10 compelling reasons to start using OneNote

Chintan Gohel

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One of the things that Microsoft keeps advertising is OneNote. I can understand when they advertise Word or Excel or PowerPoint but I've never got the reason for OneNote

I have never used OneNote, except for a brief test today on my mobile.

As a new user and as an old user of windows ecosystem (pc, laptop, mobile, tablet), why should you use OneNote?

What are the 10 best reasons to use OneNote?

And be prepared to give convincing arguments to my counter questions :wink:
 

zocster

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quick note taking exercises, like your bank account details, your US mailing address, etc etc.

One note clipper, for your browser, quick bookmarking.

One note is available iOS, android, and WP of course, and I have all my records synced.

That's all I can think of.. straight off the bat.
 

garisa

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In my case I use OneNote just like I would use a notebook which I don't need to bring with myself. For some stuff I use Outlook calendar, and for some other stuff I use OneNote, and it helps me a lot. With it I don't need to worry if I'm gonna lose some small peace of paper. You can use it for shopping list, just whatever you want.

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone
 

libra89

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When I was filling out online job applications, I loved that OneNote allowed me to take a screenshot of the job description. You can easily lose papers but having all of the job descriptions in one place and I can print if needed is awesome. With it, it also creates a time and date stamp so that I can know the day when I started and/or finished the application. For every application I fill out, I do this and it has been great.

As @zocster said, the fact that it is multi platform is amazing. I am a chronic switcher, and it's awesome to know that I can start a note on one phone and then if I decide to go out with the other, I can refer back to said note. There's no guesswork about which phone I wrote the note on.
 

daimv

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Sync with desktop is pretty convenient. Also you can add audio if needed.
I like the formatting tools provided too. Also I haven't had any problems using multiple language (I.e. Non ascii languages)
 

Myrkur

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I have a Family Notebook set up, where me and my wife share a shopping list and some important details (client numbers for different services etc.). The shopping list is pinned to our start screens, so we can access it quickly. Super-convenient.
I also used OneNote to plan our trip - I jotted down all train departures & arrivals, also linked to Bing Maps and attached some tickets. It was all pretty nifty.
 

Guytronic

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Syncing to desktop is my favorite.

I can make a simple quick note on mobile with a picture or a recorded note then straighten it out on desktop later.

I copy appstore links into OneNote so they're easier to find later if I want to reinstall the app or point out that app to someone else.
When I go to the Home Depot I always forget what I really need so I take a pic then jot down what will be needed for fixes.

I also use OneNote to track prices on items by saving links under the title of the item we're shopping for.
When we go RVing I keep a running log of details for the location including pictures in a single place.
 

Chintan Gohel

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quick note taking exercises, like your bank account details, your US mailing address, etc etc.

One note clipper, for your browser, quick bookmarking.

One note is available iOS, android, and WP of course, and I have all my records synced.

That's all I can think of.. straight off the bat.

I have the bank account number in my head, always have had it - not that difficult to remember 14 digits
I even have the imei number offhead for my phone :smile:

In my case I use OneNote just like I would use a notebook which I don't need to bring with myself. For some stuff I use Outlook calendar, and for some other stuff I use OneNote, and it helps me a lot. With it I don't need to worry if I'm gonna lose some small peace of paper. You can use it for shopping list, just whatever you want.

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone

If there was something I had to note down, I used to use word on my phone or on my pc
Though to be fair, onenote is free unlike word for non mobile devices

When I was filling out online job applications, I loved that OneNote allowed me to take a screenshot of the job description. You can easily lose papers but having all of the job descriptions in one place and I can print if needed is awesome. With it, it also creates a time and date stamp so that I can know the day when I started and/or finished the application. For every application I fill out, I do this and it has been great.

As @zocster said, the fact that it is multi platform is amazing. I am a chronic switcher, and it's awesome to know that I can start a note on one phone and then if I decide to go out with the other, I can refer back to said note. There's no guesswork about which phone I wrote the note on.

Isn't taking a photo simpler than using onenote? I only have one phone so the switching part doesn't come in really for me.

Sync with desktop is pretty convenient. Also you can add audio if needed.
I like the formatting tools provided too. Also I haven't had any problems using multiple language (I.e. Non ascii languages)

Did I mention I don't like talking to my phone? Hence why I don't want to use Cortana, even if it did come to Kenya. That's just weird
But the multiple language feature is great -didn't know about that one
 

libra89

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Isn't taking a photo simpler than using onenote? I only have one phone so the switching part doesn't come in really for me.

In this case, no. These are applications that I fill out on a computer. Paint programs are irregular when it comes to sizing.
 

techiez

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If there was something I had to note down, I used to use word on my phone or on my pc
Though to be fair, onenote is free unlike word for non mobile devices

Word or Notepad needs you to save, there are many a times when you note something which you havent yet saved, and then word gets hanged or PC gets hanged and you kill the task and boom everything gone. Onenote prevents that, you dont need to save, its always auto saved and then synced across devices.
 

RJ Priest

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I love OneNote. Just as a simple note pad that I can record information on my phone, then view it on my desktop or laptop. Or the opposite, write up a bunch of questions on my desktop / laptop in Word 2016, then paste them into OneNote, add check boxes, and then open it on my Lumia 1520 and it becomes my question list for when I interview someone. That universal sync is a beauty!

As a huge bonus, although I haven't used it too much, it's great to be able to insert images and other media, I think you can put maps in there too.
 

Great deal

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Been using OneNote for 4 years as the core for project management. launched a company and its critical to being organised and keeping track (great for SWOT analysis) of projects and actions.

I use a GTD (Getting Things Done by David Allen) methodology and it works amazingly well with OnoNote.

Setup is like this....

PROJECTS notebook

INBOX - EVERYTHING goes in here and its emptied daily, web clippings, articles, links, videos , literally everything (you can set it up in options to send everything here, very easy to do)
Quick Notes - stuff from mobile gets put in here although id like to be able to send it to INBOX by clicking on Note on device.

READ REVIEW - Send the full article of Interesting news headlines from NextGen Reader directly to OneNote with one click to read later or the next day - gets emptied daily - You can set up RSS feeds via Feedly to go to NextGen Reader, these are reviewed as per projects im working on so I get relevant news.

WAITING FOR - I also have a waiting for in Outlook, also track it here, observed once a day

CURRENT PROJECTS - These are things im working on right now (reviewed weekly to maintain system) This is where I brainstorm, create next actions, plan, add files, books and info from READ Review if needed. If its a large project you can have dedicated 'New Section Group' for those as its easier to manage.

I use TODOIST for all my actions and mirror the current projects into that but only add the very next actions, as they are complete I add the next one from the OneNote plan

COMPLETED - completed projects go in here

SOMEDAY NOTEBOOK - Broken into personal and business - all future projects and ideas (a project is anything that requires more than 1 step/action)

I have a Lists Notebook which contains shopping lists, lists for stuff to watch, read, restaurants to eat at, things to download etc.

Shared Notebook with by GF - share recipes and our main shopping list.

Journal Notebook - track what i have done, learnt etc.

People Notebook - Track stuff (you can send emails to OneNote with one click) and used for relationship development

Self Development Notebook - self explanatory

Templates - Store templates for all of the above as well as in the templates tool.

You can Insert documents as attachments or as printouts, also create spreadsheets directly from within OneNote. You can create clickable links to jump from any page in any notebook directly to any page section or paragraph in any other.

Use the webclipper extension in Chrome and Edge.....amazing, you can clip videos (playable in OnNote directly) parts of a page or as an article so you can actually EDIT the content you clipped!!!

Drawing is great with A surface PC/Pen - handwriting to text, you can record speech and have it searchable (enable in options) ....you can create tasks in OneNote and send to Outlook tasks (that was my old system, Todoist is MUCH better, in fact its by FAR the best app to keep on top of actions)

Im sure ive missed features out, it really is a powerful digital notebook, as im paperless its become like another limb. Has multiple backups too.

Heres a clip of a template i created in Current Projects, one click and this page pops up in the section....

Untitled picture.png
Oh and if you use IFTTT (If This Then That) you can create recipes with many other apps to automate a lot.

Also have an A-Z folder structure called General and Business on Onedrive and Onedrive for business (both backed up to each other weekly) try not to have it deeper than 2 levels unless it makes sense, this way documents, files etc are easily found. Also A-Z structure in Outlook as some things can stay in Outlook.

Happy to answer any questions.....
 
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gpobernardo

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OneNote pretty much gives the same functionality that are available in other apps, or a combination thereof, as well. To be concise, I'm using OneNote solely because I was using a Windows Phone and I'm using at least two Windows PCs and it's what I used first. I've tried using EverNote, Moleskine, and Wunderlist, but I've found migrating or duplicating my notes cumbersome. Along the way, here's what I liked:

- Integration with Office Lens - I could take photos of receipts, documents, and other papers and have them listed according to date in OneNote. (On a side note, though, Office Lens for iOS lacks some features).

- The ability to create notebooks, sections within notebooks, and pages within sections - gives me a lot of flexibility as to where and how to organize.

- Password protection of sections - where confidential thoughts, ideas, and other potential causes of mass extinction must be kept (and I think I've read that they're encrypted, beyond the reach even of Microsoft).

- Immediate access, anywhere, anytime - useful for quickly taking down notes, ideas, or preserving a back-up (although backing up of images can also be done elsewhere, such as OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox... having an extra and more cumbersome-to-make back up in OneNote also makes it harder-than-usual to automatically delete, e.g. when you delete the photo in your device and it also gets deleted in the cloud, something which has been a topic of complaint in other threads).

What I don't like:
- Well, OneNote almost deleted a lot of my irreplaceable ideas and posts when the app for iOS suddenly moved an entire section to an "Uncategorized Section", which was unrecoverable and the only option for which was to delete the section - something which I couldn't afford to do. No solution online. In short, after about 30 minutes of trying to copy each page into a new section, the "Uncategorized Section" disappeared and reappeared in its original section in the notebook. Not a funny bug, Microsoft! (I know, this is not Microsoft, but I've sent them an email about this in their feedback, something which is obviously handled by robots given the out-of-context replies I receive).

- Other functionalities are limited in iOS.

P.S.
I've dedicated OneNote to documents and sometimes supporting images. Wunderlist is for tasks and project management.
 

Great deal

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I had that experience with iOS too! - I no longer use Onenote with iOS devices. I used Wunderlist, its soo basic that its unusable. I think they will ditch it, they are soooo far behind with the competition.
 

garisa

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Yes, one can simply take a photo, and yes, on can simply use Word, and it's not just about Word not being free. With OneNote you have everything in one place, it's all sorted really well, and your "note" photos are not mixed with all other photos on your phone.

What some people here described can work if you don't make some notes frequently, but if you do - then OneNote definitely makes things much easier.

It's perfect for students for example - they can write down all important details about their subjects and exams in one place, not to keep all that on some papers, in some Word documents all around your different devices... But when it's in OneNote, then it's all in one place, it's sorted well, and you can access it on any platform.

Sent from mTalk on Windows 10 phone
 

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