Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook for collecting written notes, research material and recordings. Its Windows application lets you arrange text, pictures, files and handwriting on the same page, with notebooks also accessible through apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android, or a web browser. The notebook structure keeps related material together without requiring every page to follow a fixed document layout.
Organizing a OneNote notebook
A OneNote notebook contains sections, and each section contains pages. You can divide a notebook by course, project or subject, give pages their own titles and move them as the material changes. Clicking a blank part of a page starts a new note container, which can be moved elsewhere on the canvas. This allows short observations, a diagram and a longer block of text to occupy different parts of the same page.
The Windows application can insert pictures and screen clippings alongside typed notes. File attachments place copies of supporting documents on a page; changes to the original files do not update those copies. Tables provide rows and columns for comparisons or other structured information, while links can lead to websites or other notebook content. OneNote saves edits automatically as you work.
Ink notes
On a device with handwriting support, pens and highlighters let you write, sketch and annotate directly on a page. Ink can sit beside typed text or mark an inserted image, so a diagram and its explanation can remain together. Switching back to typing lets you continue the same page with keyboard input.
OneNote for Windows can turn handwriting into editable text. The Lasso Select tool identifies the handwritten area to convert, and Ink to Text replaces the selected handwriting with typed content. Recognition uses the relevant handwriting language support. This conversion is not available in OneNote for the web.
Text from pictures and printouts
Text inside a picture or file printout can become reusable text through optical character recognition. OneNote can copy words from an image, from one page of a printout or from all its pages. You can paste the result into your notes or another application and edit it there.
Recognition depends on the clarity of the source image, and extracted text may take time to become available. It also needs checking for recognition mistakes, particularly when the original lettering is difficult to read.
Tags and notebook search
Tags identify individual lines or paragraphs that need attention within a larger page. A To Do tag adds a checkbox for tracking completion, while other tags can distinguish important points or unanswered questions. Tagged notes can be found by keyword and category, with results collected into a summary.
Text search provides another route back to material spread across notebooks. In the Windows app, you can search all open notebooks or narrow the scope to a notebook, section group, section or page. Quotation marks search for an exact phrase, and selecting a result opens the page containing it.
Audio notes
OneNote can place an audio recording on a page and link the notes taken during recording to that audio. Playback can follow the corresponding notes, preserving the connection between a written observation and the part of the conversation it concerns. Pause, stop and playback controls manage the recording within the notebook.
The Windows application also offers transcription with an active Microsoft 365 subscription. You can record directly or upload a WAV, MP4, M4A or MP3 file. The resulting transcript separates speakers and includes timestamps for returning to a particular passage.
Speaker labels and recognized words can be corrected, and selected passages or the full transcript can be added to the page. Ink strokes made while recording can replay alongside the audio. Recordings used by this feature are stored in OneDrive.
Sharing and syncing notebooks
Notebooks stored in OneDrive or SharePoint can be shared with viewing or editing permissions. An editable notebook lets contributors add their own text, images and files to the same collection. Access applies to the whole notebook: linking someone to a section does not restrict them to that section.
OneNote synchronizes shared notebooks automatically and provides controls to check synchronization status or start it manually. The Windows application keeps a local notebook copy for offline editing, then merges changes with the cloud when the connection returns.
Copilot
Copilot can work with OneNote content to produce summaries, draft plans, generate ideas or create lists from a prompt. For a summary, you can specify which aspects of the page to emphasize and how to arrange the response. The generated text appears in the Copilot pane, where it can be reviewed, copied and edited. Availability depends on the Microsoft 365 subscription and, for organizational accounts, the organization’s settings.
