Keeping on top of everything in your life—from to-do lists and finances to the articles you read and the random ideas you have—can be a nightmare. All of these things will often be found in different places, saved to entirely different apps, or not even documented at all, to begin with.
OneNote, a free note-taking app from Microsoft, is one great way to round up all odds and ends in your life. It's not perfect, but these OneNote hacks, tips, and tricks will help you make the most of what it does offer.
1. Organizing Information
With OneNote, you can set up different notebooks for entirely different parts of your life. Within each notebook, you can create tabs, and within those tabs, you can store individual notes. These notes are indexed and searchable, so you'll be much less likely to lose something important in the long term.
This structure makes for a logical way to organize potentially thousands of notes within a single app, in much the same ways as you would organize a ring binder.
Some examples of OneNote notebooks include notebooks for school, broken down by subject, and OneNote notebooks used to keep track of bills and other expenses. How you organize these notes is entirely up to you.
2. A To-Do List That Works
You could choose from a number of powerful to-do list apps, but if you like OneNote, the app can certainly stand in as a serious competitor.
You can use OneNote as a master to-do list, populating a page with a long string of things that need to be done. A more useful option, however, would be to create something like you can see above.
This is a Kaizen setup, where your aim is to move tasks from left to right, depending on their current status. You can easily add a new table for each project that you're working on, dragging and dropping them wherever you like.
I've also included a checkbox shopping list, which is another way you can organize lists in OneNote. This could be set up as a separate note and then shared with your partner, allowing them to add to the list as necessary.
3. Tracking Your Fitness
If you need a habit tracker, OneNote is more than capable. Some of our favorite OneNote organization examples include templates that help you keep track of your personal health and fitness levels.
If you want to keep things simple, you can create a new notebook for each aspect of health and fitness that you want to track. You can then create a basic table to document what's important.
Alternatively, if you're using the Windows version of OneNote, you're actually able to import an existing Excel spreadsheet into OneNote. This means you can find a fitness tracking Excel template and use it right from within OneNote.
4. Project Management
If the simple Kaizen to-do list setup isn't enough to help you manage your projects, OneNote can be used as a complete project management tool, as well.
Depending upon the complexity of your projects, you may want to set up a new notebook for each one. Within these notebooks, you can add detailed to-do lists in OneNote, track emails, share information, create a team wiki, and document meeting notes. You can then share all or part of this notebook with your team members.
If you want a step-by-step guide to all of this, the video below will help:
If many of your projects are similar, you can also create OneNote templates; these make starting a new project extremely easy.
5. Managing Your Finances
The easiest way to track your finances in OneNote is to import a suitable Excel finance spreadsheet into your OneNote notebook and keep it up to date within the app. If you're a Mac user, you'll first need to create a simple table.
Another handy feature here is the ability to store all of your receipts in OneNote. To do so, download the OneNote app to your smartphone; this app lets you take snaps of each of your receipts conveniently. Be sure to send these to a dedicated section in OneNote, just so you're able to manage them all easily and at-a-glance.
The app's OCR, or optical character recognition, makes each of these receipts readable. You can search for dates or items quickly instead of sifting through huge piles of fading pieces of paper.
6. Setting Goals
Another popular way to organize goals in OneNote is to create a new tab titled “Goals” and then create a new page for every new goal. Each page will then become a OneNote project dashboard for everything that you want to achieve.
On this single page, you can create schedules, list your action items, store research (A lot easier if you use OneNote's Web Clipper), jot down notes, and keep a record of your progress. Having all of this relevant information in one place helps you stay extra focused.
7. Daily Journal
Journaling can help improve productivity and reduce stress. There are tons of ways to get started; OneNote is definitely an option to add to that list, where you can create a single note to keep adding to regularly.
If you're not sure how to start journaling with OneNote, examples of daily topics include:
- Gratitude: list one thing that you're grateful for.
- Intention: how do you want to be today? Focused? Spontaneous? Light?
- Priorities: what are the three most important things that you want to do today?
- Progress: what progress have you made toward your goals?
- Opportunity: every day can be an opportunity. What will be yours today?
- Request: ask for what you need, from yourself, from your family, and from the universe.
The type of journal that you start is up to you. Among these could be a gratitude journal, weekly overviews, daily snapshots, and random reflections. The list goes on.
Whichever you choose, creating a quick journal template is easy. The template above was written by one of our own writers for an article looking at seven different types of journals you can keep.
This could be used simply as a way for you to clear your mind of distractions each morning, or a way to relive special memories.
8. Master Lists
If you're the kind of person who loves to keep lists, you probably have a huge list of movies you want to watch, books you want to read, and bands you want to listen to. Instead of leaving these scattered around your hard drive, why not import them into OneNote?
This should be as easy as copying/pasting them into a single note and maybe adding a check box next to each one. This allows you to see all of your lists in one place; if you need to store more information, you might want to separate each of these master lists into different notes.
9. Your Content Repository
The amount of content we consume these days is astounding. Not surprisingly, we forget most of what we've seen as soon as we're done with it. To combat this, there are some useful OneNote integrations you can use to keep track of that content.
To set any of these up, you'll need a free IFTTT account. As soon as you do, you'll be able to:
- Send your Instapaper items (or highlights)
- Save any articles you star in Feedly
- Save videos you've liked (or added to Watch Later) on YouTube
For any other content you come across online, simply use OneNote's Web Clipper to save these directly to a specific notebook. If you wanted to, you could even turn OneNote into your own RSS reader.
It won't take long until you have an impressive library of interesting content you can look back upon and search through whenever you like.
If you're paranoid about losing the photos that you've posted to your social media accounts, you can back these up to OneNote with a little more help from IFTTT.
To name one example, you can have all of your Instagram photos saved to OneNote. It's a quick and easy operation; just hit the switch and go.
11. Simplify Life With Checklists
Are there little things in your life that you're constantly forgetting? Sometimes, it can help to create processes or a series of checklists for these things to make each step easier to remember in the future. Your OneNote dashboard is the perfect place to do this.
This could be a list of things to pack for a vacation, things to leave for the babysitter, or things you'll need to throw a party. If all of these lists can be found in a single OneNote tab, you'll never forget anything again.
12. Brainstorming and Note-Taking
Finally, one of the most widely-applicable OneNote ideas: note-taking and brainstorming.
When taking notes, you can insert screenshots, lists, text, tables, and images. Inserted drawing elements like lines and arrows help you make mind maps, laying each idea out clearly for the future.
OneNote Hacks for a More Orderly Tomorrow
OneNote makes storing all of this information and keeping it organized a straightforward and simple matter. Your ability to tailor the program to your needs, in particular, makes it an incredibly versatile all-in-one productivity app.
By using some of the ideas above, you could easily take things further—you can keep a list of contacts, a gallery of business cards, a list of online subscriptions, and much more with ease. Anything that you need to get out of your head can be stored in OneNote for you to access at a time that's more appropriate.
FAQs
How do I use OneNote as a manager? ›
OneNote and Outlook: Manage Meetings
Select 'OneNote Meetings' in the ribbon. Next, click 'Take Your Own Notes' and choose the relevant page in OneNote. The agenda, along with any additional information, is added to OneNote. Track notes during the meeting and share with attendees using the 'Email page' option.
- Type information in your notebook or insert it from other apps and web pages.
- Take handwritten notes or draw your ideas.
- Use highlighting and tags for easy follow-up.
- Share notebooks to collaborate with others.
Using the To Do page for task management with OneNote is simple. You start by listing your tasks either in the backlog or in the horizon section. Then, once you finished, you start moving some of the tasks from the backlog to the “Do” part, where you plan them on a specific date.
Can I use OneNote as a daily journal? ›Click "OneNote Gem - Favorites" -> "Navigation" tab -> "Journal" command. This command will pop up a Journal Options dialog to help you setting journal information. In this example, click "Current Notebook" to set the "Journal" notebook as daily journal notebook. After click "OK" button.
How do you leverage in OneNote? ›- Create a Notebook and Share it. Once you create your base notebook, share it with your assistant. ...
- Setup Recurring Meetings. ...
- Track and Manage One-on-One Meetings. ...
- Organize Initiatives or Projects. ...
- Get Stuff Done.
OneNote Enhances Workplace Collaboration
And space where everyone can work together all in one Digital Notebook. The team can share plans, email, take monthly meeting notes, annual meeting notes, and preserve all of that data with OneNote's password protection options.
Note-taking app OneNote isn't short on features. It offers a lot for free, and you get a heck of a lot more space with a paid Microsoft 365 account. OneNote is much more advanced than almost all other note-taking apps on the market, except Evernote.
What's better Evernote or OneNote? ›In short: OneNote is better for those who love Microsoft Office's software layout and who don't want to shell out cash for a note-taking app. Evernote is better for those who have the budget and want a subscription to a powerful, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly note-taking app.
Can I make a checklist in OneNote? ›If you use OneNote to manage information, you can create checklists by adding to-do items to any page. Create simple checklists or use OneNote's formatting tools to make them look more professional. You can also search for to-do list templates you can insert into your OneNote notebook.
Does OneNote have a planner? ›OneNote comes with several built-in page templates, including decorative page backgrounds, planners, and To Do lists.
Can you automate OneNote? ›
Microsoft OneNote can now help your team stay on track—and on the same page—all from one seamless app. It can even allow you to automate tasks to save even more time.
How do I use OneNote like a pro? ›- 11 Tips for Improving Productivity using OneNote.
- Create a Quick Note. ...
- Search across all of your notes. ...
- Share your notebook and collaborate in real-time. ...
- Draw and hand write notes for clarity. ...
- Use tags to categorize and prioritize notes. ...
- Integrate OneNote with Outlook Flags. ...
- Password-Protect your Notes.
Tour My Bullet Journal - inspired OneNote Notebook! | Digital Planning
Is OneNote secure for journaling? ›OneNote uses encryption to secure password-protected sections. If you forget your password, no one will be able to unlock your notes for you (not even Microsoft Technical Support). So take care when assigning passwords to your notebook sections and when changing them.
How many notebooks can you have in OneNote? ›You can have as many notebooks as you want in OneNote. For example, you might have one notebook for work and one for home. To create a new notebook in OneNote, click the “File” tab in the Ribbon to open Backstage View. Then click “New” at the left side of the screen.
What is the hierarchy of organization in OneNote? ›OneNote is comprised of three main hierarchical levels: notebooks, sections, and pages. You can think of it just like a physical, multi-subject, spiral notebook. Notebooks are the main files for OneNote that hold all pieces inside. You may create separate notebooks for items like Work, School, or Home.
How do you use OneNote effectively stay organized with little effort? ›How to Use OneNote Effectively (Stay organized with little effort!) - YouTube
How do you give your notebook a nickname? ›Tap and hold the notebook you want to rename. You'll see a small check mark next to the notebook. If the check mark doesn't appear, you may need to need to tap and hold a little longer. On the OneDrive menu bar, tap the three dots icon located in the upper right, and then choose Rename This File.
How do I create a timeline in OneNote? ›On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt. In the Choose a SmartArt Graphic gallery, click Process, and then double-click a timeline layout (such as Basic Timeline).
Can you set alarms in OneNote? ›OneNote - How to Setup TASK LIST REMINDERS (easily!) - YouTube
How do you organize your work notes? ›
Start with the main idea in the center of your page and then draw branches ending in circles that contain the subtopics connecting out from there. Write bullet points within each of those bubbles to help you keep track of everything you need to remember from the brainstorming session.
How do I organize OneNote for project management? ›Within OneNote, click the Insert tab to find an array of options to organize your notes. This is an area where you can create a table, insert a file or photos related to topic, link to a website link, record audio, include stickers and meeting details as well as the Researcher tab for online sources.
Is OneNote being discontinued? ›Microsoft is continuing mainstream support for OneNote beyond October 2020. This means you can continue using it and expect to see new feature updates. OneNote support dates will align with Office 2019 support dates (October 10, 2023 for mainstream support and October 14, 2025 for extended support).
Is Google keep better than OneNote? ›OneNote excels over Keep in this regard. Google Keep allows you to add images, drawings, checklists, and voice notes, but that's about it. But with OneNote, you can add all those and more.
Is Evernote being discontinued? ›On June 23, 2021, we will remove the Evernote app from the Amazon Appstore. Customers who currently use Evernote on their Amazon devices can continue to do so, but it will no longer be available for download or update.
Is Evernote owned by Microsoft? ›...
Evernote.
| Developer(s) | Evernote Corporation |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Type | Note-taking software, integrated software |
| License | Freemium, SaaS |
Pricing Comparison. As I mentioned before, OneNote is available as a free-forever app and can be used with a free Microsoft account. You also get free 5GB of storage. The paid version is included with Office 365 that also adds 1TB of storage.
Are there templates for OneNote? ›OneNote comes with several built-in templates, including decorative page backgrounds and to-do lists. You can create your own template or customize an existing one. You can use OneNote templates as they are, change them as you like, or create your own.
Can you assign tasks in OneNote? ›In OneNote, select the words that you want to be your task. In the menu that appears, click the arrow next to the Outlook Tasks button and choose a reminder. A flag appears next to your task in OneNote and your task is added to Outlook.
How do you make aesthetic notes in OneNote? ›DIGITAL NOTE TAKING I How to take organized and aesthetic ... - YouTube
Does Microsoft have a digital planner? ›
Microsoft Planner
With Planner you and your team can to create plans, assign tasks, chat about tasks, and see charts of your team's progress. You can also use Planner from within Microsoft Teams and Microsoft SharePoint.
Here's a look at Onetastic, an add-in to enhance OneNote functionality with a set of built-in features and an extensible macro processor that allows you to download and modify macros and add new ones yourself. Onetastic features will light up in the Home tab as well as some right-click menus.
Can I create macros in OneNote? ›You can add macros to OneNote using Onetastic, an add-in for OneNote with several functions. Keep in mind that this is only available for the desktop version of OneNote; it doesn't work with the Windows Store version or OneNote for Mac.
Does OneNote have VBA? ›OneNote is not a VBA host application, so it doesn't have a Developer tab. Other options for OneNote automation include: Office Add-ins and the Office JavaScript API.
How do I use OneNote as a team? ›- To start from scratch, select Create a new notebook, add a name to the Notebook name field, and click Save.
- To add an existing notebook, select Browse notebooks, choose the notebook and section, and select Save.
Within OneNote, click the Insert tab to find an array of options to organize your notes. This is an area where you can create a table, insert a file or photos related to topic, link to a website link, record audio, include stickers and meeting details as well as the Researcher tab for online sources.
How do I organize clients in OneNote? ›Using OneNote for Client Management - YouTube
Can you make a Gantt chart in OneNote? ›"Gantt" feature can create and refresh the project planner. Follow "Gem for OneNote" -> "Object" tab -> "Gantt" group -> "Gantt" button, to create a Gantt Project Planner. Activity, is an activity or task name. Plan Start, an activity plan start in periods.
What is the difference between OneNote and Teams? ›The idea behind Teams Wiki is that you can use it to take notes. Just like OneNote, it has a section/page structure as well, though it does it in reverse as compared to OneNote. OneNote has Sections, and for each Section, you can create multiple Pages, and Wiki has Pages where you can add Sections to.
Can I have more than one notebook in OneNote? ›When you first install and run OneNote, a notebook is created for you. You can create new notebooks any time—and you can have as many notebooks as you want. Click File > New to display the New Notebook options. Choose where you want the new notebook to be created (for example, OneDrive or Computer).
How do I use OneNote for meetings? ›
Under the “MEETING” tab, in the “Meeting Notes” section click “Meeting Notes” and then select “Take notes on your own”. Select where you want to place the meeting notes. Here I'll select my Customer Meeting section and click OK. A page for your meeting notes is created in OneNote.
How do I take full advantage of OneNote? ›- 11 Tips for Improving Productivity using OneNote.
- Create a Quick Note. ...
- Search across all of your notes. ...
- Share your notebook and collaborate in real-time. ...
- Draw and hand write notes for clarity. ...
- Use tags to categorize and prioritize notes. ...
- Integrate OneNote with Outlook Flags. ...
- Password-Protect your Notes.
- Take notes by typing text on a OneNote page.
- Select the text that you want to mark as a to-do item, click the Home tab, then click To Do Tag. ...
- To find all tags, on the Home tab, click Find Tags.
- As you complete items, click the box next to each tag to indicate that you are done.
The first step to managing a project in OneNote is to build a dashboard. This dashboard can be designed how you choose using the built-in styles or formatting the text manually. You can use small tables to keep the same information organized and consistent across action items.
Do businesses use OneNote? ›OneNote is a powerful tool for project management, organization and general business use, but security is always a consideration when data is flowing back and forth online.
Is OneNote better than Evernote? ›If you have a budget for a note-taking app—even just $7.99 per month—Evernote is clearly the superior app. Not only is its interface more sleek and intuitive than OneNote (think Apple vs. Android and Zoom vs. Microsoft Teams), but its features also proved more powerful and helpful than those of OneNote.
How do you give your notebook a nickname? ›Tap and hold the notebook you want to rename. You'll see a small check mark next to the notebook. If the check mark doesn't appear, you may need to need to tap and hold a little longer. On the OneDrive menu bar, tap the three dots icon located in the upper right, and then choose Rename This File.
What is GEM for OneNote? ›Gem for Microsoft OneNote is a toolkit that provides users with expanded functionality and features for Microsoft OneNote. Text can be exported to applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and there are also a range of functions associated with the management of images and objects in the text.
Is Gantt Excel free? ›Use this Excel gantt chart to simplify complex projects into an easy-to-follow plan and track the status of tasks as work progresses. This free template is also useful for keeping track of project deadlines, milestones, and hours worked.
Does Microsoft 365 have a Gantt chart? ›With Microsoft Office 365 Gantt Chart App, you can have all tasks and subtasks in a single view, easily create and complete tasks, assign resources, and edit timeframes and completion percentages with just a few clicks.