting over the weird containers on the pages, I am learning to really like OneNote. My biggest gripe now is the find tags feature would be wonderful if it was not so buggy. You have to close a notebook and then open it so that it reliably works. which is a lousy thing to have to remember when you’re trying to see all your reminders!

[@petarbabic9409]

Super helpful and informative video! I am currently in the Construction industry as well and this video is a great inspiration! Especially for getting a digital pen and create sketches. Thanks for the video!

[@jason_lifts]

What are the things I think we all struggle with related to capture is that most of us are using iPhones maybe I don’t speak for everyone, but when you talk about capture the easiest way to capture ideas or things in the moment is when you’re walking around with your phone. The problem that continues to present itself to me is when I am walking around and I need to add something to my phone. The best option is voice which always gets directed through Siri and Apple reminders.. once you commit to just that one thing now you have to use Reminders you have to use Apple notes. You have to use Apple calendar and some of those apps, although really great don’t work well on PC when you get back to your desk if you have a Microsoft based office Thoughts anyone?

[@tracyjackson1928]

Well, couple of workarounds: one is you could dictate to Apple notes and then email the notes to your Outlook mail. You then had to copy it out of your email into wherever you wanna go. OR- if you have the mobile version of OneNote, you can just take notes in there.

[@Komatik_]

Apple Reminders can use Microsoft To Do as a backend instead of Apple's tasks service. Likewise, Apple Notes can use Microsoft Sticky Notes as a backend, which OneNote can extract into proper OneNote notes (even if the sticky notes aren't anywhere near as powerful as Apple Notes or OneNote proper)

[@kristinab.2139]

Thank you so much for this video, I am using OneNote for work and I learned a lot from this 😊

[@tim1titan]

That was wonderful. There is so much to work with here. I am excited to try some of the ideas put forward in this video.

[@41ankitt]

What works for me in analogue note taking is that I am thinking while I am taking the notes while in digital typing what is happening is that I am just typing I am not thinking about what I am typing and that's the reason why I prefer taking notes by hand professionally .... Just keeping a diary and only nothing down the relevant points makes so much sense to me personally .... 🙏 ....

[@jimboats]

Thanks guys. Great video!! Didn't expect onenote to be so good

[@Rood67]

This was fantastic! My OCD fights my ability be messy in my notes. 1 needed this kick in the pants to start using OneNote,a program and app that I love for making outlines from PC to tablet because of the auto save feature and start freehand writing.

[@ErnieHayden443]

Thanks, Tiago! This is one of the most insightful interviews you've ever done! I am a OneNote user/centrist and the information is very valuable; however, some of the most powerful elements of the video begin around 26:00. Great topics for further videos/discusson. Thanks for having Mathew Gilbertson in studio!

[@TiagoForte]

Glad it was helpful!

[@daveanderson70]

Thank you for shining a light in a dark space for me!

[@johnvienna3422]

The search function in OneNote is so powerful that I barely even bother with folder structures.

[@oztabletpc]

Wow, amazing discussion. Thanks Mat & Tiago.

[@christianparry7566]

This was a great video with tons of awesome ideas. I use Amplenote, and I'm not planning to change, but I'm really excited to try some of the ideas suggested in this video!

[@delphinehautefeuille]

I’m so excited about this!!

[@radu-mirceasirbu2159]

Enjoyed this! OneNote is solid, but Amplenote offers a seamless experience for managing notes and tasks on the fly. It’s been my go-to for building a Second Brain with minimal friction. Definitely worth a try! 👍

[@SammyMaeQ]

This was very helpful. I use OneNote at work on my PC but I have struggled to use the inking on my iPad that I take into meetings.

[@glensavory11]

Fantastic presentation guys.

[@todocorazon]

Great content here. I am going to be spending some time getting to know OneNote better after seeing this. I think it could be a nice improvement over all my separate Freemind mind maps that don't sync dynamically between machines. I did get a good chuckle at the moment where the word grammar was misspelled as "grammer" right above "spelling"; I think that was for me!

[@MarcinBlaszko]

In a world where digital reigns supreme, I stand out with a simple tool-a pencil. Amidst the glow of screens and the hum of technology, my notes are etched in graphite, a testament to the enduring power of simplicity. OneNote may be my canvas, but it's the pencil that paints my thoughts.

[@toolfinderhq]

Good summary of how the powers of OneNote can help you!

[@cynthiatucker4065]

To move the pages to the right, go into File/Account/Options/Display and then uncheck "move pages to the left."

[@the4saken]

I need to rewatch a couple times. Alot of info that can help me

[@nedstarkspinoffshow]

OneNote is the only reason I still use Windows at all

[@Mainbusfail]

3 in the morning!!! You guys are truly working your butts off.

[@diegofrota]

What a great video! Thank you so much!

[@justlc7]

OCR doesnt work on mac , what am I missing? I drew with apple pencil, but nothing, its right there!

[@melusine826]

My big problem using one note is that the structure has to come first. And meta data / tags aren't as intuitive / auto as in something like obsidian

[@chuck1856]

I'm always left feeling like it's there but I don't know how to use that side of it. It becomes a mental barrioer to just jumping in.

[@jacobjenkins2190]

I've never used one note before but I can definitely see the use! Will have to get on it

[@mm0dk0ur]

Its very sad that till now the new view of onenote "You have vertical and horizonal tabs" is still not available for MAC

[@chattySam00]

Been waiting for this

[@hn29723]

Too bad that OneNote for macOS is much more limited than the MS Windows Version. Great video ... thanks for sharing

[@naveensk2601]

The MacOS doesn't support windows.......... at least MS has provided an app 😀. It's all about the tech giants building monopoly using us as their pawns

[@pagenari]

but there is an tiny utility called Go2Mail, recently published on the market...very simple to use as a chrome extension and well integrated to email app, you do not need any extra app associated with any platform..

[@outdooristjeff4649]

Agreed. macOS users pay the same for Office 365, but do not get OCR and search for imported handwritten text or the ability to convert handwritten notes made in OneNote to text.

[@joesa123456]

@@outdooristjeff4649 What about the mobile version for android? does it have OCR included?

[@forsakenV12]

This was VERY informative. Thank you Tiago

[@TechieSnake]

AWESOME TIAGO….I have been using OneNote for over 6 years and this video really helps me a lot to use it better now…. I just hope they get the new update soon to make full use of the new Apple Pencil Pro features…

[@SB_2009]

Tiago, You should bring the Google's MVP for Second Brain.

[@senrrui]

I’d appreciate if you could say anything about how to set reminders on One Note pages or sections.

[@theawakenedyou]

This seems so much easier to work than Obsidian!

[@michaelsmith9102]

I wish OneNote looked prettier and that it could do some of the things other apps do, but I just can’t find a replacement that is better at intake and notetaking. Super easy to use. Zero friction if you’re used to Microsoft. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at other options. I would like to have a database function, I have maxed out the tags available and they can kind of function like a data base in that I can put a tag on a table cell and then see all other like entries. I am in constant search of something better, but I just can’t match the ease and flexibility.

[@danielasousadasilva]

Hello Tiago! Thank you for the great content! Could you also prepare a video like that with Google environment? Thank you!

[@timcoots]

Thanks Tiago for the PKM content!

[@roybaylis714]

simply brilliant.

[@toucan7433]

Amazing video. I m thinking to switch on Onenote

[@rebeccaw9656]

OneNote on iPad was my key to success in university. Microsoft 365 is not just for Microsoft/Windows devices.

[@katasticone]

It can't do handwriting though, can it? It would be a slam dunk for me if so. I truly wish tech companies would stop assuming we live in one ecosystem (and I work in tech lol).

[@MrCabimero]

I loved this man's passion for this technology. But Tiago, the only thing I don't see is creating backlinks for PKM. Thoughts?

[@ShaunBridges]

Backlinks would bring me back to ON

[@shiwalikrose]

Thank you so much Tiago, that is great. I wondered, if you have more tips on how to use PARA in photography world, or sorting photos

[@aleeyh69]

Relatively new to OneNote and was so impressed by this video tt I went to explore further. But it seems tt OneNote on android is very different fm my OneNote on my MS OS laptop or the version shown in this video. If I need a tablet w writing/drawing, I will prob have to purchase the MS Surface Pro - which in itself is pretty pricey

[@permanentledlighting]

More More More I have used the family plan and Onenote far to long and just bought the business plan for the more features working with teams. My takeaway is that now that I know how to use my Surface to create how-to videos with our documents, I will be able to draw, write, and add images for trainings. So excited. ? How can we turn our PC into a writing table without touch-screen monitors?

[@desit.302]

My workplace uses Wacom tablets for this purpose. It’s just a small black slab and a pen that you use to write. I recommend you check it out.

[@mymivf]

Tiago, thanks for the video! Would you mind sharing your view on how OneNote compares to Evernote for daily note taking and PKM? Obrigado!

[@obhiahmed9728]

Very helpful video thanks

[@joostromijn1997]

I moved away from OneNote to Notion a couple of years ago, after reading Building a Second Brain. I really love the Wiki-like strucuture of my current second brain. I can always find anything I need in seconds and the look-and-feel is just very pleasant. Great video though, I was not really aware of all the capturing capabilities in OneNote and ability to handle handwritten notes. Couple of things thst I dislike about OneNote: I can't propery create code blocks to handle code snippets. And I dislike the free format canvas. I get that it might work in favor of creativity, but it just never worked for me. Another point: as I'm a fan of Notion, I'm also a fan of Loop. The OneNote vs Loop proposition is still vague to me and the answers given here were not very helpful. From a product capability standpoint, I feel Loop is to replace OneNote. If only they could bring all the capturing capabilities to Loop as well..

[@abdullahalhashem986]

Yaay, other note taking app :)

[@alanjames3661]

my Microsoft 365 Family subscription includes: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Onenote,PowerPoint and Access-how do I access the rest as described?

[@adelmatougui]

When he has been using Notipn, Tiago doesn't look very convinced by OneNote 😅 This said, thank you for this video, I am stuck myself with Microsoft at Work so I try to make the most of it.

[@edwinrandall5062]

Is there some followup on presentation of ON like setting up a your workflow

[@Shaman_Ray]

Deleting old Notebooks is impossible!!! Deleted Notebooks still appear in "Closed Notebooks" and NEVER GO AWAY!

[@danjohnson8556]

Does OneNotr have “mind mapping” capability (similar to something like what the company Mind Manager produces)?

[@adriencolas9322]

"Even people who can't see, are visual learners" is a BAR!!!! 😂😂😂

[@jaycox1836]

NotebookLM is what blows my mind

[@ORybin10]

Can you also do with Apple ecosystem second brain

[@Reactor10k]

I tried to use One Note. The mobile app was so limited and under developed compared to the Mac version it was as if the developers just didn’t care.

[@jazzxgray]

They don't...only works on windows...so not worth it at all

[@danieljittu27staterealty14]

How do we reach your guest

[@Abhishek-fb7mu]

One note has major flaw, it has assymetric support if you jump across ecosystems. Eg - onenot exits for mac, but not same features ( ink to text for eg). Better to use cross platform apps if you use different type of devices.

[@jazzxgray]

Exactly...the functionality across different ecosystems is widely different so it's just not worth it in the long run