Why I Chose OneNote

Dive into this detailed video where I share my reasons for choosing Microsoft OneNote as my primary note-taking application. With nearly two decades of reliability, a user-friendly design, and robust cross-platform compatibility, OneNote stands the test of time, even in a market bursting with new contenders. Its seamless integration with the Microsoft 365 suite and the fact it's free for everyone add to its appeal. Remember, note-taking is a personal process, and while I'm discussing my preference here, I'm eager to hear your thoughts and experiences as well. To be clear, I still do use other apps like Evernote and Obsidian as secondary note-taking apps. Anyways, hope you get value out of this video.
⚠️The marketshare data for note-taking apps were provided by Google Bard, and it cited that the info was from a study by DataReportal, which was conducted in January 2023. The study surveyed over 400,000 people in over 200 countries and territories.
I haven't vetted or validated this info directly with the source so please only use this info as a general ballpark.
⏰Timestamp
00:00 - Start
00:37 - Time-Tested
01:53 - Simple Design
02:45 - Cross Platform
03:20 - MS 365 Integration
03:46 - Free
04:17 - Wrap Up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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[@robfuzz]

Moving from Notion to OneNote. Was spending WAY too much time fiddling with Notion, watching videos on customization, applying templates from influencers. When it came down to just taking notes I found Notion was terrible at it. I couldn't just write out a long note. Every paragraph was sectioned into blocks which is pointless. I also realized that I needed to be able to add some handwriting/highlighting and I can't do that in Notion. It's been a breath of fresh air coming back to OneNote even though that app has its own issues. It doesn't take over my life though like Notion was. Thanks for the video!

[@iainamurray]

I love the idea of Notion, but it's almost overwhelming how much functionality there is, but as you say, the basic note taking is not great.

[@Jason-ig1kg]

Notion is overly hyped

[@theo_tr4aut]

i LOVE notion but the thing that stops me from using it for uni is that the scribble funcition sucks as well as the addition of images being really fiddly and i dont want to take my computer with me every day. Im just now switching to onenote after being an avid notion user and it really provides so much more flexibility especially for a career where i draw graps and diagrams constantly

[@SofiaVicares]

Yup for writing it sucks. I use it only for the databases for project managment and moodboards (bc pinterest suck now and i dont want to spend my 4gb of onenote free storage on picture)

[@tonymeadows100]

As a one-time SCADA software team-leader, I was often guilty of “adding new features”, much to the delight of the marketing folk but often to the frustration of our military airport customers. One time at a presentation to the RAF, I was put in my place when boasting about the many features available to ‘help get aircraft down’, a worldly Group-Captain observed dryly “Our aircraft will ALWAYS come down; we want simple, reliable software our people can use under the stress of battle to achieve this safely…”. Lesson learnt😅. Feature-rich is not always of benefit to the end-user, who often has to spend too long learning and relearning to use the product instead of simply using the product. I think many software vendors today would benefit from this lesson…

[@AndyPark365]

Yes, it’s tough because app providers are pressured to innovate and to make continuous improvements to their products to differentiate themselves from competition. But bug fixes are less sexy than new features… I’m not saying I don’t appreciate new features, but sometimes less is more.

[@SilverScreenChatter-tl2hz]

I learned about this from my local library. I didn't finish the online class, but I am now in love with it.

[@chloe_steward]

I agree with all your reasons, Andy! Thanks for another insightful video❤

[@ahmadsoliman9452]

Hi, Andi. Good and straight-to-the-point video, as usual, Thanks for your time making these videos to help the community. I have been a OneNote user since the first edition of 2003. I have only one point I need to comment on it. After 2016 Microsoft announced that they would discontinue OneNote 2016 Desktop edition and stick with OneNote. Windows 10. At that time, I was disappointed since I did not want to save all my notes to the cloud. The new OneNote at that time needed a lot of features to be added to match the desktop version. My notes have links to files on my computer. OneNote closed format, and I did not know what to do at that time. Since then, I have been worried that Microsoft may lose interest in supporting and developing OneNote anymore because of many aspects I can see. Although OneNote is a Microsoft product and it since 2003 but it is really too slow to update the software at the same speed as they are updating and adding features for other software like Word and Excel. Also, despite the advances in PKM methods and techniques, Microsoft did not update the software to adopt these methods in an easy way model. Manual work is needed to cope with those methods. The mobile apps are not designed to work well with Android and IOS. To use handwriting, you need to get a Windows tablet to utilize OneNote to its full potential. It does not have integration with other platforms like other applications do. Even the integration with Microsoft's other applications has not advanced for years, like integration with VISIO and Excel. They don't even have direct integration with Microsft Todo. There are only two very strong features on OneNote. Till now, I did not find a quite good match. The powerful search engine and the OCR engine are incredibly fast for pictures and handwriting. I am using OneNote for everything at home and work, but I am considering switching to other apps which are highly competing to win the market by providing an ecosystem. Trying to match modern and old PKM and note-taking methods

[@Quilting_jules]

Thanks Andy. All very sensible reasons for me to stay on OneNote 😊

[@carlosreys9]

Thanks for the information. I will start to use!

[@AndyPark365]

Thanks Carlos

[@davidcornillie]

Thanks for this. I've tried a few different apps, but the reality is that OneNote is the only choice I have at work, so it makes sense from an efficiency standpoint to focus on using that tool well.

[@johnvodopija1743]

I am a relatively new OneNote user using it for work over the last 2 years and was inspired to use it based on your recommendations and excellent content. These days I am “all in” and actively recommend it to my peers. Combined with Tiago Forte’s PARA structure (using tab groups) I love it. Thank you Andy. Cheers 👍😎🇦🇺

[@AndyPark365]

Thanks John. I've been meaning to pickup Tiago's book on the PARA Method. Maybe I'll try with OneNote. 😀

[@khalidothman6560]

Really nice video, thank you ❤😊

[@asmatsameja7751]

Totally agree - thanks Andy

[@rodfagundes01]

Great video! Thanks

[@BrunoJodoin-ne5ey]

I made a repository of different excel files that we use at work so when colleagues are on the road visiting customers they have in one place files they can find easily and and share with our customers using their phone or iPad. OneNote is very versatile. Used many of your videos to get ideas on how to set it up. thank you

[@coocaa9091]

I was also thinking the same thing! As a student and heavily relying in digital note taking for the past 3 years, ONENOTE is my first love! I did kind of cheat with all those cool, aesthetic, and productivity note taking apps but in the end, I am still coming back to this. I love Notion for its aesthetic, functions, web-ios-app, and the student pro plan but my dealbreaker is taking to much time beautifying my page, no offline and the SEARCH- which doesnt work properly and many restriction compared to onenote (Im telling you, search helped me so MUCH) I tried Obsidian and liked it too for its local, thousands of plugins, etc. but as a non coder, it was so frustrating to use, although I can grasp some howtos but learning hedge is too high for me to start focusing on doing the things im supposed to do. Also I am broke so I cant buy the sync plus im bit skeptical to other syncing alternatives In the end, im coming back to ONENOTE. Its really not so smexy in terms of looks but who cares, if it can do everything that other notetaking apps are offering in high amounts and sometimes missing features, that onenote has and can do better, also for free! Thats all. Thank you sir for this video!

[@Mon-nom-noM]

We're on the samee boat! Onenote was my first love too. It was a good note-taking app for me at that time time and I really enjoyed making notes with it. Unfortunately, i had some unexpected sync issues and I was really devastated since I lost half of my notes. It says that some pages are corrupted and i have no idea why. I tried to retrieve it but to no avail. This traumatizing incident made me look for another alternative note-taking app and I came across notion. I like its UI and features that i find useful for my notes. However, i can't access my notes offline, which is a dealbreaker for me since I'm always outside and don't have internet connection all the time. I wanted to be able to read my notes anywhere. And I'm also a bit skeptical on its security and longevity. And so i continued on my search for the note taking app that'll suffice my needs. I suddenly saw a yt video on obsidian and was immediately hooked on its offline-first philosophy. I began to learn and delve deeper on its never-ending rabbit hole. I scoured the vast majority of plugins and templates that continues grows in number, which i think is good but i realized i invested more time on customizing than actually making my notes lol Another caveat for me is the "re-learning curve". Last month, I had a long break from using it (wasn't making any notes for a while). When i had finally returned to obsidian, i was so clueless as if i had an amnesia and forgot to make notes the way i used to before hahah i have to relearn the bunch of plugins i installed and i find it tedious to learn everything all over again. I then realized that obsidian is just too much for me... After all that rollercoaster ride, I came crawling back to onenote in the end. To my surprise, im still able to navigate onenote with ease and with better clarity even. But this time, im more careful with the sync functionality. I hope that there'll be improvements in the near future. And watching this video helped me clear out my doubts and i think I'll be sticking with onenote for now. If you made this far, thank you for reading my note-taking journey haha and sorry for the long post 😅

[@fitstorejoojeh]

I loved Notion but then realized I spent more time optimizing and tinkering versus doing.

[@jpg-o-km]

I choosed OneNote brely for the same reasons. But the software doesn't evolve from ages and miss some good evos. Fo me, it lacks markdown, tags and a real backlink support. Despite that, it's pretty useful and easy. I always return to OneNote

[@CrystalClearLife]

I think I have been using it since 2003! 😂🥰OneNote is my trusted source and life management tool. I use it for everything! I use it because of the 3 S's: Search, Sync and Share! Thanks Andy!

[@Ocean88.88]

Hi Andy, Always enjoy your enrichment in this OneNote app. Quick question; How can I sort onenote in Android devices like in Windows. Million thanks.

[@Wtayscue]

Good video. My biggest problem is that I work for a large company that locks down access for outside devices, so it's not as integrated as I would like. But it's still the best.

[@jzpwhyyouwantmysurname3638]

OK, question here. I use integration with Otuloolk, Todo and Teams and how we use Microsoft at my company, but ... How do you search effectively? Tags are absolutely rubbish relict from the 19th century with OneNote. If I want to structure notes by the place where I'd use them (office, home, by the comp etc.) but also have other category like (day job, side hustle, personal etc.) or even have som priority score for them, there's no way to simply use logical AND to combine tag search results. Did you manage to find any workaround for it? How to link and structure it all?

[@billblanchette3604]

I'm glad you discussed the multiple versions, that's frustrating me at this time. I use Google Keep to capture stuff very quickly, some remains there (I use tags extensively) and much gets migrated to OneNote. I really love the clipper extension to my browser.

[@AnandaSim]

I'm a heavy OneNote user. A lot of useful features are in the OneTastic add-in though, which can't be installed on corporate machines without getting the IT department to agree and even then it is not subsequently available to everyone. Currently for "more than taking notes", I use paid Notion and free TheBrain.

[@rsv-code7004]

Good video, it's worth mentioning though that there's no OneNote support for Linux desktop.

[@kim.parsons]

Can you share the link to the series mentioned toward the end of the interview?

[@masumbillah3866]

Hi Andy Thanks for your nice video. I am trying to to move OneNote from Evernote but facing one problem that can’t take multiple pictures at once. Do you have any solution or may be we can request Microsoft to improve this.

[@hsamm1773]

I am on the one note , samsung tablet, and I am not able to input pictures or set the picture as background. which app do I need to download?

[@joecastillomovies]

Can I get all the benefits of using OneNote and MS365 on a Macbook vs a Windows laptop? Any differences?

[@MrDjRayner]

@04:02 you claim the unified version is available to everyone instead of only those with an M365 subscription plan. But I'm running Windows 10 and have Office 2019 and I still haven't got the refreshed look aka the unified version.

[@ogdanem]

I think these days, there is confusion about the meaning of Notes. People need to define the meaning of Notes for them. Some people have used note apps more as databases and less as note apps. All those KPT apps became more complicated and difficult to use than just note apps. A note app cannot be for everything. So I think people should use different apps for different needs. I use Onenote for daily business work, Evernote for storage, and Apple Note for on-the-go capture. Onenote is the only multi-language app that can be used for languages that are left to right and right to left and it translates from many languages.

[@AndyPark365]

Totally agree with you. I have a very similar setup to yours. OneNote for work (for note taking), Evernote for personal (mainly for document storage and archive), and Obsidian for PKM.

[@nathanlcline]

I love to mess with Notion, but I use OneNote for all of the reasons Andy discusses.

[@6Ligma]

Do you have any videos about how you organize your notebooks?

[@AndyPark365]

Yes I have a few on my channel. This one is for Windows 10 but the concepts will apply to other versions as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3jdm5WdgpylnJo

[@The.BlackJackal]

Don’t forget about copilot! 😊 Microsoft is crushing it.

[@ramiboy_y2049]

One note is not perfect but overall is reliable and doesnt requiere insane learning curve as others.

[@deeleon]

I don't know why u Chose OneNote, but I know why I Chose OneNote: you! Thanks a lot, it's not a game changer, it's a life saver!

[@Mishkafofer]

Notion: You shall customize until you expire. Evernote: Mama mia. One note: its notes, get over it. Obsydian: Plugs for any @uts.

[@AndyPark365]

You summed it up perfectly 😄

[@anisolo07]

You just helped me decide on my note taking app🎉🎉🎉

[@mayconfrancol]

After long research, I chose OneNote too

[@AndyPark365]

Great choice! 😀

[@GrantSR]

Wait! Will this new "unified" version access notebooks on Microsoft OneDrive AND on your local desktop at the same time? I've been using OneNote since it first came out. But, just a couple of years ago, I was "forced" to buy a "one-time license" for Office 2019, just to have a legit version of OneNote that would access both my locally stored notebooks AND my OneDrive stored notebooks. The free version (at that time) would not access OneDrive.

[@GrantSR]

Replying to my past self: I have now installed the free download version of OneNote (as of 2024-01-20), on a fresh Windows 11 Pro install, with no other Office apps installed and no subscription. This version of OneNote now access all of my notebooks on my local drive as well as on OneDrive. Let's hope it stays this way. Microsoft took away the ability to access the local drives just a little bit after they came out with OneDrive. So there is nothing to stop them from doing that again. But, for now, I'm happy.

[@thepreacher7828]

What if my main way of taking notes is with an Apple Pencil

[@Eddyi0202]

What are you're thought about Obisidan?

[@cossack4930]

Do you also use Obsidian? I thought I saw some past videos.

[@AndyPark365]

Yes I also use Obsidian, Evernote, and Super Note, among other things. They all have their specific use cases. But OneNote is my primary for work.

[@pesc75]

When using Onenote for personal use, I’m afraid I will need more cloud space than the free data storage allowed. If there is a way of using onenote in other cloud services I would be all in! At work, I use it all the time. Thanks for all your videos. They are clear, well explained and useful.

[@Netz0]

@@pesc75 You don't need to use the cloud option. The OneNote Windows Desktop app lets you create local notes on your hard drive, you could, of course, transfer those files to a cloud storage if you like any other file.

[@kiren3168]

While the desktop version is more feature-rich, the UI of the windows 10 version is way better. It's sad to see them abandoning that one.

[@AndyPark365]

Are you using the the "new" OneNote app? It inherited much of the clean and modern interface of Windows 10 while providing desktop features.

[@callmeNeno]

I am more apple centric ecosystem. i Will stick to Apple Notes and Evernote each has its strengths.

[@AndyPark365]

I think Apple Notes is great. If you're in the Apple ecosystem it totally makes sense.

[@correo3200]

I´ve been using OneNote for years. My only concern is privacy

[@colinpowda]

I thought you were using Evernote for personal stuff. Onenote only for work.

[@AndyPark365]

Yes that's correct. OneNote as my primary for work. I still use Evernote and Obsidian for special use cases.

[@colinpowda]

@AndyPark365 Wouldn't it be easier if you merged them. Sometimes work and personal life overlaps. For example do you classify youtube as work or personal?

[@AndyPark365]

Yes I agree that the line between work and life often gets blurred... but I like to keep things separate as much as possible. Any information not tied to the organization that I work for is considered personal... so KZbin is personal. If I was working for myself then yes, I would merge and manage in a single place. Thanks.

[@standfirm8180]

Real men use notepad

[@jayceon4466]

🎶 "Promo SM"

[@user-sn3jn1fr5p]

Which software was utilized for the voiceover? It's quite evident that the original language isn't English. :)

[@jparks6544]

As soon as you said Microsoft, deal breaker. Not interested at all.

[@somebodyoncetoldme1704]

Onetastic is like pro

[@alimfuzzy]

Have you tried onenote gem?